• Lesson Objectives
  
• Related National Standards
  
• Key Critical Questions
  
• Estimated Time
  
• Collaborative Activities
  
• Case Studies
  
• Culminating Activity
  
• Helpful Web sites
  
• Assessment Recommendations
  
• Extension/Adaptation Ideas
  
• Online Resources
  
  

Related National Standards
National Standards for Social Studies Teachers (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/teachers/vol1/global.shtml)
Standard IX Global Connections
High school teachers can assist learners in thinking systematically about personal, national, and global decisions, interactions, and consequences, including addressing critical issues such as peace, human rights, trade, and global ecology. They might ask learners to formulate policy statements that demonstrate an understanding of concerns, standards, issues, and conflicts related to universal human rights, or to illustrate how individual behaviors and decisions connect with global systems.

The lesson also can be used to fulfill components of The National Standards for Arts Education (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/professional_resources/standards/natstandards/index.html)

Students should "be able to develop and present basic analyses of works of art from structural, historical, and cultural perspectives, and from combinations of those perspectives." Students can evaluate how the artistic aspects of image enchance its impact on the viewer.

Key Critical Questions

When looking at the photos, teachers and students should examine:

How do photographs affect us emotionally?

How can photographs affect us ideologically?

How can photographs affect the way we feel about a situation? How does the text or context surrounding a photo affect the way we see the photo?

How can photography be used as a social action tool?

How do individuals and advocacy groups make use of photographs in a meaningful way?

How can individuals and advocacy groups make photographs accessible to a wide range of people?

What are some of the serious problems plaguing the world today? How might photographs affect awareness?

How might photographs become a catalyst to action?

How might photojournalism be used in local community outreach?

How might photography help museums, schools and other institutions raise social consciousness?

Estimated Time to Complete Lesson
1 class period to set up activity (steps 1-3), 24-hour period for students to collect research research, 1 class period for planning exhibit, and 1 class period for sharing results and follow-up discussion.

Teaching Strategy

Collaborative Activities
Have students choose a news story that has international impact and find related pictures in newspapers and magazines from around the world. (Ecola Newsstand (http://www.ecola.com) is a wonderful resource of English-language newspapers from around the globe.) How is the same news story presented differently through the photographs printed in different papers, in different countries? What similarities are there in the photographs used? What criteria for selecting photos do editors seem to use? (Teachers can choose to deal exclusively with domestic issues if that works best with their curriculum or available resources.)

Using photographs from newspapers, magazines, book anthologies, or individual prints obtained from libraries or the World Wide Web, have students describe how these photographs tell stories and expand upon the relevant social issue(s) (or the stories presented in the articles).

Next, ask students to name various local, national and/or global social, economic, political, and cultural problems. List these problems on a blackboard. Divide students into small groups of three to five each, and ask each group to select one social problem listed on the board that they think would be a good focus for a photography exhibit geared toward presenting this issue to an audience. Guide students to select an issue that is not only meaningful to them, but one that can be illuminated through photojournalism. Use the critical questions listed above to inform the selection of both a social issue to focus the exhibit and to inform the selection of the individual photographs for the exhibit.

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

After each group has made their selection, explain that groups will be acting as the creators of photography exhibits on their topics and will face the challenges other exhibit creators face. Each group should investigate the answers to the following questions to begin planning their exhibit:

--What advocacy groups might support their exhibit? (Students will be able to research their social issues online to find groups that might support their exhibit.)

--What kinds of pictures would the exhibit have, and what photographers might want to participate?

-- How does setting affect the mood and context of the exhibit?

-- How could this topic be physically presented in the exhibit for maximum impact?

-- How can you make your display accessible to the widest range of people, or people you'd especially hope will see it?

-- What can you do to facilitate follow-up action on the part of exhibit's viewers?

Have students mount and market real world or online exhibits. They should be prepared to follow-up exhibits with resources to help those influenced by their exhibits to take action in some way. Sample ideas may include online petitions, e-mail campaigns, donations, protest actions, etc.

Helpful Web Sites
Behind the Viewfinder — Year in the Life of Photojournalism
http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/YITL/about.html
Web site conceived to combat the negative stereotype of photojournalists as paparazzi. Instead this web site focuses on community photojournalists whose pictures are factual records of history. Users can explore the various journals of photojournalist contributors along with their bios. Great site for those interested in exploring the daily realities and hardships of a professional photojournalist.

Fotophile.com
http://www.fotophile.com/links/photojournalism.htm
Fotophile.com provides users the ability to explore the manifold dimensions of photojournalism. The site catalogues links to assorted pieces of photojournalism categorized by country. Interesting links includes photography of the Afghan War and a compilation of photos entitled "China: 50 Years Inside the People's Republic." Other links provide resources on those photojournalists and their work that redefined the genre.

Photos of the Century: 100 Years of Images from AP's Newspaper Members, Subscribers
http://wire.ap.org/APpackages/centuryphotos/
Incredible web site featuring the pictures that captured the historical significance of the great events of the 20th century. The site allows viewers the ability to choose which decade of photos to view and the ability to scroll through them. Included are such famous pictures as "The Picket Line," "The Loneliest Job in the World," the assassination of RFK and the Kent State Massacre.

Pulitzerprize.org
http://www.pulitzer.org/Archive/archive.html
Catalogues the various winners of the Pulitzer Prize in photojournalism. The winning pictures are only available between 1995 - 2002 although the names of the winners are available in print since the awards inception. Website allows users to click on the year to view the winners in the various categories, including the awards for photojournalism: breaking news photography and feature photography.

Assessment Recommendations
Students may be assessed through their: