Learning from Pictures

[Ana]

Many times we wonder What am I supposed to do? How do I integrate digital images in my class? Where do I find pictures? How can i do it without a camera? Today, we teachers, have a great opportunity to teach with pictures. There are so many internet sites offering collections of images that we and our students can use for critical thinking skills- even before they take their own pictures.
Go to Trek Earth the site is dedicated to foster a global community interested in photography from around the world. Just imagine the discussions using this pictures from Laos, Akhas-Children factory.

Go to American Memories' Learning Page for Teachers which offers lesson plans, activities, and an index to 100 collections of downloadable photographs.

Using visual literacy skills, our students can "read" pictures.

Ask your students questions like:

• What does the photo say?
• Who are the people in the photo?
• What do they like?
• What are their lives like?
• How did they get into the situation of the photo?

Look beyond the photo to specific areas of the picture. Divide the picture into nine parts visually and examine each section.

• What artifacts do you see?
• Are there things you don't recognize? Why?
• What's the purpose of the picture?
• What is the "plot" or "story" of the photograph?

Students can draw inferences from the picture itself without referring to any text or they can invent a story from the picture. they can do research about the people, time, and place referred to in the picture and come up with their own characters, plot, and setting to tell their own story. We can literally tie pictures to any subject and topic. How can you use them? How are you using them? Ideas to share?

[Theo Kuechel]

Ana, thank you for an excellent summary of the importance of images in life and how they can be used to help deeper learning.
The Adobe Visual Literacy White Paper is also an extremely useful document, as it covers similar themes. PDF download link