Regardless of who initially coined the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” the fact still remains that a single photo can uniquely capture the essence of a single moment in a way unlike any other medium. The Guardian Eywitness App, also a website, is a tool I loved using with students. Taken from all over the world, the photography shared in this app is simply breathtaking.

Here are a few ideas of how to utilize this resource in your classroom:

• Writing Prompts – Often students are stuck, or scared of the blank page. Have students describe what they see, explain how a photo symbolizes them, or make up a story for what is going on in the photo.
• Narrowed Focus – Students struggle with wanting to write stories some call, “bed to bed stories” because the story includes too many surface level details and not enough time is spent on the meat of the story. Having students write only about what they see in the photograph forces them to focus and expand on a specific detail of an event.
• Discussions of tone and mood – or any literary element for that matter. It is quite helpful to students if they can connect visually to an idea and then take that concept back and apply it to what they are reading or writing.

What are some ways you have used photography in your classroom?

Tagged: Readers Writers Workshop