This remote learning project is designed to foster student creativity, critical thinking, peer interaction, and writing skills. After being introduced to the concept of photojournalism, students will craft their own stories about the current Covid19 Pandemic or a particular aspect of the pandemic. Students will be creating their very own primary source documents for future generations, capturing this unprecedented time in our history.
Project Activities
Begin the project by introducing the concept of photo journaling to your students. Depending on the age of your students, this may be simplified or enriched. This lesson would be appropriate for intermediate through secondary students.
Materials
- Any portable device with a camera
- Photo Journaling App- See Common Sense Media for a list of options by age/grade level– or digital software that allows for the incorporation of both images and text.
- Collaborative digital space (LMS discussion board, OneNote, Padlet, or other)
- Student handout: Student Guide to Getting Started
Laying the Foundation: What is Photo Journaling?
Introduce your students to the concept of photojournalism with this video The Power of Photojournalism. This is an excellent short film produced by the Reynolds Journalism Institute. It does contain some graphic images that might be inappropriate for younger students. Intermediate students might watch from the beginning of the film through 3:38 without any issues. The segment following that point and on does contain some images that may be inappropriate.
Develop a working definition of photojournalism with the students. The purpose of photojournalism is to inform the audience about events in the world. It tells the truth, no matter how uncomfortable that truth may be. According to Joris Hermans and Expert Photography, a photojournalist’s photographs must be “accurate, fair and thorough” and the photojournalist must be “invisible” to capture the moment. Students should understand that as photojournalists, they are not setting up the perfect photograph with models and poses. They are capturing the moments that tell the story. The photojournalist goes to the place where they expect the story to be told and then waits for the moment to present itself.
Examples of Photo Journalism
Choose photos from the links below or using another curated resource for photographs. Ask students to view the curated photos, or links to photos, that tell stories. Ask them to reflect on each picture and summarize the “story” of the picture in a few sentences. What questions did the picture evoke? What additional information would they have liked to be included? If you have access to a virtual discussion board, have students discuss their responses to these questions together.
Note: Be sure to list the source of each photo you include in any curated lists you develop. For copyright purposes, do not publish your curated list unless you follow the usage guidelines and are allowed to do so .
Again, I caution against sending these lists as links to younger students as they include some graphic images.
- New York Times Year In Pictures– This compilation of photographs is the New York Times selection of the best pictures of 2019.
- Time Picks the Top 100 Photos of 2019
- National Geographic’s best pictures of 2019
Student-Generated Examples
Have students select their own photo, either a personal photo or one selected online, that tells a story. Have students post the photographs and its source information to your classroom discussion board, OneNote or other shared space. (Be sure to remind students to keep the photographs school appropriate). Other students should then respond with the story they read in the photograph. After a few days of discussion, have students go back and post the real story behind their photographs.
Students may write a self-reflection to think about what they learned about telling stories with photographs. Which photos told the true stories best? Why was that true?
Student Photo Journals
Based on their understanding of the purpose of photo journaling and how photographs tell stories, students will set out to make their own photo journals capturing the Covid19 Pandemic to be shared with their classmates. Final projects should include an introduction to the project, photographs with captions or additional information needed to tell the story and a closing paragraph. Leave the method of presentation up to your students own preferences and available digital resources. There is a list of photo journaling apps developed by Common Sense Media. Other commonly accessible suggestions might include PowerPoint, Sway, Google Slides, Keynote, Prezi, or a video editing program.
Student Guide to Getting Started
Step One: Introducing your project
Every good story has a focus. The focus of your story will be the Covid19 Pandemic or some aspect of the pandemic. Before getting started, you will need to decide on your specific focus.
Step Two: Map out your project
What ideas or images do you believe would best represent this aspect of the pandemic? Brainstorm ideas about where you might take pictures and how you may take them while remaining “invisible” to those around you. Remember that photojournalists are looking to capture moments, not take posed photographs. Once you have developed a list of ideas, come up with a plan as to how and where you can capture your ideas with photographs.
Step Three: Take LOTS of pictures
Talk to you parents about your plan and arrange for a few outings to take pictures. Being sure to maintain safe social distancing, you may even take pictures out the car window, start taking pictures. The more shots you get, the more likely you are to capture something special. You can edit and limit pictures later, so don’t worry about getting the perfect shot with each one.
Step Four: Sort and select for the story
Now that you have a collection of photographs, begin sorting through them for the ones that stand out to you as the best storytellers. Organize them in a way that best makes sense. Is it chronological? Is it by subject matter? Choose what is both visually appealing and makes sense for your story.
Step Five: Filling in the blanks- the writing
- Begin with an engaging well-written paragraph to introduce your story. Include the background information that someone in the future, unfamiliar with the Covid19 pandemic, would need to know.
- Write captions explaining the what and the where of each photograph.
- Include any additional interesting information you believe should be included to tell your story.
- Write a conclusion to the story that ties it all together. Why is this story important to tell? What questions did the story leave unanswered?
Publishing Student Projects
Share student projects with the rest of the class using an appropriately secure classroom website. This is an important part of the project. Your students created these projects to be shared with other students; find a way to share them. If possible with your available resources, provide a way for students to receive feedback from their classmates.
