A Gazillion Ways to Use a Digital Camera in Your Classroom
Motivational Set Get a partner Face each other One person faces the front of the
room, the other person faces the back of the room
The person facing the back of the room needs a pen and paper
Partner Activity Instruct your partner to draw the
following:
Learning is Visual A great deal of learning is visual Especially with today’s students “screenagers”, “digital natives”, etc. Lots of gadgets
A Digital Camera Before you begin:
Charge batteries Check resolution (to suit your needs) Check memory card Check camera’s date and time Understand how the flash works Consider a tripod
On with the show… Here come the ideas There are over 100 of them
1. Slideshows Pretty self-explanatory
2. Yearbooks We all know what these are
3. Class Calendars Similar to a yearbook Photos of the student on his/her
birthday
4. T-Shirt Iron-on Transfers Easier to do than you think
5. Banner Iron-on Transfers Similar to T-shirts
6. Scavenger Hunt Create a list of items for students to
take photos of Specific: ie. An exit sign, a doorknob General: ie. something smaller than a
dime
7. “How to” instructions How to make Kraft Dinner
8. About the Author After writing a short story, have
students create a “mini-autobiography” about themselves
Include a photo and paragraph
9. Sequencing Put these photos in order
10. Similes and Metaphors She is as cute as a button He can swim like a fish She has a heart of stone You better pull your socks up
11. Historical Photos
Historical Photos
12. Distant Locations
13. Funny Money
14. Jig Saw Puzzles
15. What’s the Difference?
16. Object Close-ups
17. One of These Objects… …doesn’t belong here
18. Time Lapse Photos Ice Melting
19. Symmetry Which hand is symmetrical?
20. Panoramics Stand in one spot (use a tripod) Turn in a circle and take photos until
you have reached your starting point Use “stitching” software to compile See example
21. Virtual Tours A series of Panoramics For example, one from each classroom
in a school; or each street corner in a small town
See example http://www.wolseley.ca/tour.htm
22. Visual Dictionary
Butterfly Pumpkin Church
23. 3D Photos Easier than you think Take 2 identical photos – moving the
camera 2 inches over for the 2nd photo Adjust red and blue channels in each Paste one on top of the other Instructions online
24. Animated Gifs Some free animation programs PhotoShop Elements will do (save
as .gif, and select animate layers)
25. Cartoon Strips
Life is good
Don’t eat it all
26. Geometric Shapes Assign students the task of taking
photos of the following: Something shaped like a…
Square Circle Triangle Rectangle
27. Angles Assign the students the task of
photographing real items that contain the following: A right angle An acute angle An obtuse angle
28. Learning the Camera Shots Assign students the task of
photographing the following: Wide Shot Close-up Shot Medium Shot
29. Learning the Camera Angles Assign students the task of
photographing items from the following angles: Eye level Low level High level
30. Idioms
Back-seat driver Bad-hair day
31. A Story in PowerPoint Students act out a play, taking
photographs of key moments Insert the photos into PowerPoint Add text
32. MS PhotoStory Simple way to compile a slideshow Easy to add music, text, etc. See example
33. Photo Blog A Visual Chronicle Example: Hamburger Blog
34. Community Attractions Take photos of:
Businesses Entertainment Places to eat Historic buildings Etc.
35. Item for Sale
FOR SALE
Toy Truck
Great Shape
Like new
Durable, reliable
Hours of fun remain
$15 or best offer
Call 555-1234
36. The Seasons Take a photo of the same landscape a
four different times of the year (in each season)
Attempt to take the photo in exactly the same location
37. The Days are Getting Shorter Photograph the sun at the same time
of the day over an extended period of time
38. Counting
1 2 3
39. Measuring Up Compare the student’s height to
objects
40. Class Reporter Assign someone the task of reporting
on the events of the day
41. Flip Book Similar to an animated gif
42. Wanted Posters
WANTED!
Sunglasses BanditContact the local authorities if you see her
43. Personalized Labels
Property of
44. Fun Passports Take a tour of a distant land
For example: a Mexican theme, Italian Theme, etc.
Create passports for the students
45. My Favourite Things
46. Fun Photo IDs
Name:Address:City:Postal Code:Phone Number:
SECURITY
47. Claymation Act out a story with characters made of
clay
48. Plant Growth
49. Mold Growth Take a photo each day as mold grows
50. Makeovers
Before After
51. Room Renovations
Before After
52. Visual Menu
Macaroni and Cheese
$2.99
Loaded Hamburger
$5.99
53. How to Perfect a Skill For example:
How to shoot a basketball How to do a lay-up How to serve a volleyball How throw a shotput
54. Coloring Books
55. Collages Self-explanatory
For example: a collage of all the students who dressed up for Halloween
56. Vanishing Points Instruct students to take photos of
“vanishing points”
57. Digital Dali
58. Movie Posters
59. Digital Warhol
60. Diagrams For example: computer parts, parts of
a camera
61. Seating Plans Have students create a seating plan for
a substitute teacher With names and photos
62. Emotions
Happy Startled Unimpressed Disappointed
Amused Surprised Distraught Sorrow
63. A Book About Colors For example:
Things that are green Things that are red
64. A Books About Shapes For example:
Things that resemble circles Things that resemble squares
65. Classroom Awards For example:
Top mark on each unit test Helper of the month
Print a photo of the studentand post it on the bulletinboard
66. Faces for Puppets Print photos of students’ faces and
tape them onto puppets
67. Learning the Senses
68. Word of the Week Post a “word of the week” with a
corresponding photo
69. Rhyming Words
70. Viewing on a TV Most cameras will hook up to a
television for quick and easy viewing This may be a quick way of
summarizing a field trip for example
71. Family Tree
72. Learning French
maison chien
73. Species on the Playground
74. Self Concept Posting regular photos of students
improves self-esteem Especially at-risk student Need to see themselves in a positive way
75. Digital Microscope
76. Tourism Brochure Create a brochure about your
community encouraging people to live there
77. A Map of Your Town Create an aerial map of the streets Take photos of landmarks and paste
them on the map
78. Artistic Shots
79. Black and White Experiment with greyscale
photography
80. Fun PhotoShop Filters
81. Proportion Image size, pixels, etc.
82. Verbs and Nouns Instruct student to take photos of:
People, places, things Actions (ie. running, walking)
83. Things that are Hot Take photos of things that are hot
84. Things that are Cold Take photos of things that are cold
85. Natural vs. Human Made Instruct Students take photos of:
10 natural items 10 human-made items
86. Simple Machines Photograph real examples of simple
machines
87. Time-Lapse Building Lego
88. Special Events Sporting Events Drama Productions
89. ABC’s
A B C
90. Science Experiments Remember to take photographs of
those neat and interesting science experiments
Perhaps assign the role of photographer to a student
91. Trading Cards Like a hockey card Include school-related statistics like:
Grade Favourite subject Last book read
92. Funny Animal Face
93. Eyes Guess who these belong to
94. Filling in the Gaps Draw and color the missing area
95. On a Résumé Have students include a photo on their
résumés
96. Pictographs Graphs with photos
97. Screensavers Setup Windows to choose photos as
your screen saver There are other screensaver programs
that will access your photos
98. Memory Game
99. How Observant Are You? You have 10 seconds
to study this photo
How Observant Are You? What color was the girl’s shirt? What was she holding? Which hand was on top? What was on her feet?
100. Class Rules
Raise your hand if you wish to speak
No hats allowed
Be nice to others
101.Where do the Cables Plug In?
102. Science Lab Equipment
103. IA Shop Tools
104. First Aid Procedures
105. Digital Time Capsule Photos of popular items of 2005
106. A Day in the Life Have a student take photos of
him/herself throughout the day Waking up Breakfast Lunch Supper Evening Etc.
107. What is it like to be tall? Have students take a variety of photos
while standing on a chair
108. What is it like to be short? Have students take photos with the
camera situated 50cm from the floor
109. Open Season Hand a student a camera and tell
him/her to take photos of whatever s/he wants
Observe the photos with the class and ask why s/he took each photo
The student has to explain Others gain a different perspective
110. Body Parts
Sour
Bitter
Sour
Salty / Sweet
Conclusion The possibilities are endless Creativity!
Questions?
Conclusion Keith Harkness [email protected]