Friday, April 8, 2016

From A Photo To A Story

I love using real photographs to spark children's interest in storytelling. Many photographs stir our imagination. A photograph is rooted in the real world, so it provides children with a real life framework with which they can create a story. Students can express that story  in an oral or written form.

You can use photos to spark your students' imaginations and as a meaningful and authentic writing prompt.

You can use many different types of photographs.

  • Use photos of yourself and your family. Students have a real fascination about the life of their teacher outside of the classroom. By sharing a piece of your "other" life, you are sharing a piece of yourself with each child.
  • Use photos of the children in your class. Almost every child loves to see themselves in a photo. It is even more exciting for them, when they see their picture as part of the instructional materials. They are famous, relevant, and special for that small moment in time.
  • Use interesting photos from magazines. Make it a quick part of your routine to grab interesting pictures out of magazines that you browse.
  • Utilize the many photographs that are available on the web. Pinterest is a great resource for so many educational resources. photographs included. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to Picture Writing Prompts
  • Check out my newest freebie, From Photos to Stories. It includes labels to create your own anchor charts, a graphic organizer, and a hilarious photo of my cat. All of it you can use with your own class or children. Head over to my blog to pick up your freebie.
Stay tuned for more "From Photos to Stories". More are on the way!