Introduction to ‘What’s Going On in This Picture?’

Every Sunday night we post an intriguing image from The New York Times without its caption. Then, on Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern, we host a live-moderated discussion with facilitators from Visual Thinking Strategies where students engage in a conversation about the picture and are prompted to find evidence to back up their guesses about the photo’s context. Students can continue to comment all week, until, on Thursdays, we reveal the caption and “back story” of the image.

Teachers tell us that this multimedia feature builds critical thinking and close reading skills and is especially accessible to younger learners, English language learners and students with language-based disabilities.

Ready to use this multimedia feature? Get started here.

Find all of our Learning Network tutorials in this video playlist.