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was practicing the drums. "I thought
about the entire thing as a sequence,"
he said. "I thought about it as my day,
how I go about doing things."
Multi-Level Adaptations
Younger students engaged in the mak-
ing of cyanotypes, a photographic
print process popular with engineers
in the nineteenth century. These
prints are made by placing objects on
a UV-sensitive surface and exposing
them to sunlight. First- and second-
graders collaborated by laying animal
skulls from the science class on large
pieces of fabric. Students also created
individual pieces on small sheets of
paper.
Third- and fourth-graders were
instructed to photograph nouns, and
sixth-graders were given the theme
of "In Plain Sight," which focused
on photographing people, places, and
things, and finding letters in the ordi-
nary. Both of these assignments incor-
porated teaching students how to take
better pictures by considering angles
and backgrounds.
Connections
Within the school community, teach-
ers themselves were inspired to start
using digital cameras in their class-
rooms. Several classrooms now have a
class blog where students can contrib-
ute their work.
One sixth-grade teacher had stu-
dents incorporate the photographs
that students took of the letters "in
plain sight" into their writing as drop
caps, and students who created cya-
notypes in second grade photocopied
their compositions and wrote autumn
poems in the negative space. They
were able to incorporate science, writ-
ing, and art into an integrated project.
By teaching students to see, we can
help them heighten their awareness of
their surroundings and increase their
sense of observation, both in the class-
room and in their everyday lives.
Kim Emmerson is an art teacher at Maple
Street School and Harold Martin School in
Hopkinton, New Hampshire.
Nancy Grace Horton holds an MFA in
visual arts from the Art Institute of Bos-
ton at Lesley University and has been
working as a freelance photographer and
educator for more than twenty years.
ngh@hortonphoto.com
N A T I O N A L S T A N D A R D
Presenting: Interpreting and sharing
student work.
W E B L I N K
hortonphoto.com/Workshops/about.
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