teaching photo essay

Materials Photo Essay Lesson - Use the printable lesson for your lesson plan, or use as a lesson supplement. Procedure: Students should read the lesson, and complete the worksheet. As an option, teachers may also use the lesson as part of a classroom lesson plan. Excerpt from Lesson: Introduction A picture is worth a thousand words.   What do you think this means? This quote refers to the fact that photographs and pictures give people a lot of information.  They sometimes give more information than words could ever give.  A photo essay uses this idea by combining photos and words to tell a story. Magazines often have examples of photo essays.  They use photographs to give more information about people, places and things in the story. Continued. More English and Language Arts Lesson Plans, Lessons, and Teaching Worksheets For more teaching material, lesson plans, lessons, and worksheets please go back to the InstructorWeb home page.
Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Grades 6–12 READING Key Ideas and Details 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. WRITING Text Types and Purposes 2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. Production and Distribution of Writing 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Research to Build and Present Knowledge 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. SPEAKING AND LISTENING Comprehension and Collaboration 1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. 2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas 4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization.
Merinda Davis | courtesy photoAn art teacher at Aleksis Kevi School in Siuntio, Finland, presents student art work to Utah teachers. Teachers toured Finnish schools, discussed cultural and educational philosophies to help improve international education in Utah.
Writing Program at UMASS Amherst (NOTE: This assignment is written for teachers, not students. Adapt accordingly if you use this.) As Unit 4 approached, I wracked my brain for an assignment that my students would find both exciting and thought-provoking. I wanted something that pushed their critical thinking skills. During one of my graduate classes, a teacher urged us to visit Margaret Mead Art Museum’s photography exhibit, “The Pain of War,” which I did. The exhibit was incredibly powerful, stuck with me for weeks, and I realized that I had to do something with it. I sent a proposal to the Writing Program, requesting disposable cameras for my students and money to develop film. The Writing Program granted my request, and the following assignment took shape: Unit IV: Photo Essays Images, I think we all agree, communicate meaning. Often, images achieve effects that written text might not necessarily produce. (The same goes for written text as opposed to image.) In light of this, I’d like you to construct a photo essay: part writing/part visual image. Over the Thanksgiving break, it is your task to exhaust a 24-exposure disposable camera, which the Writing Program has provided each one of you. Take photographs of whatever you like: objects, people, landscapes; candid shots, composed shots; juxtapositions of the familiar and unfamiliar; series of events. Whatever you like. Think, as you photograph, of “________” (a particular reading assigned for the unit), and how you might connect the author’s ideas concerning _____ (again, this obviously depends on the particular reading) to your photos. Your cameras, all pictures shot, are due the Monday following the break, November 29—call this your rough rough draft--at which point I’ll collect them, and the Writing Program will provide for their development. Depending on the developer, the photos will be returned either.
Really enjoyed posting a couple of still photos of classrooms recently here and here. People seem to find them really useful.  So I’m going to run with the idea and make this post into a mini photo essay of classrooms on the theme of The Usefulness of Walls.  First a quick primer from the pages of TLaC 2.0: The first rule of thumb for walls in the best classrooms is that they should help, not harm. This means that they should avoid clutter and over-stimulating too-much-ness. A few critical things should be up, and they should not distract students’ attention from the primary instructional space by being too close to it. Posted items are best when they focus on useful tools: reminders of key steps in adding fractions; examples of common themes; seven types of conflict in a story; pictures representing recent vocabulary words; rules for bathroom use; phrase starters for agreeing or disagreeing with a peer during discussion. SCRAPBOOK PAGE 1: Here’s a use of walls that I love-  These are the vocabulary words for first graders at Troy Prep–this is Linda McGriff and Brittany Rella’s room but they use the same word and develop the pictures together with the other first grade teachers, Courtney Little and Megann Rice. (Aside: think of how cool it is to have shared vocabulary words  across a grade level; anyone interacting with first graders–music teacher, gym teacher, tutor, etc–can plan to use and refer to a consistent set of vocabulary words for all their interactions.) When Troy Prep ‘prepsters’ are introduced to a word, their teacher shows them a picture of it with the word and definition underneath. They discuss why and how the picture demonstrates the word, ideally in various ways that go deeper, even, than the definition in exploring some of the complexity or nuance of the word.  Then, with the word cards posted, kids can glance at a reminder that gives them a rich.
Betsy Sergeant Abraham Lincoln High School San Francisco, Calif. Lesson Title: Making Photo Essays Easy Overview and Rationale: This lesson is divided into two parts. Part I is a creative exercise to get students to generate ideas about what makes a good story and a photograph. Part II requires student to then tell a story through photographs, or to create a photo essay. Goals for understanding: Students will recognize the qualities of a strong photograph. Students will tell a story through powerful photographs. Resources and Materials: Newspapers and/or magazines Old photographs Cameras Poster board or PowerPoint Overview and Timeline: This two-part lesson is designed so that each part could stand on its own. Allotted time will depend on camera availability and class time. Suggested time is 4-5 50 minute class periods. Activities Part I Day 1 Activity 1 (10 minutes): Before you begin with photos, take the time to help students remember the elements of good story in literature, as well as in journalism. Strong stories include the following elements: Exposition Setting Plot Theme Characters Protagonist Antagonist Rising Action Climax Resolution Irony Foreshadowing Flashback Activity 2 (30-45 minutes): Using already published material, have groups of 4 students collect 10 or so photos and assemble them into a story. The results may be silly or serious; the object here is to have students create the story from photos they already have. The students will fix the photos to a poster board according to the story they created. Activity 3 (15 minutes): Their classmates will then try to figure out what story the photos are telling. The group will then share the story they came up with and they will discuss why they chose the photos they did. Save the presented stories for the next session. Day 2 Activity 1 (30 minutes): Students identify the strongest photos in each story from.