History has the potential to be a captivating subject in elementary classrooms, but too often, it involves rote memorization and lacks relevance. As a result, students are often disengaged. Instead, children should learn about history in ways that promote critical thinking and encourage them to better understand the world by making connections between past and present, such as through analyzing historical photos. Bruce VanSledright referred to this approach as “historical thinking,” or engaging in the same thinking processes used by historians.

This means learning how to analyze primary sources, like photographs and artifacts, to understand important ideas like chronology, how the human experience has changed throughout time, and the causes and consequences of historical events. Guiding students to think critically about history enables them to evaluate how decisions made in the past impact the present and to reenvision a more just future.

I’ve found photographs powerful in fostering students’ historical thinking; they provide a visual entry point and prevent the reading barriers that students sometimes experience with text-based sources. Like other primary sources, photographs tell a story about history.

Getting Started with Analyzing Historical Photos

First, determine the major learning goals you hope students will achieve when studying a particular topic. Standards are a helpful guide, but they’re often broad. One state social studies standard regarding women’s suffrage states, “Examine the main ideas of the suffragists’ movement,” which can include many important ideas, including civil rights, equality, and representation.

Intentionally select historical photographs that reflect the major learning goals you’ve determined. Then, create questions for each step of the three-step analysis process while keeping in mind the purpose of each step.

Include several guiding questions for students to consider regardless of the photograph you select, such as “What do you observe in the photo?” and “What color is the photo?” Other guiding questions should be context-specific, such as “How does this source help us better understand the women’s suffrage movement?”

Read the full article about analyzing historical photos by Erin Piedmont at Edutopia.