LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

North Carolina living through photos, then and now

Students will examine historical photographs of North Carolinians at work or in social settings. They will develop and share skills of “reading” photographs. Then they will use these skills to identify “historical clues” in a photo, and draw their own version of the same person or people in North Carolina today.

A lesson plan for grade 4 Social Studies

By Michael Sharp

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  • NC ECHO These images were found using this website

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • examine a historical photograph for clues that it is set in the past.
  • predict what changes they think have happened in a specific setting in North Carolina over time.
  • identify these changes as primarily political, social, or economic.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 hours

Materials/resources

  • Access to historical photographs, either online or printed out (see Supplemental area below)
  • Markers for creating class and group lists
  • Chart paper for creating class and group lists
  • Drawing paper and drawing tools (markers, crayons, pencils)

Technology resources

Internet networked computer(s) and printer for viewing and printing photographs

Pre-activities

Using printouts of one sample photograph (examples linked in Supplemental area below), ask students in small groups to identify “clues in the picture that help you to know that it happened in the past.” Make a class list of the specific clues in this picture, then a more general list of what kind of clues you can look for (i.e. clothing, signs, dates).

Activities

  1. Distribute copies of historical photos to small groups (on paper or using links to them on computers). Ask students to search for “historical clues” in their photograph that it was taken in the past.
  2. Give each group a sheet of paper, and ask them to draw a line down the middle and write titles on each side; “Then” on the left side, and “Now” on the right side.
  3. Tell students to make a list of the historical clues found in their picture on the “Then” side.
  4. Tell the class to imagine how their picture would be different if it was taken in North Carolina today. For each clue written on the “Then” side, they should write what it would look like today on the “Now” side. For example, if they wrote “clothes” on the “Then” side, they might describe the kind of clothes someone would be wearing in the same situation today.
  5. Ask each person in the group to draw what they think the picture would look like if it was taken today. Remind the students to be sure to include all of the information from the “Now” side of their paper.
  6. Bring the class together and have each group share their photograph, the clues they found, and their drawings.
  7. Use some example changes from the students’ work, and define how changes can be classified as political, economic, or social. Build definitions for these three types of change.
  8. Ask each group to return to their paper and label each change on the “Now” side as political, economic, or social. Each group can share their work with the class, possibly by quizzing the others in class about each of their changes.

Assessment

Collect the “Then” and “Now” papers and assess the following criteria:

  • the group has identified at least three historical clues in their photo.
  • the group has made a reasonable suggestion of how each clue would have changed in today’s world.
  • the student has implemented all of the group’s changes into their drawing.
  • the group has correctly identified ninety percent of their changes as political, economic, or social.

Supplemental information

The following images, found online, could be used effectively in this lesson:

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 4

  • Goal 3: The learner will trace the history of colonization in North Carolina and evaluate its significance for diverse people's ideas.
    • Objective 3.01: Assess changes in ways of living over time and determine whether the changes are primarily political, economic, or social.