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Images
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• Familiarize yourself with Visual
Thinking Strategies (VTS). Read this overview
of Visual Thinking Strategies written by Abigail Housen and Philip
Yenawine at Visual Understanding in Education.
• Print the images and Vantage Point images listed above
on overhead transparencies
• Photocopy the viewfinder template onto cardstock so that
each student has a camera. Cut out the viewfinder in each camera.
• Write the vocabulary words (without the definitions) on
the board, poster, or overhead transparency. You will refer to this
throughout the lesson.
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1. Begin a discussion with the students about
photography: What is photography? Where have you seen photographs?
Who has used a camera before? What do you like to take pictures
of? Why do people take photographs?
2. Show the students one of the photographs. Ask the students the
following questions: What’s going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that? What more can you find? After
each student provides a response, acknowledge his/her response by
pointing to the image and paraphrasing what he/she said. Continue
this questioning for 5-10 minutes.
3. Introduce the words "vantage point" to the students.
Explain the definition. Have the students read aloud the different
types of vantage points. Show the students one of the seven color
pictures. Ask the following questions: Where
do you think the photographer was standing when he/she took this
picture? What do you think this view/vantage point is called? Have the students choose the vantage
point that is correct and provide evidence for why they think their
answer is correct. Continue until the students have viewed and labeled
all seven vantage points.
4. Place a large object in the center of the classroom or have
a few students pose in front of the class. Give each student a
viewfinder camera. Ask the students to look at the objects through
their viewfinders. Name a vantage point and have the students move
around the classroom so that they see that vantage point through
their viewfinders. For example: when taking a close-up, all of
the students should move close to the objects. Continue until the
students have practiced all seven vantage points.
5. Repeat Step 2 using another photograph. Also ask the students
to identify the photographer’s vantage point.
6. Choose one more photograph. Instead of discussing this photograph
orally, ask the students to write the answers to the following questions
in paragraph form: What is a good caption (title) for this photograph?
What is the photograph’s vantage point? What is going on in
this photograph? When and where do you think this photograph was
taken?
Extensions
Follow this lesson with the Photography Portfolios lesson plan.
In this lesson, the students will use their knowledge of vantage
points and VTS to take their own photographs and create photography
portfolios.
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There are no teaching tips for this lesson
plan.
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Fourth Grade Visual Arts:
1.1 Perceive and describe contrast and emphasis in works of art
and in the environment.
3.1 Describe how art plays a role in reflecting life (e.g., in photography,
quilts, architecture).
4.1 Describe how using the language of the visual arts helps to
clarify personal responses to works of art.
Fifth Grade Visual Arts:
1.1 Identify and describe the principles of design in visual compositions,
emphasizing unity and harmony.
3.3 Identify and compare works of art from various regions of the
United States.
4.1 Identify how selected principles of design are used in a work
of art and how they affect personal responses to and evaluation
of the work of art.
Sixth Grade Visual Arts:
1.2 Discuss works of art as to theme, genre, style, idea, and differences
in media.
4.1 Construct and describe plausible interpretations of what they
perceive in works of art.
4.2 Identify and describe ways in which their culture is being reflected
in current works of art.
Fourth Grade English-Language Arts:
1.4 Know common roots and affixes derived from Greek and Latin and
use this knowledge to analyze the meaning of complex words (e.g.,
international).
1.2 Create multiple-paragraph compositions.
2.1 Write narratives.
2.4 Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection
and the most significant details.
1.1 Ask thoughtful questions and respond to relevant questions with
appropriate elaboration in oral settings.
1.5 Present effective introductions and conclusions that guide and
inform the listener's understanding of important ideas and evidence.
1.8 Use details, examples, anecdotes, or experiences to explain
or clarify information.
2.1 Make narrative presentations.
Fifth Grade English-Language Arts:
1.1 Create multiple-paragraph narrative compositions.
1.2 Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.
1.1 Ask questions that seek information not already discussed.
1.5 Clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence and examples.
2.1 Deliver narrative presentations.
Sixth Grade English-Language Arts:
1.2 Create multiple-paragraph expository compositions.
1.5 Emphasize salient points to assist the listener in following
the main ideas and concepts.
1.6 Support opinions with detailed evidence and with visual or media
displays that use appropriate technology.
2.4 Deliver persuasive presentations.
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Teachers
Technique:
Jones, Frederic H. Digital Photography Just the Steps for Dummies.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2005.
Shull, Jim. The Beginner's Guide to Pinhole Photography.
Buffalo, NY: Amhurst Media, Inc, 1999.
The Visual Classroom: Integrating Photography into the School
Curriculum. Education Department: Museum of Photographic Arts,
2000. To order, call 619-238-7559x236 or E-mail edudept@mopa.org
to order. It is $25. Additional shipping charges may apply.
Teaching
Digital Photography: Showing Kids How to See With the Camera's Eye
A site that introduces digital camera and photography
techniques, and helps kids understand media images and observe the
world around them.
Photography
for Kids: Photography Projects, Ideas and Resources
A list of good Web sites for helping kids learn
photography techniques, projects, cameras and optics, and history
of photography. Includes book and software reviews.
History:
Sandler, Martin A. Photography, An Illustrated History,
(Oxford Illustrated History). New York: Oxford University Press,
Inc, 2002
Photography: Western
History from the Genealogy Dept, Denver Public Library
Collections of photographs from western history
including railroads, children, covered wagons, Buffalo Bill, and
famous western photographers.
A
History of Photography: From its beginnings till the 1920s.
Essays on how photography began and information
on some of the most significant processes used during the early
days of photography. Includes an alphabetical list of significant
people and their contribution to photography.
History
of Photography Timeline
Timeline of photography from ancient times to
1997. Scroll down to see link on antique and classic cameras.
Library
of Congress: American Memory
Sixty-two collections of photographs and prints
from the Library of Congress American Memory project. Includes Ansel
Adams and photos from the Civil War.
The Museum of Photographic
Arts
Permanent collections and current exhibits at
the Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA.
Visual Thinking Strategies:
Vue: A Solution to Education’s Challenges
Visual Understanding in Education (VUE) conducts
educational research focused on aesthetic and cognitive development
that results from interaction with art. Based on its findings, VUE
develops programs for schools and museums, principally Visual Thinking
Strategies (VTS).
Students
Technique:
Buckingham, Alan. Photography, DK Eyewitness Books. New
York: Dorling Kindersley, 2004.
Friedman, Debra. Picture This, Fun Photography and Craft (Kids
Can Do It). Toronto; Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press. 2003.
Bidner, Jenni. The Kids’ Guide to Digital Photography:
How to Shoot, Save, Play With & Print Your Digital Photos.
New York: Lark Books, 2004.
BetterPhoto
for Kids and Teens
A site dedicated to kids and young adults interested
in the art of taking pictures. Includes sections on pets, friends
and family, vacations and more.
Photography
As A Fine “Arf”
An exhibition of photographs in which dogs behave
like people and people are transformed into dogs! This exhibition
presents a selection of historical photographs that also explore
the complex relationships of people and dogs. Most were made a century
or more before Wallace Wegman, and some hark back to the earliest
years of photography, when technical challenges made any image of
an animal a rarity.
History:
Blankston, John. Louis Daguerre and the Story of the Daguerreotype.
Hockessin, DE: Mitchell Lane, 2004.
Ford, Carin T. George Eastman, The Kodak Camera Man (Famous
Inventors). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2004
Partridge, Elizabeth. Restless Spirit, The Life of Dorothea
Lange. New York: Puffin Books, 1998.
Parker, Steve. Eyewitness Pond and River. London; New York:
Dorling, Kindersley, 2000.
Sam’s, Carl R. Lost in the Woods: a Photographic Fantasy.
Milford, MI: Carl R. Sam’s Photography, Inc., 2004.
Fiction:
Jennings, Patrick. The Beastly Arms. New York: Scholastic
Press. 2001.
A sure fire hit about a boy named Nickel who photographs clouds
and moves into a mysterious building called The Beastly Arms.
Wirkner, Linda. Mystery of the Blue-Gowned Ghost. Williamsburg,
VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1994.
Kelly is a young girl who loves to take photographs and finds a
mystery in Colonial Williamsburg.
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