Before Reading
KWL (Know-Want to Know-Learned): List what you think are the five most important events in Alaska’s history. Be ready to defend your choices.
Personal Applications: What part of Alaska’s history do you find most interesting? Why? What part of Alaska’s history would you like to know more about?
While Reading
Point of View: Write a narrative from the point of view of a person, animal, or object in one of the photos. Share and discuss.
Themes: Identify themes in representative photos from each chapter. What significant themes emerge? Collaborative groups may log their observations on particular themes, presenting their findings in visual and oral form upon completion of the book. Possible themes: hope, triumph, adversity, tenacity, and independence.
Cultural Connections: Chart the old ways and new ways of living observed in the chapter “First Alaskans.” Discuss the value of traditions and the ways in which they can be preserved. Write a letter to one of the people in the pictures discussing the importance of traditions and suggestions for the future.
After Reading
Revisit the Pre-reading Activities: Reconsider the five events you chose as most important in Alaskan history and the events you found most interesting. Having finished the book, which events would you choose now?
Passages: Select your favorite quote from the book and illustrate in poster form.
•Reviews: Write a review of the book. You may submit these to web sites such as www.amazon.com
Predictions: The book covers Alaskan history from the advent of photography through the Pipeline era. What events, photographs, and quotes would you add if the book went all the way to the present?
Classroom Event: Host an Alaska living history celebration. Each student plays the part of a person represented in one of the photos. Invite students from younger grades to talk with the people represented about their lives. Compile a collection of writings by the living history characters and the children who “met” them.
Creative writing: Write poems based on one or more of the pictures.
Author Dialogue: Students may email the author at debv@gci.net with questions and comments. The author is also available for school visits; go to www.DebVanasse.com for more information.
Interdisciplinary Connections
Social Studies: Examine geographic and economic factors that impacted the development of Alaska from prehistoric times through the Pipeline era. Select photos from the book to illustrate your findings.
Art: Make a collage of photos representing one aspect of Alaskan history. Include at least one primary source quote that is not from the book.
Science and Technology: Using a timeline or other graphic, chart the progress of photography from earliest photos in the book to the most recent. How did changing technology impact the type and qualities of photos over the years?
