Lesson Plan

It's All About Framing!

Israel has a rich and robust cultural life and has always valued the contribution of artists and athletes. Both arts and sports entail hard work and endurance, although the final product or achievement is not always easy to actualize. We often celebrate moments collectively, like winning a world championship or unveiling a beautifully designed building, but we do not always appreciate the long process and hard work that led up to this impressive achievement. In this unit we will practice the skill of zooming in and out, focusing on the details but also seeing them in the broader context. By taking a closer look at Israel’s cultural life, we will gain a new perspective on life in Israel.

Practice the skill of zooming in and out and take a closer look at Israel’s cultural life.

Group Activity

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.

Discussion Questions

  • 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?

Creative Activity

  • 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.
Save/Print PDF

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.

Primary sources in this lesson

Primary source in this Game

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It's All About Framing!

Israel has a rich and robust cultural life and has always valued the contribution of artists and athletes. Both arts and sports entail hard work and endurance, although the final product or achievement is not always easy to actualize. We often celebrate moments collectively, like winning a world championship or unveiling a beautifully designed building, but we do not always appreciate the long process and hard work that led up to this impressive achievement. In this unit we will practice the skill of zooming in and out, focusing on the details but also seeing them in the broader context. By taking a closer look at Israel’s cultural life, we will gain a new perspective on life in Israel.

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60 min.

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