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A Focus on Values

Carolyn Mauer
South Fremont Junior High School, St. Anthony, Idaho

Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 7 (Gifted)

"... a photographer is able to see and capture the beauty that exists in the environment."

Purpose and Description of Project

Carolyn Mauer identified four objectives for her project: These support Mauer's overall goal of using language arts to help students clarify not only society's values but also their own.

Activities

First, the class of gifted and talented students discussed what "values" are and how these values influenced their daily lives. Then they brainstormed a list of values and selected the eight that they believed were the most important to our society: love, peace, friendship, education, money, the arts, freedom, and honesty. These became the subjects of the poetry and photography project. Mauer had combined these two subjects because both the poet and the photographer express the beauty they find in the world around them.

After Mauer gave a brief lesson on aperture and shutter speeds and on focusing, the students each took five photos with a 35 mm camera, each photo expressing one of the selected values. Mauer found that choosing the subject matter for the photos was one of the most difficult parts of the project. While students were instructed to look around the school with a "photographer's eye" or to bring appropriate items from home to shoot, they often felt limited because photos had to be taken at school during class time. These students had been instructed in basic darkroom procedures the previous year. They needed only a brief review before working in pairs to develop and print their pictures.

Students were able to work at their own pace over a span of several weeks so they would have time to shoot and, in some cases, reshoot photos. Others spent extra time in the darkroom as they tried to compensate for over- or under-exposed pictures.

Mauer had learned from past experience that it was often difficult for young adolescents to explore the field of poetry and their own potential for writing poems. To bypass the resistance she usually encountered when the topic was introduced, Mauer structured "failproof" assignments. She defined and explained four patterned-poetry formats-Haiku, Tanka, Diamante, and Sense. Students practiced using structured formats choosing proper words to express what they wanted to say. Then they wrote poems to accompany each picture. To complete the project, they made a layout for each page with one photo and its related poem, grouped the pages by the value depicted, and placed them in a class book.

Students used a point system to evaluate their work on the book in terms of quality and relevance of the photos, the quality of the poems, and the general appearance of the book. Mauer also evaluated each student's work as well as the overall appearance and organization of the book.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

Mauer's students were able to use the school's camera and tripod. The already existing darkroom was equipped with an enlarger, time, and other necessities. The only purchases were film, chemicals, and photographic paper. (Mauer recommends bulk loading the film so each student can have her or his own spool to take through the entire developing and printing process.)

Outcomes and Adaptability

The outcomes of the project were exciting to Mauer. Students said they found the class discussions on values and how they might differ from place to place and among age groups very valuable. They created many good poems and proudly shared their work as they gained confidence and became more serious about their poetry writing. Overall, Mauer felt that the experience was valuable in several areas. Students demonstrated greater insight in viewing how society functions-and they enjoyed the independence of the hands-on darkroom activity.

According to Mauer, her project could be used in grades 4 through 8, although younger students might need help with developing and printing the film. She also recommended additional work on design with the students as they laid out the book because students inexperienced with design will need help.

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