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Responding to Primary Source Documents
Using Advertisements to Learn More About the Homes and Lives of Others

 

OBJECTIVE | INTRODUCTION | MATERIALS | PROCEDURE
ASSESSMENT | FOLLOW-UP | LEARNING STANDARDS | INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS

  

Adapted from lesson plan by Lois Olshan. P.S. 144Q

OBJECTIVE
To understand and interpret history through the use of primary source documents.

INTRODUCTION
 This activity aims to use the images portrayed in period advertisements to as a resource to see what life might have been like for a certain segment of society. The differences between homes 100 years ago and today can be seen by comparing and contrasting advertisements from then and now.

MATERIALS
Copies of Tiffany Studies advertisements, other period documents and current advertisements. Click on the icons for examples, and a new window will open with a large-scale version. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them.
A Tiffany Studios ad An ad for a House An ad for a house

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PROCEDURE
 Ask the class to read the text of the documents, get some responses to the ads. What do they notice?

Look at the words in bold print, or words that are larger (or in a different style) than the rest of the ad text. Why are the words bigger/ different? What is the idea behind making them stand out from the rest of the text?

What groups of people are the ads trying to reach? What makes the furnishings special?

What do these ads tell you about life in New York 100 years ago?

Find an example of a modern advertisement for home design. Compare the advertisements from the different eras. What do these advertisements tell you about how people live today?

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ASSESSMENT
 What was the class able to learn from looking at the advertisements? Were they able to make inferences from the pictures? A writing assignment may also be set to have the class articulate the information that they gained from the resources.

FOLLOW-UP
 Create an ad for your own Tiffany inspired lamp design
Build a Victorian Dollhouse

LEARNING STANDARDS
Information about state and national Learning Standards is available at http://www.topicseducation.com/links.htm. Please note: selecting this link will open a new browser window on your computer.

INTERDISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS
 Art
Literacy
Social Studies

 
 
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