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Sandi Roullier
Cirby School, Roseville, California

Subject: Language Arts
Grade 2

"The project not only allowed me to achieve the objectives that I had established for language skills but also brought life, imagination, and initiative into subject matter that could otherwise be dull and boring for students and teacher alike."

Purpose and Description of Project

Sandi Roullier used photographs of her second graders to motivate them to learn to write correct letters to their pen pals and improve their grammar, handwriting, capitalization, punctuation, and ability to construct complete sentences.

The photos taken by a class aide and by the children were used to spotlight a "star of the week" on the bulletin board and to illustrate the students' letters to a second-grade class in Bloomington, Minnesota. In addition to improving language skills, Roullier thought the use of pictures would enhance the children's self-image and encourage them to talk about their activities with peers and parents.

She says that the project was successful in all aspects and generated great enthusiasm among the youngsters for both photography and writing.

Activities

Each week during the project, a different student was selected to have his or her photo displayed on the bulletin board, be interviewed by the class, and have individual interests highlighted in the photo caption. The teacher next covered letter format (date, greeting, body, closing, and signature), grammar, capitalization, punctuation, use of adjectives, and expanding sentences while also emphasizing neatness and good handwriting.

Roullier's classroom aide taught camera care and handling skills like holding the camera; advancing, loading, and unloading film; focusing; and using lighting. She had each student take a picture of another student. Additional photos were taken of the students with their favorite toys, enacting their favorite sport, and portraying their favorite holiday. The students then wrote their first letter to their Minnesota counterparts about the toy related photos. As they subsequently received responses, the children went on to write letters about their favorite holidays, sports, and school subjects, including the appropriate photo with each. Letters and photos they received in return were displayed on a bulletin board during an open house so that students could share them with their families.

Additional activities included a geography lesson on Minnesota and the creation of Mother's Day cards using copies of the sports photos.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

Human resources included Roullier's classroom aide and the Minnesota teacher who shared the project with her class. Equipment and materials included a 35 mm camera, and Kodak color film; and newsprint for letters.

Outcomes and Adaptability

Roullier says that her "students' language skills have shown marked improvement, and when writing letters, they try hard to use their best handwriting and correct sentence structure." They were so motivated by the project, she adds, that they used "much of their free class time writing letters to their parents and friends." In short, she states, the project "successfully motivates the passive learner, the weak students are able to achieve success, and the shy students speak up!"

The teacher advises that this project would be valuable for the first through sixth grades and that many variations on the photo topics she used could "help students communicate their ideas and share themselves with one another."

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