About This Lesson
In this activity, students take on the role of textbook editors tasked with selecting images to represent various historical eras or events. The class is divided into two groups:
- Set A students receive images that highlight positive or sanitized aspects of history.
- Set B students receive images that emphasize negative or controversial aspects.
Both sets include identical contextual information. Students work individually or in pairs to write captions for their assigned images. Then, they collaborate with peers from the opposite set to compare captions and perspectives. Together, they decide which images and captions should be included in a final textbook version.
This lesson encourages critical thinking, historical interpretation, and media literacy by prompting students to consider how visual representation shapes historical narratives.
