Maps and 10x2

I hope you had a great spring break! Boy, it’s hard to come back to work, the real world, and the time change!

Do you remember what a “double take” is? In cartoons and the movies, the character often exaggerates this by turning his or her head more than once toward the thing they are double-taking on. They look and then they look again.

Man, don’t you WISH sometimes that your students would look -- and then actually look again -- AT CONTENT IN YOUR CLASS?

Let’s see how we can make this actually happen!

Here’s another great “Artful Thinking” strategy from Harvard’s Project Zero. It’s called “Looking Ten Times Two”. Those of you who went to February DWT at the James museum of Museum of Fine Arts had a chance to try this out last month.

I want to dig into the “how to” of this and then I want to talk about some places that you could use this strategy -- hopefully some that will work for you and your kids!

So, here’s what you need. An image -- a painting, a photograph, a drawing, a political cartoon, a map, or a picture of a sculpture.

Try THIS or THIS or THIS or THIS or THIS?

Here’s how it works:

1. Look at the image quietly for at least 30 seconds. Let your eyes wander.
2. List 10 words or phrases about any part or aspect of the picture.
3. Repeat steps 1 & 2: Look at the image again and try to add 10 more words. Or phrases to your list.

This strategy helps students slow down and make careful, detailed observations by encouraging them to push beyond first impressions and obvious features. It can be used with any kind visual art. You can also use non-art images or objects. The routine can be used on its own, or to deepen the observation step of another routine. It is especially useful before a writing activity because it helps students develop descriptive language.

What about using this with a map?

Try this map of when states abolished slavery or this map of the Korean War or this one of Alexander the Great’s empire or this one of the Great Migration in the US.

Now, have your kids use the “Looking Ten Times Two” strategy with the maps. Do they get more out of the maps this way?   

It’s hard to get and keep the attention of students. It’s hard, OURSELVES, to slow down and look at things more closely.

Try “Looking Ten Times Two” in order to look more closely at art and maps. See if it helps your kids dig into the visual in a better, deeper way.

Let me know how it goes! As always, email me and let me know how it goes!

-Tracy