Clark, Penney. “Exploring Visual Resources with Elementary Students.” (2013)

Photographs, paintings, films and other visual resources can convey meaning that would take pages of text to describe. Since they are so important, visual resources should be a key element in social studies programs. However, the visuals are often overlooked and students need to be taught to examine the visual representations from a critical perspective. Visual presentations offer not only information and insight but are deliberate contractions rather than a mere construct of reality. The chapter discusses the classroom use of photographs and paintings as well as visual representations that have an audio component such as films and videos. The author begins with a discussion of the available visual resources to social studies teachers. She discusses the concerns about interpreting paintings and photographs solely at face value and offers suggestions for how to delve deeper and to interrogate the use of these visual resources. She discusses how paintings do not always show what actually happened but are an artist’s representation of the event. Also, photographs are unreliable in four ways according to the author: photographs may be staged to deliver a specific message, they may depict an atypical event, photographs may be deliberately altered, and they may exclude important aspects of a situation. The author suggests there are many strategies that can be used to interrogate photographs and paintings such as asking different kinds of questions designed to attend to detail, consider geographic data, consider historical data, consider emotional context, consider aesthetic qualities, and consider photographer’s or artist’s perspective. Audiovisuals offer a different way to gather information for less capable readers. To help students become critical viewers of audio-visual materials, the author offers eight sample groups of questions in the areas of dialogue, actors, character development, colour and lighting, music, camera angle and choice of shot, selection and arrangement of scenes, and overall impression. The author offers previewing, viewing and follow-up activities for the use of audiovisual materials in the classroom. These activities are designed to turn an entertaining distraction into an educational experience.