Use Skoglund's The Green House to introduce critical thinking skills. Have students make a list of everything in the photograph. Encourage them to analyze the relationship of the objects to the title of the work. See how many different interpretations the work might suggest to the class. Explain Skoglund's philosophical approach to tableau photography and how the actual image is created.
Teenagers often collect and wear objects that have symbolic and metaphoric meaning.
Have your students share some of these items and discuss their role in popular culture. Select a space in the school or perhaps a storefront window in the community to install the group tableau. Identify the various components of the environment that need to be collected and fabricated. Discuss how the elements of color, texture and light should be approached in the project. Discuss the ways in which these construction techniques might best represent the objects to be formed.