Teaching Digital PhotographyDigital cameras are becoming more and more popular, especially for classroom use. They have many advantages: pictures are immediately available, pictures are saved in graphic format, and they are easily transferred from the camera to the computer.
Photography is not just about pointing and pressing a button; it's a decision-making process. One of the best reasons for working photography into your activities and projects is that it helps kids better understand the media images they're bombarded with every day.
Photography is also just plain fun, and it's a wonderful foundation for community-based projects. If you introduce photography properly, it helps kids look much more carefully at the world around them. Kids understand media images when photography is involved.
Digital imagery and photography is also a great way for teachers to get their students to interact more and "think out of the box." By taking pictures of shapes, objects, and even cultures around them, they can learn more hands on. There are several different ways teachers can use digital photography in their lesson plans and it creates yet another way to break up their lesson plans with fun activities!
Using Digital Photography in Your Classroom
Photography helps students that are visual learners see what they are learning. This type of activity helps kids see the world around them through a different perspective and can also help them be more creative with projects.
Handling the Digital Camera
Step 1: Model by randomly snapping pictures while talking about the project or just talking (w/the camera strap around your neck-be a good role model).
Step 2: Next, model how to pair-share or hand the camera. Plus, show how much you trust the kids with the camera.
Step 3: Demonstrate the pair-share in front of the class using the correct word, such as "hand".
Step 4: Now make a circle on the floor and have all the children participate in a huge pair-sharing experience.
Lesson Plan Ideas
1. Geometric shapes in the real world
Students investigate their surroundings looking for objects/shapes they have been learning about in Geometry.
Have students take pictures of buildings, goal posts, parking lot lines, busses, etc and make flashcards for each shape.
You can take the pictures and give them to students and ask them to find how many of a specific shape are in that picture (think of how many rectangles appear when you take a picture of the front of your school).
2. Create a Photo Book Report
In addition to writing an essay, have your students include photographs of themselves posing as the characters in their story. Edit the photos (if necessary) and insert them into a PowerPoint presentation. 3 branches of government? Pose your students as presidents, judges, and senators and then use those pictures in a PowerPoint organizational chart.
3. Ancient Culture vs. Modern Day
Have students take pictures of modern day objects and compare them to pictures of those same objects from ancient times.
Lesson Plan Ideas
1. Geometric shapes in the real worldStudents investigate their surroundings looking for objects/shapes they have been learning about in Geometry.
Have students take pictures of buildings, goal posts, parking lot lines, busses, etc and make flashcards for each shape.
You can take the pictures and give them to students and ask them to find how many of a specific shape are in that picture (think of how many rectangles appear when you take a picture of the front of your school).
2. Create a Photo Book Report
In addition to writing an essay, have your students include photographs of themselves posing as the characters in their story. Edit the photos (if necessary) and insert them into a PowerPoint presentation. 3 branches of government? Pose your students as presidents, judges, and senators and then use those pictures in a PowerPoint organizational chart.
3. Ancient Culture vs. Modern DayHave students take pictures of modern day objects and compare them to pictures of those same objects from ancient times.
4. Alphabet Photo Book 
Have students brainstorm the names of objects that start with each letter of the alphabet. Assign each student a different letter and have him or her take pictures of objects that start with their letter.
Add these to a PowerPoint presentation or scrapbook and show it to parents at Open House. It would make a very nice addition if you took a picture of each student and added that picture to their PowerPoint slide or scrapbook page.
5. Community History – History is All Around Us
Assign students to go out and take pictures of historic or civic buildings, senior citizens, local collections, antiques, and even headstones.
Use these pictures in a PowerPoint presentation or even put together a time capsule full of pictures.
Personal Opinions
“As a student I know I learn better through the eye. I would much rather look at something and learn about it, rather then just sit and listen about something. Much more fun! Learning to use the digital camera to take pictures allows students to learn "out side the box". Teachers can take the time necessary to teach the students the proper way to work the camera and respect the camera this way the camera is taken care of. The camera can become a new way of learning.” -Leah Zaremba
Have students brainstorm the names of objects that start with each letter of the alphabet. Assign each student a different letter and have him or her take pictures of objects that start with their letter.
Add these to a PowerPoint presentation or scrapbook and show it to parents at Open House. It would make a very nice addition if you took a picture of each student and added that picture to their PowerPoint slide or scrapbook page.
5. Community History – History is All Around Us
Assign students to go out and take pictures of historic or civic buildings, senior citizens, local collections, antiques, and even headstones.
Use these pictures in a PowerPoint presentation or even put together a time capsule full of pictures.
Personal Opinions“As a student I know I learn better through the eye. I would much rather look at something and learn about it, rather then just sit and listen about something. Much more fun! Learning to use the digital camera to take pictures allows students to learn "out side the box". Teachers can take the time necessary to teach the students the proper way to work the camera and respect the camera this way the camera is taken care of. The camera can become a new way of learning.” -Leah Zaremba
18 comments:
I really liked your graphics! Nice new template! Also, I like how you guys incorporate the personal student opinion at the end! Good job!
I really liked the flow of your summary. Good job! I am especially interested in your statement involving how photography is a good way to help students sort out media images they are bombarded with everyday. I thought this was an excellent point!
Good Job Group 2! You had a lot of information. I like how you included the steps on how to handle the camera in the classroom. I also like all of your ideas of how to incorporate digital photos in your lesson plan. My two favorite were the alphabet book and the picture book report. Very creative!
I like how your group used graphics.I also liked that you touched on the subject of how to handle the camera that is an import aspect of the whole process
Great team blog! I really enjoyed the layout and colors you used for your posting. Regarding the article, I feel one of the most imporaant aspects of using digital media in the classroom is, like mentioned in your article,"Photography helps students that are visual learners see what they are learning." There are so many different types of learners visual, auditorial, hands on. Digital photography is just another way to get these types of learners to participate and learn during these lessons. Awesome Job!
Well written article with a lot of great facts. For somone who is very visual like myself it was nice to have the pictures with the paragraphs. So I could make an instant connection with what I am reading.
I loved the pictures, they really added a lot to what you had to say. Your post was very organized and contained a lot of information, good job!
I liked that your group blog. I liked how you made it clear that photography shouldn't be serious, but fun.
I enjoyed reading this article because not only was it very colorful (nice template and background) but it was also very discriptive and laid out very nice. I wasn't confused about anything because it was laid out in such a good order. Nice job team 2.
You found a good article. I agree with the statement, "photography is a decision-making process, not just pressing a button." I took photography in high school and our teacher showed us the importance of "framing" our subjects inside the viewfinder. And the beauty of the digital camera is that you can see the results of your shot immediately.
Good job, I really liked the look of your blog. I always like black as the background because that just means everything else is going to stand out no matter what. Also I like the the different examples and tips that you gave. I ecspecially like the Alphabet book. Good pictures too....some were kinda creepy, but they helped haha
I like the uses for digital photography... our group also mentioned using the digital imagery for mathematics/geometric shapes. In a Spanish class in high school we created a photo journal like you mentioned and it was really fun! ... i haven't seen that anywhere else... good article, nice ideas.
Hey guy's! great way to make the use of digital camera's exciting for a classroom!!!! Out of the ideas for using it in the classroom I really love the comparison of modern vs. ancient. Great way to get kids interested in history!!! Great work!
This summary had a lot of good key points. The process of transfering pictures from the camera to the computer was mentioned. Also, photograohy is a decision making process and fun. A good point was that digital imagery helps students think outside the box. Overall it was an informative summary.
I really loved reading your article! great job! The pictures throughout the article really made it visually pleasing. You guys had awesome information and I loved the other examples you gave for digital photography in the classroom.
Great job. I really thought the pictures made the article more interesting and it made a lot of sense to put them in because the article is about Digital imagery/photography.
I liked the idea of all the photos to go along with the text. it was creative. Lots of things to learn.
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