Say Cheese!

The words commonly heard when taking a portrait may now be words heard not only at family gatherings and birthday parties, but even in the elementary classroom. The use of digital cameras in the classroom is expanding, and for good reason!

There are so many ways you, as a teacher, could make learning more fun and beneficial by simply using a digital camera in the classroom.

Here are some of my thoughts on what you could do!

1. Have the students take pictures of one another, and make a powerpoint. Go through the powerpoint in class the next day and explain to the students how God has created each one differently!


2. Studying plants? Here's an idea! Gather all the materials you will need for planting, and plant some seeds inside your classroom with your students. Then assign a student for each day of the week to take a picture at a certain time of day. At the end of the month make a powerpoint of the pictures and watch the process of your flower growing!

3. Shapes are all around us; capture them! Allow students to go throughout the school or even outside and photograph shapes that they recognize. The compare the pictures with each other and see who was the most creative in picking a shape to photograph! Or make a graph by using the data of how many students photographed each shape.

4. Have a class pet? Want to know all about his life? Set up a digital video camera by his cage and then watch the video. This would be great if you were studying animal life.

5. Here's another animal idea! Set up a bird feeder right outside of your classroom window. Have the video camera recording throughout the day to moniter what type of birds come, how many come, when they come, how long they stay, etc.

6. Use a camera on a field trip! Many teachers do this already, but how about letting the students have their turn? Talk about getting a different perspective! Allow students to take photos during a field trip, and when you get back to the class, have each student write what that photograph means. It could be a story of why they took that photo, or why the think it is something important from the trip. Then compile the essays along with the pictures that go with them to make a field trip book for the students to look at again and again!

7. We have already thought about watching plants grow, but what about watching people grow? Take pictures of the students during different times of the year and compare the photos at the end of the year. See how they have grown tall, how many teeth they lost (or how many came in!), etc.

8. Here is an idea if you are in a culturally diverse school. During Christmas time there are many different holidays that are celebrated. For the children who celebrate each holiday, take a photo of them and have them write what the holiday is about, what traditions does their family have, and any other information about the holiday that they know. Compile a "Holiday Book" and read a few pages each day before Winter Break. This will be fun for the students to tell about their own family holiday traditions and it can be a great learning experience for those students who do not celebrate that holiday.

9.For studying weather, have students take pictures of the weather each day. It will be neat to see how the weather changes from day to day! You can also discuss the different details that go along with thunder storms, rain, snow, etc.

10. Make an alphabet book! This is for younger students. As you begin to study the letters, take pictures of those letters around the room, and make them into a book! By the end of the year, you will have a book with all of the letters of the alphabet that your students made!

Those are only a few of the things you could do with digital cameras in the classroom. The possibilities are endless!