1. Picturing American History
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2. Visual Literacy and the Common Core
Level of Examination
Compare and Contrast
Common Core Learning Framework
Key Ideas and Details
Comparing ideas within and across texts
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analysis of multiple sources and perspectives
Understanding multiple perspectives
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3. How do we define reading?
The “traditional” definition includes:
The process of recognizing vocabulary and decoding printed text.
The process of making meaning from text with an emphasis on vocabulary, phonics, fluency and comprehension.
More recently, reading is defined in a broader sense to include visual literacy.
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4. What is visual literacy?
Visual literacy is the ability to interpret information presented in the form of an image.
Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read”.
Students view an image and construct an interpretation.
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5. What are the levels of “reading” an image?
Level 1 is basic identification of the subject or elements in a graphic, photograph, or work of art.
Level 2 is understanding what we see and comprehending visual relationships.
Level 3 is placing the image in the broader context of the historical period.
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6. Why is visual literacy a critical skill for analyzing history?
Visual literacy activities provide access to content for students who have difficulty reading text.
Primary source documents in history are often visual; paintings, photographs, cartoons and other images figure prominently in the resources that are available for students.
State and local assessments frequently ask students to interpret images.
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7. Our Focus The Atomic Age and Life in the 1950s
The atomic age began against the backdrop of the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War.
The United States developed and then used atomic weapons against the Japanese in 1945.
In 1949, the Soviet Union developed atomic weapon capabilities..
How did Americans react to these events in the 1950s?
How was this reaction captured by photojournalists?
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8. What is photojournalism?
A journalist tells stories. A photographer takes pictures of people, places and things.
A photojournalist takes the best of both and locks it into the most powerful medium available - frozen images.
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10. Taking a Closer Look
Using the Image Analysis Worksheet, complete questions 1 – 3.
Observation. What do you see in this photograph?
Inference. Make some reasonable guesses about this photograph.
When, would you guess, was the photograph taken?
Where was the photograph taken?
Why are the people here, doing what they are doing?
Why was this photograph taken, would you guess?
Inquiry. Write a question that is left unanswered by this photograph.
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11. Read “Air Raid Drills” and excerpt from Alex Martin, Baby Boomer
Review your responses to questions 1 – 3.
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12. Air raid drills became common place in schools across America, particularly after the 1951 release of the now-iconic film, Duck and Cover.  With the help of the upbeat cartoon character, Bert the Turtle, Duck and Cover advised children to take cover at the first flash of a nuclear blast or first sound of a warning siren.  In order to be “protected” children were encouraged to “duck to avoid the things flying through the air,” and then “cover to keep from getting cut or even badly burned.”  School children were also encouraged to wear metal identification tags, so that in the event of a nuclear attack, their bodies would be able to be identified by survivors. 
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13. "Well, we had air raid drills when I was in grade school, sure
"Well, we had air raid drills when I was in grade school, sure. You know, it was a little bit like a fire drill except you don't run outside. You go to a portion of the building that was deemed to be most safe in the event of an attack and cover your head, perhaps get under the desk. And coupled with those things there was a certain amount of interest in people building backyard bomb shelters. And fortifying them with provisions so they could wait out a reasonable interval that they hope would be safe when they emerge. So, the Cold War, that's past now, and today people who were born in the last 20 years probably can't appreciate that… "And it got a lot of press locally at the time. So, it was in front of you. And because it's in front of you you're constantly reminded that this is or could be a threat. You really didn't have a good idea what you could do about it." Alex Martin, Baby Boomer on air raid drills
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14. Then, complete questions 4 – 9.
Who was the photographer? For whom was the photographer working? Do you think that the photographer has a message beyond simply documenting the moment? If so, what might the message have been?
Write a question that is still left unanswered about the photograph.
What would be a good title for the photograph?
Write a question that you would like to ask the people in the photograph.
Write a question that you would like to ask the photographer.
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16. Taking a Closer Look
Using the Image Analysis Worksheet, complete questions 1 – 3.
Observation. What do you see in this photograph?
Inference. Make some reasonable guesses about this photograph.
When, would you guess, was the photograph taken?
Where was the photograph taken?
Why are the people here, doing what they are doing?
Why was this photograph taken, would you guess?
Inquiry. Write a question that is left unanswered by this photograph.
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17. Read “Fallout Shelters” and excerpt from Ted Sorensen.
Review your responses to questions 1 – 3.
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18. Most government manuals recommend staying inside a fallout shelter for about two weeks. Although the amount of time it takes for radiation to disappear varies, from a few days to two weeks, most people take the "better safe than sorry" stance on this issue. Most are equipped with radiation detection devices and battery-powered radios to stay informed.
So what do people need in a fallout shelter? Although we're used to eating food on a regular basis, storing lots of food in a fallout shelter isn't the biggest concern. Humans can survive quite easily for two weeks without much food, but it's water that's important if people are going to stay underground for long periods of time. FEMA suggests a minimum of 3.5 gallons of drinking water per person to last the two weeks.
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19. "Oh, well, in many parts of the country, kids were trained in school to duck under their desks when the nuclear alarm rang. Not that ducking under their desks would have done them the slightest bit of good. Many homes even had air raid shelters in their basement of backyard. Nuclear bomb shelters! "If they were truly air tight, and if you could truly stay done there for weeks and weeks until the nuclear fallout had passed, some people might have survived that way. But, in the meantime they would have been fighting off their neighbors and maybe perishing from eating rotten food. Who knows?" Ted Sorensen on fall out shelters.
© 2012 CICERO Systems™

20. Then, complete questions 4 – 9.
Who was the photographer? For whom was the photographer working? Do you think that the photographer has a message beyond simply documenting the moment? If so, what might the message have been?
Write a question that is still left unanswered about the photograph.
What would be a good title for the photograph?
Write a question that you would like to ask the people in the photograph.
Write a question that you would like to ask the photographer.
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21. Visual Literacy and Accountable Talk
Once the historic context for an image has been set and students analyze each of the images, they can compare the images.
Discussion or accountable talk can be structured around a series of guided questions.
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22. Digger Deeper Comparing Two Images
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23. Describe the scene and the figures in each image.
What are the similarities and differences?
Compare the setting of each image.
How does the setting contribute to the meaning of the image?
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24. Describe the mood of each work.
How did the photographer achieve that mood?
Each photograph is about The Atomic Age.
How does the photographer want the viewer to feel about the main subject?
Find something in the photograph that supports your opinion.
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25. What is similar and different about each composition?
Photographers plan their work and give careful thought to the arrangement of people and objects.
How has each photographer placed his figures to enhance the “story” of the photograph?
What is similar and different about each composition?
How does each image add to your understanding of the impact of the atomic age on life in America in the 1950s?
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26. Small or large, all nuclear blasts create fireballs with temperatures exceeding 300,000 degrees celsius. These fireballs act as shock waves that blow down everything in their path for many kilometres around. The explosion also results in hurricane winds and firestorms over large areas.
In addition to great heat and blast, nuclear bombs also result in radiation in the form of gamma rays, neutrons and alpha and beta particles. Radioactive reactions of a nuclear blast generally occur in two ways. The first is an immediate radioactivity pulse, which can kill people on the spot if the dose is high enough. The second form is persistent radioactivity or one that continues to be present even after the blast. This is produced partly from unused fuel, partly from radioactive decay products of the fuel generated during the explosion, and partly from materials that absorb radiation.
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27. All of these together constitute radioactive 'dust' or fallout
All of these together constitute radioactive 'dust' or fallout. After the blast is over, this radioactive dust hangs in the atmosphere. As it is spread all around by wind and rain, it contaminates water and air. These contaminated elements are consumed by plants and thus enter into the bodies of other organisms in the food chain. So even when the blast itself is finished, living beings continue to suffer from its after-effects. Many of these components emit radiation for really large periods of time, ranging for a thousand years or more.
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28. Pairing Images with Resources from Cicero
Image #1: Video: Duck and Cover
Image #2: Video: Atomic Bomb Test
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29. Using Images to Analyze Point of View and Present Multiple Perspectives
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33. How might you use image analysis in your social studies classroom?
What adaptations would you make?
What might be some contemporary connections?
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34. Connections to Today Contemporary connections include:
9/11 and the War on Terrorism
Hurricane Katrina
The Gulf Oil Spill
The war in Afghanistan and Iraq
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35. For Further Discussion
Discussion questions include:
How and why has the United States’ relationship with the Soviets changed since the 1950s?
Who are our enemies today?
How does a war of ideologies differ from a terrorist war?
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36. Extension Activities
Analysis of images can be springboards for other content area literacy activities.
Elementary and Middle/ Making Images Come Alive
Provide the historical context of the image.
Project the image and have students discuss the photographer’s message and how the image represents this message.
Reproduce the image with dialogue boxes.
Choose one character and model an historically accurate voice.
Have students work in groups to create dialogue for the remaining characters in the image.
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37. All Levels/ Giving the Image a Voice
Have students choose one character and write a speech, poem or journal entry in that person’s voice.
Have students choose one character and interview him or her.
Have students build on the dialogue boxes and create an historically accurate conversation between or among the characters.
Have a group of students create a tableaux where they recreate the image and step into the shoes of the characters.
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38. Middle and High/ Creating a New Perspective
Project several images of an historical person from the time period.
Have students work in groups to generate a list of characteristics of that person based on the images.
Read and analyze a famous speech by the person.
Have students compare their thoughts on the individual as portrayed in the image and his or her words in the document.
Evaluate whether or not the person’s words coincided with the artist’s portrayal.
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39. Compare the 1943 images of Stalin to his reply to Churchill,1946
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40. Final Thoughts
Visual literacy supports students in making meaning of historical events and people.
It supports students who struggle to read and understand text.
It engages students in the study of history as students are increasingly familiar with visual images.
It supports critical thinking skills.
It provides an entry point into the study of history.
© 2012 CICERO Systems™