Use photographs to add interest to classes.
The expression "a photograph is worth a thousand words" is never truer than in the classroom. Photography can be used across the curriculum and it appeals to visual, creative and kinesthetic learners. As well as being incorporated into day-to-day lesson plans, photographs can also be assembled into albums which serve as a record of what the class studied during the year and the special events -- such as a field trip -- that took place. Learning through photographs engages students both as viewers and photographers.
Instructions
1. Go on a science trip around the schoolyard and take photographs of the ecosystem to use in class and learn about how the community members are connected. Use a digital camera with a zoom lens to take photos of the grass, bugs and birds you find. Be sure to include a class photo, as the students are also members of the school ecosystem.
2. Document the stages of a science project with photos. Something as simple as taking pictures of adding baking soda to vinegar and it bubbling can supplement a report or make interesting visual points on a poster.
3. Teach students to document events with photographs. Digital cameras make it is possible to literally take hundreds of photographs at a graduation ceremony or a sporting event. Show the students frame a shot to learn improve the quality their pictures. Teach them stand back and look at a scene by pretending that they are looking at it through a picture frame. Then they can decide if they want the person to be in the center of the picture or off to one side. Once they have framed the shot, the composition will be much better.
4. Develop theme vocabularies to help students learn new words -- such as workshop tools, transportation vehicles and cereal crops -- and supplement the material with photographs. Have students develop their own booklets or do it as a class project.
5. Teach a unit on photography in history class. Start with the parts of the camera and then move on to the history of photography, starting with the first black and white cameras. Start a class camera collection and see who can find the oldest model.
6. Study the work of Steve McCurry, Helmut Newton and Ansel Adams. Take the students to the library, visit an art gallery having a photography exhibit or take a virtual tour of famous photographers' work on the Internet.
