In class, one of the presentations dealt with photo essays.
I just read Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and he intertwines pictures to tell Oskar's story. It was interesting to see that words and images can be combined to tell the same story.
It really made me want to create a photo essay, but if I am being honest, I wasn't going to go through old work just to make one just because. Time is precious for me, but that doesn't mean that I am still not interested. I would still love to make one to tell a story.
I think that these would be especially helpful in a middle school setting where the five paragraph essay is stressed. It would be a more creative way for students to express themselves, and most students in middle school are drawn to images more than words.
Creating a photo essay would make audiences, or students, use higher level thinking skills to decipher meaning. They would have to think about how an image relates to a book, short story, poem, or even a peer. I think it would really benefit students, and I would be more than willing to use a lesson involving them in a classroom.
I loved this lesson plan, too. As a student in high school I can remember always loving to do projects which involved photos or something visual to accompany text so I definitely think the Photo Essay would be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about making a photo essay for your final project presentation in here? It might be a good way for you to practice with this and complete a project. I mean, why not kill two birds with one stone?