Ready, Aim, Focus!

Materials:
Simple digital camera, two sheets of chart paper, laptop, projector, and student writing paper.

Teaching activity:
Begin by talking about a shared experience that your class has had and explain that writers often draw from their own experience to write. Solicit some general comments about the experience from your students and make a list of the comments on chart paper. Explain how some writers try to include an abundance of information in their writing and that can make it difficult for the reader to accurately conceptualize what the writer is trying to communicate.

Exhibit the digital camera and explain that writing a succinct piece is similar to taking a good photograph. In that, some people take a camera and just point it in a general direction and push the shutter button. Demonstrate this with several shots around your classroom and then show the class the results. (My class roared at a photo of the carpet.)

Explain that one technique in taking quality photographs is to not just see – take in all the visual information – but to really look- to notice line, texture, shape, and color. Talk about the fact that a good photograph is not just what you include, but what is excluded as well. Have the students all look in one area of your classroom. (My class chose an area with a bookshelf, window, and reading area.) Challenge the students that even though this was their classroom where they spent significant time, they are to look closely and ask themselves what they thought was the most interesting thing visually? Give the students examples--the texture on the wooden book crates, the pattern on the plant leaves, or the sunlight on the windowsill. Show the students how it may help to get a different perspective, lying down, standing up, or moving from one part of the classroom to another. Shoot four additional photos with the camera, each one composed intentionally. Have the students compare those photos with the ones taken earlier. Discuss the fact that the photo is enhanced because the photographer was intentional about what was included in a shot.

Discuss how people see things differently, and how what is visually striking to one person may be very different from what is striking to another person. Pair the students up and have them share with each other what they think is the most visually striking. Give the camera to individual students and have them take shots. After about five shots, have the class compare the photos and give feedback. Ask each photographer “Why did you choose that image? And what did you decide to leave out of the image?

Return to chart paper with notes about the class’s shared experience. Pair the students up again and asked them to share with each other what they think is the most significant details about the experience and what they are deciding to leave out – just like taking a good photograph, a writer is intentional in what they include and what they leave out.

Send the students to their seats to compose a descriptive piece about the shared experience. Each student should draw a quick sketch of the most significant part of their experience to serve as a visual reminder to focus in on that part for their writing. Students should then write about it.

Afterward, ask for volunteer students to share their piece with the class. Discuss: What did this writer choose to focus on in the piece? What of this experience does the writer think is most important?

This is just one mini lesson in a long series of using digital images to encourage and enhance eloquent communication. Other ideas include using the photo editing process to demonstrate the written editing process, using digital images to encourage use of descriptive words, and use of digital images to illustrate written work such as informational or biographical text. I have found that the use of digital images has endless possibilities and has been very motivating for our students.