Note to Teacher:
Prior to this first class, please ask students to bring a printed image or digital photo (it can be on their phones). Directions for students:
Bring to class a photo of yourself doing something—i.e., not a school portrait; rather, an “active image.” The more obscure the content of the photo, the better! The photo can be recent or - even better - many years old. Do not tell anyone what is going on in your photo or when it was taken. Do not show anyone your image until we look at them together in class. (The image can be printed or digital.)
Overview
This first lesson in the Lost Rolls America Education program (LRA Ed) sets the foundation for the methodology used throughout the LRA Ed lessons. This includes:
● Creation of vocabulary definitions for the LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Class collaboration to establish the Rules of Engagement
● Explanation and significance of the LRA Ed Journals
In addition, the first class provides activities to engage students in beginning to consider how they use photography in their personal lives.
Essential Questions
● How can we create our classroom learning community together?
● How does taking photos impact our personal lives and the lives of others around us?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Work together as a class to create their classroom Rules of Engagement
● Work collaboratively to begin building their class LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Reflect on how, why, and when they choose to take photos on a daily, or near daily, basis
● Identify their emotional responses to photographs
Common Core State Standards
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.B
Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making (e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed.
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C
Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.D
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Respectful: Showing respect, politeness, or admiration.
● Attentive: Paying close attention to; observing closely.
● Honest: Free from deception; truthful; sincere.
● Perspective: A way of seeing or considering something; a point of view.
Materials for Instructor
● White board, black board, flip chart, or jumbo sized Post-Its for the LRA Ed Glossary Board
● Madagascar Extension Activity Worksheet
Materials for Students
● LRA Ed Journals: One for each student. If notebooks are not available, loose leaf paper may be used. Simply staple 10-20 pages together to resemble a notebook.
● Cell Phones: If they have a cell phone, students should bring it to this class. When students use their own photos from their phones, it enables them to make a personal connection to the class objectives.
ROOM SET-UP
Be prepared to break into student partner groups.
I. Introduction (5 min.)
Share with students that they are about to begin a new program and will examine a photo archive, Lost Rolls America, as the foundation for their learning and a springboard to investigate photography, the impact it has on their lives, the history of photography, and the creation of photo archives.
Let students know that because the activities and research will include personal stories, it is essential that everyone work together to create a supportive environment to facilitate our conversations, which may include difficult discussions that cover complex issues.
II. Rules of Engagement (10 min.)
Tell the class that because they will be exploring personal stories, it is important that everyone’s opinion is heard. To create a supportive environment, it is necessary to set up Rules of Engagement, which are similar to a contract that will support and protect students as they enter into complex conversations.
On the board, write “Rules of Engagement” and invite students to create the actual rules. Ask them to consider how they would like to be “heard” by their classmates and how they would like to be “spoken to.” Start by writing several examples on the board and then invite students to add to the list.
Target Answers (student responses should include or be similar to):
● Be a respectful and attentive listener.
● Use respectful speech.
● Use equal time for “mic” sharing.
● Be honest and have honest intentions.
● Allow others to keep or change their perspectives.
● Have the intention to create trust and learn from each other, rather than discredit others.
Keep the Rules of Engagement posted and visually accessible throughout the program.
III. Begin the LRA Ed Glossary Board (7 min.)
Tell the class that in each lesson they will be building a glossary to support each other in the exploration of these new topics. Start the glossary with four key terms from the Rules of Engagement. Guide the class to define words they have chosen in the opening discussion. Here are some sample words with target definitions:
● Respectful: Showing respect, politeness, or admiration.
● Attentive: Paying close attention to; observing closely.
● Honest: Free from deception; truthful; sincere.
● Perspective: A way of seeing or considering something; a point of view.
IV. LRA Ed Journals (3 min.)
Share with students that throughout the program they will each have their own LRA Ed Journal to use in the activities. The journal will contain personal thoughts and reflections and will not be handed in to the teacher.
V. Captions Activity: Our Photos (10-12 min.)
PART ONE:
Step One
Ask students to sit with a partner, and make sure every student has their LRA Ed Journal and a pen or pencil. Have students place their cell phones on the desk in front of them. If there are students who don’t have cell phones, that is fine.
Step Two
Ask students if they’ve taken photographs in the past four days. Ask them to guess how many they think they took and write down the number in their LRA Ed Journal.
Step Three
Note to teacher: If there are students who do not have cell phones, ask them to try to remember the last time they used a camera or someone else’s cell phone camera. They will have to make some guesses in the following steps, but as long as they focus on remembering, they will be engaged.
Ask students to turn on their phones and count the number of photographs they have taken in the last four days. When they have the actual number, ask them to write it down next to their original guess. Have them share their findings with each other. Then ask for volunteers to share with the class their guesses and the actual number of photographs they have taken.
PART TWO:
Time to reflect on the photos students chose before class! The objective of this activity is to enable students to realize that images are vastly open to interpretation and without context or a caption, they can be misinterpreted.
Step One
Hand out the Caption! Worksheets and have students take out their pre-selected photos.
Step Two
Ask students not to share anything about their photos and have them swap photos with their partners.
Step Three
It is now time for students to create a caption for their partner’s photo. If you feel it is necessary, remind students about the rules of engagement and to remember to be respectful of their peer’s photograph.
Let students know that in this activity they're like journalists at a newspaper and need to write a caption for their partner’s photo as if it were a news image. Let them know they must try to be as accurate as possible without asking their partner any questions. This is not an exercise in fiction.
Allow them the time they need to write the captions. (The Caption! Worksheet will guide them through the steps to write their captions.)
Step Four
Have a few students share out loud the captions they have written and ask their partners what is correct or incorrect. After sharing a few aloud as a class, have each pair of students exchange the captions. They will discuss with each other how accurate the captions are.
Step Five
After students have discussed the captions with their partner, conduct a class-wide survey:
● How many people's photos were captioned 100% correctly (who, what, where, and when were all accurate)?
● How many had three of the four components correct?
● How many had two?
● How many had one?
Entry-point questions may include:
● Did your partner interpret or “read” your photo correctly?
● Which aspects were correct? Which were incorrect?
● Did your partner feel the same way about your photo as you do?
● How can an image convey a mood or a feeling?
● What conclusions can you draw about photography from this experience?
VI. Quick LRA Journal Writing Activity (5-7 min.)
This will be the first official entry into the LRA Ed Journals. Have students reflect on the following questions:
● What surprised you the most about this activity?
● Did you learn anything about your photo from your partner’s reflections on it?
VII. Sharing and Reflection (Remainder of class)
Invite students to share their first LRA Ed Journal entries with the class. After they have shared their thoughts, let them know that the point of this exercise was to enable them to experience how images can be open to interpretation. People tend to think they can "read" photos and understand them, but actually it can be difficult to get the details correct. This isn't something most people think about a lot with photography, but in fact it's a very important aspect of this medium that everyone should be aware of.
Extension Activity:
Everyday Madagascar https://www.instagram.com/everydaymadagascar (See also PhotoWings, partner with the Everyday Africa project.)
The LRA Education first lesson created an opportunity for students to reflect on the photographs they have taken. Their photos represent different aspects of their daily lives. In this activity, they will explore photos taken by people in Madagascar that document their daily lives.
Share the following background information about Madagascar and distribute the Madagascar Activity Worksheet before students participate in the activity. They can do the activity in the classroom or at home.
Madagascar
Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean. In 2019, the population was approximately 26.97 million. (http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/madagascar-population/)
Malagasy and French are the official languages. The religious beliefs are a mix: indigenous beliefs 52%, Christian 41%, Muslim 7%.(https://www.un.int/madagascar/madagascar/country-facts)
Spend a few minutes going through the photos. Then ask students to answer questions on their worksheets.
Note to teacher: Given the lesson learned in the Caption! activity, students should better understand the value of asking questions in response to photos because they now better understand that photos cannot tell them everything. Captions can help and follow-up questions help even more.