Digital Cameras - Imagine The Possibilities

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Take shots of class projects, activities, or field trips for weekly newsletters or board reports.

Share images with parents or grandparents by creating a “Caught Your Child Enjoying... “ page. Snap a shot of the latest math activity, PE lesson, or science investigation and add a message to create special reports for parents.

Spice up a class web page with pictures from your classroom. Save your photos to your hard drive so they will be available for your web building projects. Be sure to check out your district's restrictions on using photographs before uploading to your server.

Attach digital images to e-mail's to share class news with Internet pen pals or the newspaper. Check out the HELP area of your e-mail program to learn about attaching files to your e-mail messages.

Have your students create a “My Favorites” scrapbook with shots of various activities from the year. Save pictures of their favorite projects to create a “Welcome To My Class” newsletter for next year's class.

Personalize awards with images of students and their award-winning creations. Combine images with cool clip art to make an award certificate that is outstanding and memorable.

Allow your students to take a few shots to add pizzazz to reports, projects, class presentations, or their own Power Point projects.

Use pictures of your students to personalize classroom displays for helpers or leaders.

Create cool birthday, thank you, or congratulatory cards complete with a photo and message from the teacher. Challenge your students to use their writing skills to create the perfect message.

Save digital images of classroom activities and projects to demonstrate and evaluate standards-based learning.
(1) Collect images from various phases of a project to evaluate progress towards learning goals.
(2) Create an information page using an image of a final product and a summary of the goals/standards that were met.

Incorporate pictures of learning activities to generate interest and reinforce learning.
(1) Take a series of shots of the life cycle of a butterfly, insect, or frog. Create flash cards that challenge students to put the shots in order.
(2) Use photos of labs, lessons, or special projects to create questions for exams.
(3) Utilize images of local scenes, classroom activities, or field trips to add another dimension to journal writing activities.
(4) Images of a reading collage, math manipulatives, art samples, or musical instruments can be used to create interesting worksheets or exam questions.

Don’t have a digital camera available? Take regular pictures and utilize a scanner to create digital images.

T. Trimpe 2000