Say cheese, please! cross-curricular activities that put back-to-school smiles in the spotlight - snapshots as teaching tools

Instructor, August, 2002 by Mary Kathryn Martell

Snapshots of your new students are great for labeling cubbies and for using in a community-building bulletin board display. But don't stop there. You can use those same snapshots as teaching tools in language arts, math, science, and more. Here are complete how-tos for five activities that will keep students smiling and learning!

Children, Children, Whom Do You See?

Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt, 1983) is a favorite with young children. Use this charming classic as a model for a class book that children will love to read to one another and take home to share with their families.

MATERIALS

* Student and teacher photos

* Copy paper and markers

* Glue

* Construction paper (or other front-and back-cover material, such as wallpaper-covered tagboard)

* Bookbinding materials, such as O-rings, yarn, or plastic binding strips

STEPS

1. Write the following sentence at the top of a sheet of copy paper: Children, children, whom do you see? At the bottom of the paper, write: 1 see ______ looking at me! Draw a square in the center of the page that is the same size as the children's photos. You might like to add a decorative border to frame the picture. Photocopy a class set of this page.

2. Share Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? with students. Invite them to read along as they learn the fun, predictable text.

3. Give each child a copy of the text/picture page and his or her photo. Have children glue their photos in the designated space and write their names in the spaces provided.

4. Create a page for yourself. You might also invite cafeteria staff, the principal, the school nurse, and others to add a page. Create a front and back cover, and bind pages together to make a book.

"Photo-Graph" Markers

Start saving frozen juice-can tops to make reusable graph "markers." These photo magnets are perfect for graphing personal responses--for example, question-of-the-day graphs, science predictions, and more.

MATERIALS

* Clean lids from frozen juice cans (one per child)

* Student photos

* Scissors

* Glue

* Magnet strips

STEPS

1. Give each child a lid. Have children cut their photos to fit inside the lid, glue them in place, then attach a magnet strip to the back.

2. Store lids in a basket, or stick them right up on your magnetic chalkboard for easy access. Use them to graph a question a day, such as: How many teeth have you lost? What's your favorite color? In what month is your birthday? For a daily activity that doubles as a lunch count, have children use the markers to graph hot and cold lunch choices.

Look! Look! Look! A Class Peek-Through Book!

Begin by sharing Look! Look! Look!, by Tana Hoban (Greenwillow, 1988), a collection of photographs that each show a close-up of the subject (such as a dog, a Ferris wheel, a rose, and so on), followed by two photos of the same subject at greater distances. The close-up image is covered by a "masking" page with a cutout that reveals a small portion of the close-up. As children look at each close-up, encourage them to notice details and use them as clues to guess what they'll see in the larger photos that follow. Children will apply the same skills to a picture book they make.

MATERIALS

* Student photos

* Sturdy paper cut to the size of the photographs (laminate the paper first for durability; one sheet

* Scissors

* Bookbinding materials

1. Give each child his or her photo and a sheet of sturdy paper cut to the same size.

2. Demonstrate how to make a "peek-through" page by cutting a small section (triangle, circle, rectangle, or free-form shape) from the paper so that when the photo is placed behind it, a small part of the child's face (hair, eyes, etc.) will show through.

3. Place each child's photo behind his or her peek-through page. Add a front and back cover and bind together. Allow children to guess who is behind each peek-through page before turning the page!

First-Week Word Wall

Introduce word walls with a display that helps students learn their classmates' names, as well as teaching letter sounds and the spellings that represent them.

MATERIALS

* Blank index cards

* Removable wall adhesive

* Student photos

STEPS

1. Write each letter of the alphabet on index cards. Attach the letters along a wall at children's eye level.

2. Have children use wall adhesive to stick their photographs beneath the first letter of their first names.

3. Invite children to write their first names on index cards, then add these to the display beneath their pictures.

4. When children are ready to move on, redo the word wall using last names as an organizer.

We've Got Mail!

Combine a simple post office with personalized stationery to motivate students to write every day.

MATERIALS

* Hanging shoe bag

* Student photos

* Tape

* Name cards

* Copy paper STEPS

1. Hang the shoe bag at your writing center. Have children make name cards (cut to fit in the shoe-bag pockets). Let children take turns taping their photos (trimmed to fit) and name cards to the outside of the shoe-bag pockets.

2. Have children make personalized stationery by gluing their photos to copy paper, then writing their names and adding a decorative border. Or they can use a computer, combining a digital photo, text, and art with a program such as Kid Pix. Store multiple copies of each child's stationery nearby for easy access.