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Visual Literacy

Activities and Lesson Plans that explore visual sources

20th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 4 and Up, Visual Literacy

Latinx Discrimination

Black-and-white sign on a wall reading "We Serve White's Only; No Spanish or Mexicans." Originally from the Russell Lee Photograph Collection, Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
November 9, 2022

Classroom Materials, Resources, Visual Literacy

Historical Thinking in Elementary Classrooms

Black and white newsboys posing in front of a stone building holding stacks of newspapers.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson are the authors of Examining the Evidence: Seven Strategies for Teaching with Primary Sources. American historian James Harvey Robinson said, “In its amplest meaning History includes every trace and vestige of everything that man…

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 7, 2022

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Lesson Plans, Visual Literacy

Women’s Suffrage

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 6, 2022

20th Century, Activities, Grades 4 and Up, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Visual Literacy

World War II and US Visual Culture

Painting of a white woman wearing blue work overalls and goggles on her forehead. She sits on a box while eating a sandwich. A riveter tool lays across her lap, and her feet rest on a copy of Mein Kampf. The background is in American flag.

Mark Pohlad, PhD
February 28, 2022

19th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 4 and Up, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Visual Literacy

Immigration and Universal Suffrage

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
July 12, 2021

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Lesson Plans, Visual Literacy

All Together in World War I

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
July 7, 2021

20th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades K-3, Visual Literacy

In the Train Station

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
June 25, 2021

19th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Visual Literacy

Comparing Portraits

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
June 25, 2021

20th Century, Activities, Classroom Materials, Grades K-3, Visual Literacy

The Clarke-Hanneford Family

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
June 23, 2021

17th Century, 18th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Lesson Plans, Visual Literacy

Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America: C3 Activity (Grades 9-12)

This is part of a set of classroom materials for the Digital Collection Maps and the Beginnings of North America.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
January 22, 2020

17th Century, 18th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Grades 6 and Up, Grades 8 and Up, Lesson Plans, Visual Literacy

Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America: Unit Plan (Grades 6-12)

This is part of a set of classroom materials for the Digital Collection Maps and the Beginnings of North America.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
January 17, 2020

17th Century, 18th Century, Classroom Materials, Grades 4 and Up, Grades 6 and Up, Lesson Plans, Visual Literacy

Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America: Visual Literacy Class Activity (Grades K-8)

This is part of a set of classroom materials for the Digital Collection Maps and the Beginnings of North America.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
January 15, 2020