10 Intriguing Photographs to Teach Close Reading and Visual Thinking Skills
Updated, March 17, 2016 | We have published a companion piece: “8 Compelling Mini-Documentaries to Teach Close Reading and Critical Thinking Skills.”
Ever want your students to slow down and notice details when they read — whether they’re perusing a book, a poem, a map or a political cartoon? Young people often want to hurry up and make meaning via a quick skim or a cursory glance when a text can demand patience and focus.
Closely reading any text, whether written or visual, requires that students proceed more slowly and methodically, noticing details, making connections and asking questions. This takes practice. But it certainly helps when students want to read the text.
We’ve selected 10 photos from The Times that we’ve used previously in our weekly “What’s Going On in This Picture?” and that have already successfully caught students’ and teachers’ attention. These are some of our most popular images — ones that may make viewers say “huh?” on first glance, but that spark enough curiosity to make them want to dig deeper. (Please Note: You can quickly learn the backstory about any of these photos by clicking the link in each caption that takes you to the original post, then scrolling down to find the “reveal.”)
Below, we offer ideas from students and teachers who have engaged with these images for ways to use them, or images like them, to teach close reading and visual thinking skills.
1. Be Detectives: Looking closely can almost be like a game, Shirley Jackson, a teacher in Sydney, Australia, said:
I stumbled across your site while looking for alternate ideas. My class of 10-12-year-olds absolutely love the photos and the back story became a competition
To read on go to:
