Visual images within social studies textbooks need to be actively "read" by students. Drawing on literature from cultural studies, this article suggests three instructional conditions for teaching students to read visual texts. Agency implies that readers have the (1) authority, (2) opportunity and capacity, and (3) community for engaging in the task of reading in multiple ways. Seven ways of reading images are outlined--instrumental, narrative, iconic, editorial, indicative, oppositional, and reflexive--and are illustrated with instructional questions. (Contains 3 notes.)