Sometimes details get lost to history. But there is still plenty of time to pass on YOUR knowledge to your children or loved ones.
Help pass on the family knowledge with this fun exercise that combines the basics of news captioning with the thrill of learning family history. This activity is fun one-on-one and also works well with many family members together!
1) You’ll need a family photo that your child or loved one has never seen or is not very familiar with
2) Do NOT yet share anything about this photo with your child or loved one
3) Let your child or loved one see the photo.
1) Your child or loved one will write a caption for the photo as if it were a news image. Let them know they must try to be as accurate as possible without asking you any questions about the image. In other words, this is not an exercise in fiction; your child or loved one should aim to be as correct with info and details as they can.
2) Use the Caption Worksheet as a guide.
3) When your child or loved one finishes Page 1 of the worksheet, have them read it aloud. Check to see how accurate or not their caption is. This should result in some funny and probably wildly inaccurate captions! Laugh about it! It’s hard to guess the past on one’s own.
● Which aspects of the caption were correct? Which were incorrect? Please correct as much of the inaccurate information as you can.
● Can an image convey a mood or a feeling? If so, what mood or feelings do you each experience in response to this image?
● Does your child or loved one feel the same way about the photo as you do?
● What surprised you the most about this activity?
● What conclusions can you both draw about photography from this experience? (Hint: Photos lend themselves to differing reactions from different people—especially when they are viewed without a caption.)
Now your child or loved one has all the accurate information about the photo, or at least as much accurate information as you have at your disposal.
It’s time to bring the subject of the image to life anew by sharing stories you know about whoever is pictured in the photo – even if those stories have nothing to do with the photo itself.
Together you will write a new caption. But this time you get to break free from the journalism rules. Your caption can be as long as you like and can take any tone or style! Now, you’re both the family archivists, collecting artifacts and stories for posterity.
Ask your child or loved one to write the first draft of a caption that is inflected by the memories and stories you have shared with them.
Working together, add details to this new caption. Think about how the photo makes you both feel. Pay attention to the subject’s or subjects’ facial expressions. Does Great-Aunt Betty look happy? Does second cousin Jada seem lost in thought? Are there curious details in the background? How does the anecdote about second cousin Jada inform the way you both react to this photo?
There is no wrong way to do this activity. Have fun animating the subject or subjects in the photo!
Last step! Fill in one of these two sentences and add it to your new caption:
It’s important to know this family history because….
It’s important to learn about this person (these people) because…
Finally, encourage your child or loved one to partake in this optional follow-up discussion:
● How has the ability to photograph informed how we record history over time?
● How do photographs communicate information?
● How can a photograph be powerful, while simultaneously being limited as a tool of communication?
If you want to be featured on our social media, follow these steps: 1) Pick a frame you like and 2) email your choice of frame (they are numbered), your photo, and your caption to us at info@lostrollsamerica.com.
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Note: Must be 18 or older to send in content to Lost Rolls America