End of the Year Photography Project

With June just around the corner, both teachers and students are looking for activities that don’t follow the same format, and let everyone try something a little different. This is the time to work on a play, create video projects, or even delve into photography. I particularly enjoy photography activities at the end of the year. Since most teachers and parents create some sort of memory book to provide a record of the school year, you can have students generate it. Students can practice their photography, writing, and presentation skills all at the same time, and produce an album that everyone will be proud of.

Gather a Class Set of Cameras and Start Taking Pictures

The first step in creating an album is to teach students about photography. You can teach them about lighting, angles, and other aspects of photography. But it’s also important to get students thinking about the storytelling quality of photographs. You can provide students with a variety of photographs from newspapers and magazines that tell a story. By using magazine and newspaper photos, you can help students think about the ways that they can use a picture to convey meaning. Once they see that the way they frame a picture, light it, etc . . . can make someone feel a particular way about a subject, they will get a better idea of the power of a picture. But don’t worry if you don’t have a class set of cameras. There are a variety of ways to put cameras into the hands of your students. You can ask parents to donate disposable cameras, have students bring in their own digital cameras, or use whatever cameras you have at your school.

Gather the Pictures and Create an Album

Ask students to take pictures in the classroom and around the school that tell about the year. Students can be creative. They can even recreate scenes depicting different activities or parts of the year. Say a student wanted to recreate a particularly enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration. They could have students dress up in hats, costumes, or create signs to depict the event. Then they could snap a picture. Or a student could take a picture of their favorite cafeteria lunch, or their little buddy. Students should have the freedom to create an album that describes what they think is important about the school year. You can also supply students with a variety of pictures that were taken throughout the year.

Add Words to the Mix

Once students have at least 20 pictures that tell about their school year, they can start thinking about the captions they want to write to describe their experiences. It would be a good idea to show students an example of a photo album with descriptions. You could allow students to choose whether they would like to write a paragraph to describe each picture, create a poem, or use another form. Whatever they choose, they should make sure to be as descriptive as possible.

The Final Product

This project can also use technology if teachers have students scan their pictures and create a PowerPoint or other type of computer-generated presentation.  Regardless of whether the albums are made on the computer, construction paper, or other material, students should share them with others. Parents and other students could be invited to visit and view the final projects. It's a great way to celebrate the year. What follows are more photography-related activities.

Photography Lessons and Activities:

Beyond the Snapshot

This lesson provides students with the vocabulary and methods to analyze photographs. Students will then be able to take photos that tell the story they would like to tell.

Writing to Photography/Photography to Writing

In this lesson students practice using writing to describe a picture. This is a good way to introduce students to the idea of creating a photo album with descriptions.

Using Photography in the Classroom

This lesson gives students the basics on photography. It's a quick overview that can get students thinking about photography.

Story Telling Through Photography

Students use a picture to generate a story in this lesson. This is a great way to get students interested in writing.