I have worked with kids in a local Urban 4H program for the past two years. Last year, I had the fortune to meet and teach 10 recent Burmese middle-schoolers who had recently arrived in the United States. We explored photography together for about 6 months. At the end of the program, I led them through a “Best Part of Me” lesson. The lessons involved: setting our digital camera settings to the B/W option, examining a variety of self-portraits from books and magazines, playing with lighting, discussing setting, choosing “best parts,” creating lists of descriptive words and writing final narratives. This is the work they created.
The biggest challenge with these kids was the language barrier. Two of the kids had a confident command of English, but the others did not. I encouraged them to express their thoughts in Karen, their native language, but they insisted on muddling through with English. We spent a lot of time on the narratives that accompany these pictures. A challenge for me was the fact that most of the girls wanted to write about their hair! It was such a source of pride for them (no matter how much I would say, “But you have such beautiful eyes…expressive hands…strong arms…etc.)-Lauren Comly, a self-directed LTP enthusiast
(click on each image for full size view)
Lauren Comly’s contact information: lcomly@mac.com
Gold Rush Elementary School self-portraits
January 25, 2009
Featured here are self-portraits made by students in Kristen Hyde’s second grade class at Gold Rush Elementary School in Parker, Colorado. As an illustration of the process, the post also includes examples of drawings and notes students made in preparation for shooting their photographs. This project is described in detail in the post that follows this one.
Running is fun.
I love running. I do it a lot. In running you can do races. And you can do it in sports. I fun fast. I usually win the races. It’s fun because you do it a lot if you play sports or even if you don’t play sports, you still run a lot!!! When you run you kind of lose your breath a little. Running is an exercise. And it is good exercise. Did you know that I have been running since I was 2 or 3 years old? Running is one of my favorite things to do.
“Running is Fun” portrait planning:
Loving Art
I am so good at art. It is so fun!!! Is is very, very fun!!! I love the color blue. I love all the colors except black and brown. I love when a rainbow comes because it has all the colors in it. I draw flowers. I love art!!!
“Loving Art” portrait planning:
My Eyes
My eyes help me see things. They help me see the beautiful butterflies and the flowers. They help me see where I’m going. Also I can see my family. If I didn’t have my eyes I wouldn’t be able to see those things.
“My Eyes” portrait planning:
My Thinking Brain
I think everywhere. I think outside. I think in the car. My brain helps me think. Thinking is what I do all the time. Thinking is what helps me.
“My Thinking Brain” portrait planning:
Doing a Magic Trick
I woke up one morning and went to school. I did a magic trick at school at choice time. I packed up and I went home. When I came home I did a magic trick at home.
The Walking Man
I walk to school. I walk home and I walk to Amazing Jakes. I walk with my bike and I walk at the school with my friends.
Jumping Bean
I love to jump rope. Did you know I can jump with my eyes closed? I love to jump and I hope you will love it too!!!
Reading Maniac.
I am an expert at reading. I read mostly all the time. I love to read in the library. My favorite books are Betsy, Tacy, Frindle and No Talking. My favorite author is Andrew Clements. I read before bed, for fun, and for homework. I feel fabulous about being an expert at reading!
Playing outside
I am playing outside in the Park and I’m going to slide. I’m going to slide down on it. This slide is awesome because it’s long and big. That’s why I chose to sit on the slide to show my face. My focus was my face.
Praying
In my picture I’m praying. I pray in a unique way. I am not Jewish or Irish. I am Christian. I only believe in one god. I read the Holy Bible. I read all his words. I love to pray!
Helping people
I like to help people. I like to be nice to people. I like to be really really nice to people. I like to help people. I like to be nice to people.
My Hair
My hair is blond hair. I like my hair because it is smooth. My hair is special because it gets compliments a lot. It reminds me of Hannah Montana.
Running
I am an active kid. I like to run a lot. I wish I could run all across the world! I am about to run across the school!
Twirl Around
I love the Twirl Around. Do you know what’s fun? The Twirl Around! It is on my playground at school It goes around and around. It is awesome. I love it! I would go on it 1,000,000 times. I love the Twirl Around!
The Reading Man
I am reading Tony Hawk. I read Tony Hawk books all the time. I like to read books.
Rock Star Reader
I love to read. I am a second grader and I am reading chapter books. I am a rock star reader! It is awesome to read. It is so fun. I love to read.
Having Fun
I like to have fun. Skateboarding is fun. Basketball and pig swimming is fun. That’s why I chose having fun.
Gold Rush Elementary Self-Portraits project description, Katie Hyde
January 25, 2009
Last fall I spent a school day working with Kristen Hyde and her second-graders at Gold Rush Elementary School in Parker, Colorado. Our self-portrait photography project connected to another class project in which Kristen’s students were writing their own ‘expert’ stories. This is a writing workshop project that Kristen often uses at the beginning of the year. The project introduces students to the format of writing workshop and does so by drawing on a topic kids are familiar with. Students can focus on their strengths while getting to know each other. Kristen tells her students that once they’ve written their expert stories, there will be 25 resident experts in the room that they can go to if they have a question about a certain topic someone else has written about.
The week before I came Kristen read aloud Aliki’s Painted Words/Spoken Memories. This is the story of a young girl, Marianthe, who paints scenes from her life to share her thoughts and feelings with new friends and classmates when her family arrives in a new country. This story introduced Kristen’s students to the idea of using both words and pictures to tell about oneself.
On the day of my visit, Kristen began the day with Monday morning’s usual activity—community circle. Her students gathered on the carpet and took turns telling each other something about how they were feeling, and telling me something unique about themselves, as a way of introducing themselves to me. Students mentioned feeling happy because they’d spent the weekend playing with a friend. They talked about how they loved to read or play football. When one student hesitated over the question of what made him special, his classmates encouraged and reminded him about his special magic tricks.
Reading photographs—
Our first activity involved teaching the second-graders how to read photographs. Read the rest of this entry »
Spotlight: Turning the Page
October 14, 2008
Mister Crabs
By Tyonna Brown, Ms. Chu’s 1st grade class
“My photograph is of me at the market. I went to the market with my grandma. My grandma is wonderful! She took me to the market so we could take photographs together. We took lots of pictures. When we got home from the market, we ate Mister Crabs. They were delicious! I loved this photograph because we had a fun day.”
Turning the Page first connected with Literacy Through Photography when Wendy Ewald’s exhibition Secret Games: Collaborative Work with Children was shown at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 2002. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Durham LTP team held a workshop in DC, and three people from the Turning the Page program attended. TTP then invited the Literacy Through Photography staff back to DC in summer 2003 to teach a five-day training for 14 DC public school teachers. Since then TTP has continued to build our program.
Turning the Page has successfully engaged Washington D.C. public school teachers and students in community based-learning with more than 60 DCPS teachers and 2,200 students participating in their Literacy Through Photography program since 2003.
Through this innovative partnership between Turning the Page and D.C. public schools, students develop writing and photography skills as a means of self expression. Students base their photography and writing projects around three community-based themes: self & dreams, family, and neighborhood.
Spotlight: Durham Teacher Celebrates Culture
September 15, 2008
Celebrando Cultura! Celebrating Culture!
A project with 4th grade students at Forest View Elementary School
In 2007, while teaching at Forest View Elementary School, teacher Paula Januzzi-Godfrey and her students completed a project called Celebrando Cultura! Celebrating Culture! using writing and photography to create photo journals.
Click here to view the project:
Celebrando Cultura! Celebrating Culture!
Project Description
By Paula Januzzi-Godfrey
Celebrando Cultura! Celebrating Culture! began with an introduction to the concept of photo/visual journals followed by brainstorming and choosing topics (family stories, culture, or traditions) for the journals. Students learned to write journal entries daily and sketched ideas for journal design and layout options in their journals along with ideas they had for their photo journals.
Next each student made a plan as to who or what they would photograph, who they would like to interview and what questions they would ask for the interviews. They role played the interviews in class before the actual interviews with family members.
Each student created a draft layout of journal pages for interview questions and photos or other artwork to accompany them. Once the plans and drafts were completed I introduced how to use the cameras. Finally, the cameras were sent home with each student to take their first roll of film. Many students were allowed to take the camera home for several days if needed. Some students needed to take photos at different times during the project. Cameras were used through a check out system and shared as needed.
After film was developed and interviews were completed, students began putting together their final projects. The innovative part of this project came from the students as they developed their photo journals. Each journal had its own personality and style, reflecting the uniqueness of each student.
Our project ended with the presentation of the photo journals at Barnes and Noble Bookstore. It was more that I had hoped for. Twenty-two of the twenty-five students in my class attended this event, along with family members. A Durham Public Schools translator was present to provide simultaneous translation for Spanish speaking families. A “favorite” photo from each journal was chosen by each student, which I enlarged to 5 x 7 and matted. The photos were on display at Barnes and Noble and given to each student to keep along with their journals.
Paula Januzzi-Godfrey is a 4th grade teacher in Durham currently teaching at Southwest Elementary School. Since attending a Literacy Through Photography workshop in 2006 she has experimented with LTP and carried out successful projects in her classroom.
Click here to see Paula’s journal about the process of doing this project:
Spotlight: The Pipeline Project
May 7, 2008
The Pipeline Project
The Pipeline Project, housed at the University of Washington, is a K-12 outreach program that connects undergraduate students with local and regional schools and community organizations through tutoring and mentoring. UW Students enroll in a two- quarter seminar that allows them to explore the themes and practices of LTP while beginning to tutor in the K-12 classroom.
They introduce their students to LTP by familiarizing them with cameras and the themes of framing, content, lighting and props. The children then create written and visual images that represent their ideas of self, family, community and dreams.
These seminars have been offer for two quarters of each academic year since Autumn 2003. Since that time there have been 85 undergraduates who have participated and hundreds of elementary students.
http://www.washington.edu/uwired/pipeline/index.html
Student work from the Pipeline Project can be viewed on Flickr.com or Google Video.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/expatuw/collections/72157600244727069/
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1667284214216301869
Christine Stickler, Director of The Pipeline Project, attended a LTP workshop at the Center for Documentary Studies in 2003 and has been using LTP ever since. She can be contacted via email: castick@u.washington.edu
Spotlight: Reflections on a LTP Teacher
May 6, 2008
Photograph by Christina Wegs
Reflections on a LTP Teacher
by Christina Wegs
Janine Gomez has been working as an educator in Durham, North Carolina for 14 years, both as a teacher as well as school principal. In 2004, she participated in an LTP Teachers Workshop co-facilitated by Wendy Ewald, and since then has integrated youth-led photography and writing projects into her classroom work with elementary-, middle- and high school students, as well work with youth in leadership development workshops and summer camps.
I worked with Janine as an LTP intern during the spring of 2008 at W.G. Pearson elementary school, where she taught photography and writing through a course for 3rd-5th graders. Each section of the course, called Expressive Paparazzi, formed a team that worked together to define and complete a project that combined writing and photography to explore a theme. In the first quarter of the spring, Expressive Paparazzi focused on the theme of “community.” Read the rest of this entry »
Spotlight: The Contrast Project
May 5, 2008
CONTRAST PROJECT
The Contrast Project works with youth in using digital media as a tool for expression, empowerment, nonviolent activism, and advocacy. The project started in 2006 with two youth groups in the Bethlehem area of the occupied Palestinian territories, and has since expanded to working with youth in six refugee camps throughout the West Bank. The Contrast Project is also starting to work with youth in the Washington, DC, area.
The goals of the Contrast Project are to provide youth with technical and artistic skills; offer youth a therapeutic means of creative expression; empower youth through educational trainings; provide youth with viable alternatives to violence; and advocate for the needs and rights of youth at the local, regional, and international levels. For more information, visit www.contrastproject.org. The Contrast Project was started by Julie Norman who participated in the undergraduate LTP course at the Center for Documentary Studies in the fall of 1999.
