For Students and Families:
- Activities You Can Do At Home
- Create Your Own Camera!
- Design Your Own Picture Frame!
- Make Your Own Collage!
For Teachers
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art presents art-infused lesson plans and activities for the classroom. As The State Art Museum of Florida, the Museum’s vision is to develop and promote programs that foster creative appreciation and critical thinking skills while working as a community resource to cultivate enjoyment and understanding of the arts and culture. Each lesson and activity incorporates Florida’s Sunshine State Standards.
The Glasier Glass Plate Negative Collection is an invaluable resource to teachers and students interested in photography, popular culture, and its place in the historical narrative.
Lesson Plans
The following lesson plans are to serve as a guideline. Each lesson was designed at an upper elementary to middle school student level. Feel free to make adaptations as needed. There is an interactive quiz for the purpose of evaluation. See each unit for a brief description option.
The lessons are divided into units to go along with the Glasier Gallery categories. Click on a unit for a description of the lesson and PDF download option.
Educational Resources
The Ringling Museum of Art Library is one of the largest art museum libraries in the Southeast United States, containing more than 65,000 holdings, including books, exhibition catalogues, periodicals and auction catalogues.
For more information about the Library, its hours, and staff, click here.
Noted below are additional resources about Frederick W. Glasier and photography found in the Ringling Museum of Art Library. In addition to a listing of books and publications, you will also see links to other websites with additional information and activities. If you have additions to suggest, please feel free to contact us.
- On Frederick W. Glasier:
- Bradbury, Joseph T. "The Old Circus Album: A Historic Look at Shows of the Past." The White Tops, 41 (January/February, 1968): 24-27
- Burke, Gay Ann. Circus Photographs From the Ringling Collection by Fed Whitman Glasier. Master's thesis, University of Florida, 1972.
- Glasier, Emma C. "Talking Leaves," 1927. (pamphlet)
- King, J. C. H. Native American portraits: photographs by Frederick W. Glasier, pocket album. New York: Eakins Press Foundation, 2004.
- Lentz, John. "Another Look at Glasier's Historic Circus Photographs." Bandwagon, 29 (November/December, 1985):32-34.
- "Photos by Old-time Lensman: Valuable Circus Records are Acquired." Sarasota Herald-Tribune (April 5, 1964): 41.
- Sloan, Mark. Wild, Weird, and Wonderful: the American circus 1901-1927 as seen by F. W. Glasier, photographer. NY: Quantuck Lane, distributed by Norton, 2003.
- Walk, Deborah W. The Big Top: Photographs by Frederick W. Glasier, pocket album. New York: Eakins Press Foundation, 2004.
- Weiss, Margaret R. "The Big Top's Matthew Brady." Saturday Review (March 12, 1966): 146-147.
- On Photography:
- Bidner, Jenni. The kid's guide to digital photography: how to shoot, save, play with & print your digital photos. 1st ed. New York: Lark Books, 2004. (Ringling Library EDUC TR 267.B546 2004)
- Buckingham, Alan. Photography. 1st American ed. New York: DK, 2004. (Ringling Library TR 149.B83 2004)
- Freidman, Debra. Picture this: fun photography and crafts. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2003. (Ringling Library EDUC TR 149 F75 2003)
- Videos:
- American Image: 150 years of photography. Martin Sandler Productions with Eastman Kodak Company. Rochester, New York: Kodak, 1988. 60 mins.
Websites to Explore:
- Smithsonian Kids
- Fun, educational games and activities for all ages!
- Kodak
- Circus World Museum
- The National Archives: Photographic Analysis
- We recommend this worksheet activity from the National Archives website to further develop understanding of photography.
- The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
- Learn about proper care and conservation for photographs and other artifacts you wish to save for future generations!
