Uses for Digital Cameras in the Classroom

Many of you have requested digital camera ideas for the
classroom. 
 
Ideas for teachers:
Kodak site www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/index.jhtml
 
Use photos in research reports,  newsletters, memos,
assignments, certificates, calendar 
 
Use photos for instruction in PowerPoint, Hyperstudio, web
pages, webquests
 
Elementary teachers make picture seating charts for K-3 by
putting the pictures in the cells of the table
 
Create STUDENT OF THE MONTH bulletin boards
 
Attach photo with name to student desks so little ones learn
where to sit and *lassmates names
 
Photograph examples of superior student projects to give
other students ideas
 
Document health office records, including student photo,
medication taken, time taken if daily and dosage
 
Ideas for pupils:

Kids can use photos to illustrate journal writings
 
Use photos to illustrate poems, stories, or sentences they
write.  Use photos in brochures-health/disease brochures,
travel brochures, holidays around the world, information
researched
 
Use photos for business cards or brochures for career day
presentations
 
Use photos for an "all about me" Hyperstudio or to make a
mini poster
 
Use photos for posters or flyers for activities like Student
Council, field trips, or sporting events
 
Take a digital scavenger hunt. Take pictures outside or on a
field trip. Use photos to make a poster, Hyperstudio presentation, or for
use on a web page. Students can research more about leaves,
rocks, or something from our garden to add information. Use
photos to make a map of our communities
 
Make a mock newspaper about something you are learning
about, maybe The Dinosaur Times or Pioneer Gazette
 
Elementary teachers (or above) can use digital cameras with
kids to do autobiographies as an introductory desktop
publishing project.  Scanners are useful here to as existing
images can be used and kids can bring pictures from home
 
Art teachers can create a calendar-and maybe use them as a
fund raising event
 
Students can generate newsletters
 
Booklets can be written by 1st and 2nd graders with pictures
they take
 
Christmas tree ornaments---pictures of students can be put on
small ornaments
 
Business Math can take pictures of products for advertising in
the school store
 
Vocational Agriculture can use the digital camera for step
by step pictures of projects for competition
 
Art students can use it to submit pictures of their art for
scholarship competition
 
Social studies students can use it for front cover designs
to their reports
 
5th graders (or any grade level) who study the ecosystems
can use it as it relates to nature.  For example, in the fall,
students take pictures to reflect different themes (color in
nature, changing seasons, etc), then create an electronic
photo album to keep them.  Print out four favorite pictures
and do a writing assignment in the classroom for the teacher.
 In December have students return to the sites of their season
pictures and add to the album and then have them write about
the differences and similarities between them.  At the end of
the year, create a multi-media project (using Hyperstudio,
Powerpoint or Kidpics) highlighting favorite entries.
 
Special education kids can create a book of their school
including pictures of all the classes, teachers, and important
people
 
Prepare a "Meet the Teachers" handbook with pictures of all
the teachers in the building and what they teach to give to
new students.
 
Use the digital camera to help students understand history.
Use Timeliner 4.0 from Tom Snyder where students research
their own timelines.
 
5th graders can produce a timeline of memory keepsakes for
elementary school
 
Elementary teachers (K-2) can use a digital camera to create
an ABC book.
Working in groups, students are assigned a letter of the
alphabet.  They complete the phrase "__ is for ____."  Using
different manipulatives (cereal, marshmallows, legos, colorful
paper cutouts, candy, game pieces) they form the letter on 3'
X 3' pieces of colored paper.  The kids can add interest to
their letter using colors or makers.
 Then take pictures of their creation.  In MS Word or Works,
insert the picture and their chosen caption under the picture.
You can then bind the book for the class
 
Have students create passports during a travel/culture unit
in foreign language
 
Science teachers can use them to take pictures of themselves
and students performing certain procedures (i.e. preparing a
slide) and then include the picture on the direction sheets
 
A good project for Pre-K and K:  give students a letter and
they have to find an object in the room that begins with that
letter.  Pre-K can find something of a certain color.  Then
take pictures of the students holding the object.
Under the pictures was the sentence: "_______ is holding a
________.  _________ starts with the letter _____."  Pages
were made into books, laminated and bound.  One copy is in the
school library, one in the
classroom and one for the student to take home.
 
Take pictures of the kid's eyes only.  Have children try to
match up their classmates by only their eyes.  It demonstrates
how distinctive and unique we really are.  Oral discussion can
then follow.
 
Take pictures of elementary kids (waist or shoulders up),
then paste the pictures onto KidPix's.  The students can then
draw their Halloween costume around their own real image.
 This can then be put into a classroom slide show where
students orally describe what they were going to be.  The
teacher can have the students pre-write their narration as
well as pre-draw themselves in their costumes (on paper) so
they can visualize ahead of time.
 
Have students take pictures of field trips they go on and
then come back and illustrate and narrate their field trips by
incorporating these images (both camera and their own art
work) into slide shows
 
Take pictures of all your students (middle school works
good) and then print them out in black and white.  These then
can be used for students to model several art projects - one
of which could be to draw a mirror image of themselves based
on that picture by folding printout in half and trying
to draw the other half.  Another project could be to use
various art mediums and techniques to draw their self
portraits using the printout as a model.
 
Take pictures of each student's face and incorporate that
image into a computerized "Wanted" poster for the westward
movement unit.  Kids could add in (via text) the varmint's
favorite book, etc.  They could also be fancy and add in
handlebar mustaches, black hats, etc. to make themselves
look more sinister
 
First graders can have their pictures taken and put into a
document and include a hand drawn picture (scanned in) and
completed with a simple typed sentence or two describing
themselves.
 
Email photos to penpals
 
Have students write positive comments about classmates,
attach these comments to the digital photo and post around the
room, or give back to the students
 
Use a photo as a prompt for narrative or descriptive writing
 
Create a digital class archive
 
Demonstrate vocabulary, emotions, compare/contrast
 
Illustrate perspectives in art
 
Document growth of classroom plant or pet

USES FOR A DIGITAL CAMERA IN THE CLASSROOM
Jim Mc Gee 13/06/01