.jpg)
In Kid's Church, I often taken my students outside to observe God's creation. They use their eyes to observe unique things about His creation, point those things out, and then come back to the classroom for further discussion about the significance of those things through God's word. I think it would be incredibly powerful, and much more fun for my young learners to capture the beauty that they're seeing with a digital camera and come back to the computers in our classroom to upload and share their digital pictures.
Instead of having the students go home with color sheets, it would be great to have all the students work together to create one magnificent digital storybook! Then, we could work with the church to perhaps embed a link on our church web site for the students to really show off their work.
I've found a resource for learning how to create a digital storybook from flickr images, which we could use to make this happen. Click here or on this link to view tutorials.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I believe that encouraging students to capture, organize, and share pictures that they've taken is a great way to engage, and solidify learning. The same way students have for decades processed stories by drawing or coloring images on a page, flickr picture books can become a great, modern way for students to create their own picture books reflections, and share their perspectives with the world!
As an extension to this, I want to note that in Kim Heumann's post about new Web 2.0 technology she discusses ebooks, which is yet another great way to incorporate pictures into the classroom:
The pictures are a great starting place for a brainstorming session to create a short story to match the illustrations. During our reading lessons we always take a picture walk of the books we read together, but also as part of something else we do instead of centers, I teach my students to read the pictures of a book. For the students who can’t read yet, reading the pictures really empowers them. This would be something that every student would be able to contribute to.
Image used by permission, Jupiter Images, Inc.
@Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI think your idea about incorporating Flickr, photography, digital storybooks and the wonder of creation would be an excellent thing to do with the children in Kid's Church. I am sure they would love it as would the rest of the congregation. Children have such profound things to express and providing such an opportunity for them would go a long way in my opinion. Keep on pressing on!
Natasha,
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of kids creating a collaborative visual reproduction of what the"see" with their natural eye. Much more realistic to them and others of what they actually see with their commentary to complete the description. The kids will be really excited about the product, not just because it is theirs but because they won't be limited by their personal artistic abilities. Also, what kid doesn't want to use the computer?
Let me know how this turns out. As a photographer myself, would love to see a final product .