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Log crew working above Sunderland Bridge
Sunderland Library
Sunderland, Mass. The Old Button Ball Tree
Sunderland Bridge and Sugar Loaf Mountain
Old Caleb Hubbard Tavern, at Plumtrees. Sunderland-First Home of Pacific Lodge, 1801
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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that photographs play a role in helping people understand and learn about history. By taking photographs of their own town, its buildings, its people and its landscape, students will open their own eyes and cameras to the world around them. By comparing their own pictures with older photographs of the town (including some from the digital collection) , they will better understand their role as historians and students of history. They will better understand that photographs have a story to tell.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
To excite students about this project, students will view some older pictures of their town that have been taken by relatives or are posted on their own town website. The teacher will guide them with questions to get them thinking even deeper about each one? Questions will be asked for each photo. For example, for the logs crew photo... why are the logs in the water and where did they come from? What is the historical value of the old photo for viewers today? What can we learn about the time period? How might the scene be different today? Questions might be individually constructed for each picture or more general questions might be composed that suit most photographs.
Step 2.
Students will then be assigned the task for homework of taking numerous photographs of their school's hometown. The will choose their favorite three photos to share. They will also be asked to create at least three questions to ask the viewers about their photos with the photo's story in mind. For instance, if they took a picture of a building, they might ask, "Do you think the building was built a long time ago or in modern times? How can you tell? Do you think this building was built for public use or as a private home? How can you tell? Other interesting questions could be modeled. "If this building could talk, what story do you think it could tell about itself? Why do you think the item you photographed was made or built or invented? What will the item be like 100 years from now?"
Step 3.
Students will share their pictures with each other and ask each other about the stories in their photos. An important discussion will take place about documenting history. In some cases, students may have documented something that is already old but it might have changed since earlier photos. In other cases, they might have documented something that has been created more recently that hasn't changed yet, but might serve a purpose for viewing history and change in the future. Discussion will then take place about what would others learn about their town from viewing our pictures? How might these images change over time and why?
Step 4.
Students will post these pictures on the school or town web site for others to enjoy! They will continue this project over the course of the year.
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