It's All About Framing!

Experience a “ZOOM IN ZOOM OUT” slideshow of one (or more) of the primary sources. At first, only a specific detail is presented, and learners are asked to guess what the primary source is. The educator gradually uncovers more on each slide. This exercise enables the learners to use their deductive skills and to experience a new approach to making observations.

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• What questions come to mind when you look at these primary sources?
• Why do you think the artist, photographer or journalist chose to include specific elements in their work?
• How does your background and historical period affect your perspective?
• How did the zoom in technique impact the way you observed the primary source?
• What elements of the source were the most engaging for you? Why?

• Create a memory game, where each pair of cards consists of (1) a primary source (zoom out) and (2) a detail from it (zoom in). To win, participants need to match the two. Prepare the game and then switch to play with decks created by your classmates!
• Write a postcard to one of the creators of the primary sources. Tell them how your perspective has been impacted as a result of examining their work. Add a reference to something from your world (e.g., an art, music, or sports reference) that you think the creator would appreciate based on what you now know about them.
• Use one of these primary sources to send as a postcard to someone you think would appreciate the image. Write a short letter on the back, explaining the image and what it symbolizes.
• Choose a detail or item from the primary source (e.g., an object, animal, person, word) and write a short blurb from that item’s point of view.