Works of literature are like polaroids...it may take a while to see the whole picture

     The lesson I decided to blog about this week was the photo essay. I have always thoroughly enjoyed accompanying words with photographs because I feel it gives the piece of work more depth, makes it easier to understand and leaves room for a number of interpretations. While some students can write beautifully crafted papers and pick out main points and themes with ease, others need time and assistance, hence the comparison between works of literature and Polaroid’s. Whether it is a novel or a student's own essay, they are like Polaroid pictures...it can take a while for a student to see the whole thing and make sense of it. Basically, not all students can grasp a concept or theme as quickly as others

so why not try a different approach such as a photo essay?

    When this lesson plan was presented to the class, I couldn't help thinking back to high school and how much effort I put into assignments that related to this one. Particularly in my English classes, my teachers over the years created assignments such as photo stories, poem portfolios and podcasts which included

 both music and images. I spent a great deal of time on each of these projects, perfecting them so I could take pride in my work. Now, as a teacher I realize different aspects of those lessons. I knew that they had a purpose and connected to what we had been learning about, but the point was I didn't feel like I was doing work or racking my brain to absorb information--I just learned. Not only will students (some of them considering not all students are creative but rather dread artsy projects) have fun with photo essays, but they will learn a creative and innovative way to pick out specific parts of literary works of their own or those of others and from that will be one step closer to understanding the work in its entirety. Putting myself in the shoes of my future students, I feel as if I would truly love a photo essay lesson and most definitely would enjoy teaching it--a win, win!