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Language, As Experienced Through Pin-Hole Photography
Brenda Tomlin
Lamar Brown, Hood Street School, Fort Jackson, South Carolina
Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 3-6
"One of the best ways to get students to express themselves
orally or in writing is to get them involved in real experiences
that they will want to tell about, and that's what this project
demonstrated."
Purpose and Description of Project
Brenda Tomlin, a language therapist, and Lamar Brown, an art teacher,
used pinhole photography as a vehicle for increasing the language
skills of six students who had either language disorders or
developmental delays in language.
These students-who had been mainstreamed into regular classrooms
and spent much of their time feeling frustrated and unsuccessful-developed
the confidence to participate in language experiences outside
the project and were enormously proud of producing results that
were admired by other students and family.
Activities
This project was divided into two main phases-(1) learning about
and making pinhole cameras, and (2) taking pictures, developing negatives, and making prints.
Similar language development activities succeeded each phase.
- Phase I-Students read about and discussed photographic principles
and, under the direction of the art teacher, constructed individual
cameras from heavy black cardboard and thin sheet metal with a
hole for the lens and black tape for the shutter. To reinforce
what they had learned, the teacher also built a demonstration
camera to show how light rays refract and produce an inverted
image, as well as a giant walk-in pinhole camera. The giant camera,
constructed from two refrigerator cartons, made it possible for
students to get an inside view of how pinhole photography works.
- Follow-up activities included group discussion of what the
students had learned; development of a list of new vocabulary
words; dictation by the students of their individual stories about
making cameras for an adult partner; and the writing of each sentence
on a strip.
- Phase II-The art teacher took students to the darkroom and
demonstrated the sensitivity of photographic paper to light. After
the cameras were loaded, the students learned about controlling
the length of exposure time. The students then experimented alternately
with taking photos outdoors and developing negatives until they
attained good quality negatives. At this point the youngsters
made a number of prints.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
The two teachers were assisted by a speech paraprofessional and
used the following materials: heavy-duty black and gray cardboard;
black photographic tape; thin sheet metal for lenses; 100 sheets
of 8" x 10" Kodak photographic paper; the school's darkroom
facilities and developing chemicals, including developer, stop
bath, fixer, trays, and safe light; refrigerator boxes; and a
large can, waxed paper, and black construction paper for the "can"
camera.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Tomlin and Brown believe that the students found the photographic
activities highly motivating and challenging, and as a result
they produced stories that were "interesting, informative,
and correctly sequenced." Perhaps even more important for
these students, who had previously gained little success in language-related
activities, was that they succeeded this time and that others
recognized their success. The youngsters were eager to discuss
what they were learning-not just in the project sessions but back
in their regular classrooms as well. And in the project sessions,
the children competed to be first to tell their stories and to
include the most details while writing. According to the reports
of classroom teachers, virtually every aspect of the children's
performance-from writing to social confidence-improved.
In short, states the language therapist, "pinhole photography
was our most interesting and rewarding language experience this
year." She also suggests that this approach could be adapted
for students of any age or ability level.