A Gazillion Ways To Use A Digital Camera

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 Keith.harkness@pvsd.ca