Digital Cameras and Numbers

Grade Level: K-1 (Good to do in the start of the year with Kinders and a great review for First Graders)

Objective:
Students will practice counting skills, letter formation, and wil become familiar with how to operate a digital camera.

Time: 60 mins over a two day or more period (30 mins one day, 30 mins the next)

Materials: Note cards, digital cameras (usually about 10 is good), iPhoto, projector, and SMARTBoard (if available)

Lesson:
Intro:
>"Students today we will be practicing our counting but in a different way. I am going to pair you up with a partner and give you and your partner a card with a number on it."
(Pair students up in partners, or in threes if necessary)
> "Now I want to show you this (pull out digital camera). Who can raise their hand and tell me what this is?.... Good. We are going to be using this camera today to take pictures of what we make with our
number. Here is how we use this..."
Go over the important aspects of the camera; putting the strap around their wrist, pushing the "big button" to take the picture, holding it as still as possible, possibly the zoom for the older students, and how to pass it to their partner safely so it doesn't drop. After going over these, have students practice with their partner while sitting down. One partner can practice taking a picture of the other, then practice passing the camera. Do this for about 5 minutes so students can get comfortable with the camera before standing up and getting to work.

After practicing, explain the activity:

Lesson:
> "Looking at your card, with your partner show me with your fingers what number you have on your card. For example (bring a student up to be your partner to show the example), if we had the number 5, I would show zero fingers, and Joe would show 5 fingers. If we had the number 12, I would show all 10 fingers and Joe would show 2 fingers. So look at your card one more time and on the count of 3 show me your number with your fingers. 1...2...3... Great! Now, what you are going to do with the card is you and your partner are going to go around the room and make that number out of a
certain object. You can use blocks, markers, feet, hands, your card... anything you can think of. When you have put together say 5 markers and your number is 5, take a picture of it. You and your partner are going to take turns taking pictures. Try to take 3 pictures each. Any questions?"

Have students stand up, camera in hand, and let them find things to take pictures of. Have them wander around taking pictures for about 20 to 30 mins. If they take 3 each and there is still time left, have them take more.
After time is up, collect cameras. Have students write their names on the back of their cards and collect the cards as well.
Closing:
Gather the kids around and have them share some of the things they found to take pictures of.

Day 2:
Load pictures onto the teacher computer in iPhoto. Put all of the pictures that were taking into an album and then choose book to make. A picture book is usually good to use because then you can fit more photos on there. Have the students sit down in front of the SMARTBoard and show them all the pictures they took the day before. Then have students work on an independent activity at their seats so you can call groups up one at a time. Have each partner choose 3 pictures that they took to put into the book. On a SMARTBoard the students can pick and drag themselves the pictures they like, but if just using a projector, they can pick and the teacher can drag the picture into the book. Once all of the groups have chosen their pictures, the teacher can add in an introduction to the book and it can be ordered through
Apple or be printed off in a PDF file.

For immersion schools, this activity can be paired with english and the other language. When I did this with my kids, I wrote out the Japanese letters on note cards and took pictures of those and then put them onto the page it went with. This way the kids could practice counting in English and Japanese.