Picturing America Lessons

This is a collection of lessons for the classroom created by teachers and librarians for other teachers and librarians based on objects in the Picturing America collection. Images from the Picturing America collection can be found in the Gallery at http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/.

The Lessons

The Great Migration: A Look at "A Raisin in the Sun" and the artwork of Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden

Lesson created by: Kristen M. Biancuzzo, grade level: 9
Students will understand the impact of The Great Migration through an examination of literature and artwork.

The American West: Myth vs Reality

Lesson created by: Jill Foulis, grade level: 11 - US History II
Students will understand that what we think we know about Native Americans in the late 19th century isn't always truly representative of what happened.

19th Century American Landscape Painting

Lesson created by: Kathy Goos, grade level: 5-12
Students will understand that the American landscape is in transition in the mid 19th century and that artists are thinking about and documenting the way it is changing.

"Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange and Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Lesson created by: Joanne Grimes, grade level: upper elementary
Students will investigate Dorothea Lange's photo, "Migrant Mother", to discover what people in the 1930's saw in this photo that made them empathize with the plight of migrant workers.

Ladders in Art and Literature

Lesson created by: Nancy Henderson, grade level: 8
Students will understand that the history of civil rights is both long and complex, with ideas intertwining, growing and becoming increasingly powerful over time.

Voting and Representation in Democracies

Lesson created by: Crystal Hollister, grade level: 7
Students will examine the photo, Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights, 1965 by James Karales to gain information about democracy in the United States.

The Brooklyn Bridge: This is not a Bridge!

Lesson created by: Linda E. Neville, grade level: 7
Students will understand that artists can influence, reflect or change cultural understandings by the way in which they choose to interpret the world around them.

"Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Peaceably Assemble"

Lesson created by: Norene Pease, grade level: 6-8
Students will understand that photographs and paintings show the ideas of freedom of speech and the right of people to peaceably assemble.

Voter Rights

Lesson created by: Susan Pelis, grade level: 2 ELA
Students will study a photograph, Selma-to-Montgomery March for Voting Rights, 1965 by James Karales. They will understand that people had to do something brave to get the freedom they deserved.

Adaptations for Survival

Lesson created by: Stephanie Recore, grade level: 7-9 (lifeskills special education)
Students will look at John James Audubon's painting of the American Flamingo and make a list of adaptations the flamingo has made to survive in its habitat.

Just Sit and Watch the River Flow

Lesson created by: Jeremy Rogers, grade level: 9-12
Students will understand that the landscape is fluid and changes over time due in part to nature and also to the influence of human activity.

Picturing Our First President

Lesson created by: Carol Tafel, grade level: 1
Through art and literature students will explore George Washington's life and accomplishments. They will begin to understand the esteem in which his fellow citizens held George Washington during his lifetime, and the ways in which our first president was honored and remembered after his death.