Lesson 2: Children at Work: A Look into the Past
Priscilla Kron
AHTC Summer Institute: 2008
To download this lesson as a pdf, please click here.
Abstract:
In this lesson students will
analyze photographs and cartoons related to the issue of child labor.
Essential Questions/Enduring Understandings:
• What do the photos of Lewis Hine illustrate?
• What emotions are tied to photos of children at labor?
• How do cartoons comment on social issues?
• How do primary sources enrich our understanding of history?
Assessment:
The students will complete a document analysis form for both a
photograph and a cartoon. They will also
complete an exit slip about the value of primary resources.
Setting the Purpose:
Students will analyze photographs of child labor by the famous Lewis
Hine and think about their emotional response to them. They will also analyze
cartoons to see how they offer a different perspective of the issue. They will
use this experience with primary sources to discuss the legal aspect of child
labor in the next lesson.
Duration:
One class period.
Procedure:
Part 1: Building Background
•
Display the chart of work that
students dictated in the previous lesson.
• Ask students if they know of other kinds of
work that children might have done in the past (child labor).
• Briefly discuss why children were allowed
to perform these types of labor.
Part 2: Photo Analysis
• Put students into pairs and give each student a Photo Analysis
Form.
• Give each pair of students a copy of a
Lewis Hine photograph to analyze by answering the questions on the sheet.
• Photos are available at:
• Library of Congress:
National Child Labor Committee Collection
Part 3: Cartoon Analysis
• Hand out one Cartoon Analysis Form to each
student.
• As a large group, respond to each section
of the form for one of the
cartoons suggested in Child Labor Cartoon Choices,
• If time is available, briefly analyze other
cartoons about child labor.
Part 4:
Exit Slip
• In the final few minutes of the class, hand
out the Exit Slip for students
to complete.
• Collect the exit slips from the students as
they leave the class.
Analysis of
Primary Sources:
Students will use two document analysis forms to
respond to the primary sources
in the lesson.
Attachments: