Primary Sources: Propaganda and Vintage Posters

Best practices in history through primary sources, critical thinking with logic and inferences, expository writing, 21st Century Learning, more than a dozen standards from the Common Core, and creative extensions – all in one lesson!

In this lesson, students learn student-friendly propaganda technique definitions using “picture-notes”—an effective note-taking technique that fosters the visual-language connection. Depth of knowledge increases as students examine primary source posters and apply their knowledge of propaganda.

Using guiding questions, students search the details of three posters: one from the Depression era, one from World War 1, and one from World War II. Using the STOP and THINK statements to supplement their inquiry, students begin to form inferences supported by logic, details, and the primary sources.

For each poster, students follow with critical thinking activities ranging from analyzing graphic art techniques and completing graphic organizers to writing an expository short, constructed response. Teachers can choose from several extension activities as well.

This lesson includes all the primary sources teachers and students need, student activity sheets, planners and guides, suggested responses and all instructions.

Make this a one day lesson or a three to five hour series and beyond—it’s up to you.

These lessons can easily be adapted for 4th grade gifted and talented through high school. I suggest adapting the lesson by deciding how much help and guidance the teacher provides versus a wholly inquiry-based process. High school honors students, for example, may not be supplied the STOP and THINK portions of the lesson while a 5th grade class may work through the inquiry process together with the teacher.