'Iolani School Archives: Building Community & Place-based Learning

*Also see the Teaching and Primary Sources box in the Links tab of this guide.

K-1 Faculty!

As you continue your lessons related to building community for our youngest members, please consider this activity as a means of integrating primary source materials and place-based learning. It introduces students to a primary source photograph while promoting teamwork and observation.
The following is primarily intended to complement your existing teaching units.
Select from Version A or B below based on time availability.

Grade: K-1; can be modified for other grades.

Location: Classroom or 'Iolani School Archives. Adaptable for Distance Learning.

Version A - Group Flash Analysis:

Preparation:

• Select photograph(s) from below. Recommendation: do not exceed 3 images.

Activity:

• Display/Project the photograph in front of the class. Ask:
  What do you see in the photograph?
  • people
  • clothing
  • activities
  • technology
  • landscape
  • buildings
• Encourage discussion.
  • OBSERVE - I see ___
  • REFLECT - I think ___
  • QUESTION - I wonder ___

Version B - Student Partners Analysis:

Materials:

• Sheet protectors a.k.a. document sleeves
• dry-erase markers, 1 for each student, half red and half green
• photograph copies, half the number of students

Preparation:

• Select photograph(s) from below. Recommendation: do not exceed 3 images.
• Make enough copies for half the number of student in the class (1 for every 2 students)
• Place photograph copies inside sheet protectors

Activity:

• Divide the students into pairs (groups of 2).
• Give pairs a photograph copy that has already been inserted into a sheet protector.
• Give each pair a red and a green dry-erase marker.
• Explain to the students that they will be working with their partner to find similarities and differences in the students and classrooms in the photograph as compared to their own. In each pair, the student with the green marker will circle the things that are the same; the student with the red marker will circle the things that are different.
• Allow time for the students to work as a pair.
• Call attention back as a group
• Display/Project the photograph in front of the class and invite each pair to share something they found with the whole class.
  Encourage discussion.
  • OBSERVE - I see ___
  • REFLECT - I think ___
  • QUESTION - I wonder ___
• If more than one photograph was used, repeat for each image.
  Recommendation: do not exceed 3 images.

Photographs from the 'Iolani School Archives:

Ala Wai Campus (current campus) - Photographs of kindergarten boys and girls in school year 1985/86.
LSPC_SY1985-86K_co1998_game.jpg
LSPC_SY1985-86K_co1998_matching.jpg
LSPC_SY1985-86K_co1998_playgd.jpg
LSPC_SY1985-86_co1998_puppet.jpg
LSPC_SY1985-86_co1998_reading.jpg

Nu'uanu Campus: Boys in classrooms at a previous campus of 'Iolani School.
CAW-SY1939-40-Grade2_lo.jpg
CAW-1939-40-neg_0013.jpg

Photograph Based Questions - Examining Primary Sources:

• What do you see? / What do you notice?
• What is the same as ___ (now, your classroom, etc.)?
• What is different?
• What seems important?
• What seems unusual?
• What do you think is happening in the photo?
• What questions do you have about this photo?
• What questions do you have for the person who took the photo?

Building Community & Place-Based Learning
Grades: K - 1st

Learning Objectives:

2. Find and access
D. Understand that historical records may never have existed, may not have survived, or may not be collected and/or publicly accessible.

3. Read, Understand and Summarize
D. Identify and communicate information found in primary sources, including summarizing the content of the source and identifying and reporting key components such as how it was created, by whom, when, and what it is.

4. Interpret, Analyze and Evaluate
C. Situate a primary source in context by applying knowledge about the time and culture in which it was created, the author or creator, its format, genre, publication history, or related materials in a collection.