Lesson title

Making a Newsletter with Your Digital Camera 

Subject area*

Science (This example is science; the technique could be used for any topic.)

Secondary subject

Language Arts

Grade*

4th thru 7th

Duration/time*

For two weeks, students collected photographs after school.  These photos are stored  in a single computer file.

It took one to three hours of class time to write and add articles to go with the photos and to create the newsletter.  I had two students at a time using the computer to add articles.

Overview*

Students create a newsletter as a culminating activity for a unit. Using a digital camera, the students photograph real life examples of the subject area and write an article.   Alternatively, students could draw or find pictures and scan them into the newsletter.  Example: a predator

Technology overview*

click on level for description

Guiding questions*

 Do we see examples around our community of things we have learned about in this unit? Example: the evergreen trees on the edge of the playground are cone-bearing plants. Continue to brainstorm as a group.

What could you take a picture of that would illustrate this so other people could learn something?  Example: a picture of a cone-bearing tree

Content standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

SCI I.1.E.3   Manipulate simple devices that aid observation and data
collection.

SCI I.1.E.6    Develop strategies and skill for information gathering and problem solving.

SCI II.1.E.2  Show how science concepts can be illustrated through creative expression such as Language arts and fine arts.

Other objectives will be learned relating to whatever subject your newsletter covers- for example, today's lesson was done on Life Science.

 SCI III.2.E.2 Classify familiar organisms on the basis of observable physical characteristics.

 SCI III. 2.E.4 Compare and contrast food, energy, and environmental needs of selected organisms.

SCI III.5.E.1  Identify familiar organisms as part of a food chain or web and describe their feeding relationships within the web.

SCI III.5.E.2  Describe the basic requirements for all living things to maintain their existence.

SCI III.5.E.1  Describe positive and negative effects of humans on the environment.

Content standards and benchmarks*

(Secondary)

Technology standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

National Educational Technology Standards for Students

T2.LE.3 Discuss basic issues related to responsible use of technology and information and describe personal consequences of inappropriate use.

T3.LE.5 Use technology tools (digital cameras) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

Technology standards and benchmarks*

(Secondary)

T2.LE.2   Discuss common uses of technology in daily life and the advantages and disadvantages those uses provide.

Lesson plans*

Using a Digital Camera in the Classroom http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7123/camera.html

Making a Newsletter with Your Digital Camera

I introduce this project by talking about teaching and how much fun it is to teach somebody something and to share our information in an interesting way.  I tell them about making a class newsletter of information from this unit.  Students will pick an idea from this unit and teach someone about the idea by taking a photograph that illustrates the idea and writing a paragraph to teach someone about the idea.  As they work, they must keep in mind the people they are trying to teach!

We discussed responsibilities students would have while doing this project.  If students want to take a photo of a person or of something on private land, they should explain the project and get permission first.  In the writing, students should use quotation marks if they are quoting a person or a book.  They should mention sources of information in the writing.

Steps for making the newsletter

1. Students review the unit they have completed by brainstorming vocabulary they have encountered.  List these for all to see. Reflect on real examples - for instance, mushrooms on a pizza are fungus.

2. Allow students to pick a subject from the list created to photograph and create an informational paragraph for a newsletter.  I had partners, which made 12 story items with pictures.

3. Students take turns using the camera.  They do their article on paper or on a word processor and save their picture and article on one main computer. Before students start bringing pictures in, create a file to save all related digital pictures as needed.  The activity may take 10 to 12 class days but will not interfere with the class as a whole.

4. When all photos are done have a class period for writing articles using newsletter software.  Review the assessment checklist with the students. If you do not have a word processing program, any word processor will work by selecting two-column format with a header. One teacher in our school used AlphaSmarts. 

5.  All of the articles and pictures had to get into one document on one machine, which gave students opportunities to save and transfer files by floppy disk.  I taught two students to be experts, and they assisted others to cut and paste their picture and article into the newsletter. Students Copy the article from the original document and Paste into the newsletter, or type directly into the article. Save often! From File, pick insert picture, go to My Jams and select your jpeg. Place it into the newsletter

6.  As a class, we decided on the header title for the newsletter.

7.  A team of three students copied the newsletter and distributed copies to classmates to take home.

Example student materials

Sample newsletter page one                    Sample newsletter page two

Assessment*

 Checklist for article and related photo

Reflection

This is a nice connection between school and home. Students worked in pairs or triads to create news articles that cut final copy by at least half. Parents and students both gained scientific knowledge through this activity.

Students created this newsletter after studying the chapter, so this activity was, in effect, an assessment of their ability to generalize what they had learned.  For this reason, the content standards and benchmarks covered are taken to a mastery level.

This newsletter-with-digital-pictures works well in other subject areas.  In Social Studies, for example, students could take pictures of the Core Democratic Values or rights and responsibilities.  In English Language Arts, students could take photographs to illustrate active verbs or adjectives vs. adverbs.  In Mathematics, students could take digital photos to show operators such as greater than, less than or equal to, and less than. 

Home activities

Students are assigned science concepts.  They then search for examples to photograph within their own community.

Credits

 Patricia Vanatta, Lakeside Elementary, Manistique, MI  pstapleton@dsisd.k12.mi.us