Using photographs of the time period is an excellent way
to help students imagine the setting and events of a story. They will be even
more interested if the story and photographs are of an area they are familiar
with.
I’ve had students write about photos to get them to
understand more detail about a particular time period or place and at the same
time work on different aspects of writing.
If you only have one good picture, it would work to copy
it and let each student write about the same one and then compare what details
they pull out. But I like to try to get a variety of photos so students have
some choice to work with an image they’re drawn to.
I give students a list of description and ideas to collect
and create as they examine their photograph. This list will vary depending on
the grade level and skills we’re working on. It may focus on poetic terms, but
could work with stylistic techniques or even grammatical understandings. Though
I wouldn’t include all of them together or all at once, the following are
examples of the types of requirements I might put on the list:
- Record the 5 most interesting details.
- Write a question that comes to mind.
What do you wonder about what you see?
- Create a metaphor or simile about something in the photo
- Explain something you see using
hyperbole
- Use parallel
structure to write about something you notice in the photo
- List 3 action verbs that you could use
in discussing what’s happening in this image
- Write at least 5 lines of dialogue
- Craft a line of imagery for each sense;
let us experience the way things look, sound, smell, taste, and feel
- Share something about the photo that could be interpreted as ironic
-
Tell
about the same detail or piece of your photo from 2 different points of view.
Or even try three. Or four…
After students have spent some time working with the
photo, looking closely and writing about it, I have them move on to the writing
assignment. This could take the form of a poem, short story or just a
descriptive sketch that really conveys what it might be like to be in that
place and time.
I have students go back and find the strong lines and
connections in what they wrote in order to pull together a coherent piece. I
don’t require students to include all (or usually any) of the details from the
list in their final piece, though most usually draw heavily on them. I do
require that they turn in those first writings with the more formal piece they
come up with so I can see that they’ve attempted them and if they understand
the skills we’re working on. I also can pull ideas from this work when I
suggest ideas for revision.
The Montana Historical Society has an extensive collection of historical photographs as do many local historical
societies. The Library of Congress has many photos and some collections are now
available online: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html