More Strategies for Analyzing Images [5:06]

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About

I'm going to share three other strategies for analyzing images. In all of these, students will be using observations and reflections and asking questions when interacting with an image.

Transcript

I'm going to share three other strategies for analyzing images. The foundation of all of these strategies is the standard primary source analysis that I just shared. In all of these, students will be using observations, reflections and asking questions when interacting with an image. The first of the three variations of the standard analysis is puzzle. Here, you break up the image into a number of pieces. Pairs or small groups analyze their piece of the puzzle, bringing their analysis to the whole group. In preparation for this, you want to focus your pieces into areas of potential interest in the photo.

In our photo of the building of the Statue of Liberty, I may have two or maybe three pieces that focus on different groups of workers on the floor. Another may be of the large statue and two men in the rafters. A final piece may focus on the two smaller statue pieces in the middle right of the photo. I do not worry about using the entire photo in the pieces, and sometimes, pieces and the puzzle even overlap. My goal is to give areas of focus. As you can imagine, this encourages students to focus in on much more specific details than they may when looking at the entire image. It works very well with images like this where there's a lot of detail, especially when it has many areas of focus as this image does.

As students see puzzle pieces from one student and see their analysis, the thinking from their own analysis can change. Questions they posed may be answered, while others arise. Reflections are altered. One student's observations are connected with other observations that are made from other puzzle piece analysis. The puzzle strategy works well when students are familiar with image analysis and are ready for a more sophisticated experience with an image.

The second variation is called 'Jump in'. In this activity, students are shown the image and asked to jump in to the image, imagining that they are there in the photo as it was taken. I tell students to look carefully at the photo and decide where they'll jump in, to imagine where they'll be standing. I remind them that they'll be able to see things that the photographer was not able to capture in the photograph. I then start to ask them about details that they can see. I encourage them to look at the photograph as they answer, incorporating observations into that answer. I also ask specific questions that they can't tell from viewing the photo.

In the Statue of Liberty photo, I may ask, "What sounds did you hear before the photo was taken?" Or, "If you walk over to the statue and look up, what do you see?" When my students do a jump in, I do it as an interview, so that I can alter my questions based on what the student shares. I also invite other students to ask questions. This is a more time-intensive analysis. Not every student will be able to be interviewed and share with the rest of the class, but it does allow for differentiation with some students being interviewed and other students asking questions of the person jumping in. It also asks the student to go far beyond observation, relying on those observations and prior knowledge to make inferences focused around multiple senses.

The third variation called 'Strike a Pose' consists of me asking the student to identify someone in the photo, studying the physical aspects of that person, and then posing themselves like them. As they strike a pose, I ask them to take on the role of that person, talking about what they're doing, thinking, and seeing. Similar to jump-in, the student focuses more on inferred sights, sounds, and even ideas as thoughts as they take on the role of that other person. This in some ways is the most complex of the strategies, but can still be done with young elementary students, knowing that the depth of the analysis will look different for different ages. Even young students can make connections between the way a person looks physically and what emotion they may be feeling or what they may be thinking about.

Older elementary students can incorporate prior knowledge into their reflection, and with practice, show their analysis of that individual through the portrayal of them. This strategy works best with images with one or two main figures. When reading facial expressions, as students might in some portraits, photographs give much more insight and more to work with than some paintings or drawings.

When considering any of these strategies to analyze images, I'm anticipating how my elementary students will interact with the image and preparing my introduction and questions to guide them through the analysis process. I'm cognizant that I may use an image at multiple grade levels with very different results. With that knowledge, I don't try to lead all students to the same place, but try to help them reveal their own thinking through the analysis.

Activities

Puzzle, Jump In, and Strike a Pose

Context:

Lesson 4 offers three specific teaching strategies for engaging students with primary sources. In "Puzzle," the teacher breaks up an image into several pieces for small groups or pairs of students to study. Then the small groups share and connect their analyses with the other groups. In the activity called "Jump In," students do just that: mentally "jump in" to the image to evoke sensory responses, questions, and observations attainable from being "inside" the image. In "Strike a Pose," students assume a pose of a person in a photograph and take on aspects of that person's role, including their actions and thinking.

Instructions:

Using the image you selected in Lesson 2, experiment with the three strategies described here, as you would when preparing to model an example for students. Try out the strategy, and take notes on your experience. Here are some questions to consider: Did the image work for the strategy? What limitations (if any) did you encounter? What tips would you suggest to students who needed assistance or motivation with this image? What approaches might you try in order to differentiate learning with these strategies?

Materials:

Primary source image (see Lesson 2 Activity for suggestions on accessing and selecting sources)

Entry ID: 2122741

Additional Resources

About the Author

Tom Bober is a school librarian, 2018 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress, and author of the books Elementary Educator's Guide to Primary Sources: Strategies for Teaching and Building News Literacy: Lessons for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Elementary and Middle Schools. He is a Digital Public Library of America Community Rep, a member of the Teachers Advisory Board for the National Portrait Gallery, and a co-chair of the Education Advisory Committee of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. Tom writes about student learning on AASL's Knowledge Quest blog and publications such as School Library Connection and American Libraries and has given workshops and spoken across the country. His foundation is built on over twenty years in public education, with six years as an elementary classroom teacher, seven years as a building and district instructional technology specialist, and over eight years in school libraries. Find him at https://tombober.com/ and on Twitter @CaptainLibrary.

Select Citation Style:

MLA Citation

Bober, Tom. "Primary Sources for Elementary. More Strategies for Analyzing Images [5:06]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2016, schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2045337?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247903.

Chicago Citation

Bober, Tom. "Primary Sources for Elementary. More Strategies for Analyzing Images [5:06]." School Library Connection video. November 2016. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2045337?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247903.

APA Citation

Bober, T. (2016, November). Primary sources for elementary. More strategies for analyzing images [5:06] [Video]. School Library Connection. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2045337?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247903

https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/2045337?learningModuleId=2045332&topicCenterId=2247903

Entry ID: 2045337