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Presenting Our School: A Project for Junior High School Journalism
Classes
Bertram T. Smith
Jackson Junior High School, Greensboro, North Carolina
Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 8-9
"The use of photography... helped them see the relationship
between attitudes (invisible, therefore, can not be photographed) and
behavior (visible and can be photographed)."
Purpose and Description of Project
Bertram Smith's project involved his four journalism classes (about
70 students) in the creation of a slide/tape program called "Presenting
Our School". The project had three distinct objectives:
-
to have the students isolate just what it was they were trying
to present about their school,
- to have them develop an audiovisual
product showing the daily functioning of the school, which the
school's counselor could present when visiting feeder schools, and
- to help students develop a familiarity with the basic operation of a
camera.
Activities
Smith's students spent a great deal of time brainstorming in groups
of four or five with the school's students, faculty, and administrators
before making the final decision as to what aspects of school
life to present. Each group was asked to keep in mind this question:
"How can we make the intangible aspects of our school visible?"
To unify the various themes they had chosen, the students decided
on a format of following a "typical" student through
a day at school and branching off from that into other aspects
of school life.
Smith chose one of his students to portray the typical student,
and then the classes got down to the business of taking slides.
First, they heard a presentation by a photojournalist from the
local newspaper who discussed some of his recent work. Then the
students practiced focusing the camera before each took three
preliminary black-and-white photos. Smith made contact prints
and gave each student his or her three prints; these then became
the subject of discussion as Smith covered the basics-focus, shutter
speed, and aperture-of operating a camera.
After the students shot their first slides, Smith reviewed them
in class and explained various elements of photographic composition-center
of interest, texture, repetition, etc. These topics were again
reinforced by Smith after the students had shot the final slides.
After the slides were sequenced and the narration written and
recorded, the presentation was shown to the counselor, who assured
the students she would definitely make use of it as an orientation
tool for new students.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
Smith suggested that any reasonably good 35 mm camera with a flash
could be used. He chose to have the students work with black-and-white
film because he could purchase it in 100-foot rolls and develop
it himself. The black-and-white practice photos were made with KODAK PLUS-X Film.
Proofsheets were printed on KODAK POLYCONTRAST Paper using standard Kodak
chemistry. A copying lens was used to make duplicate slides, and
a zoom telephoto lens proved useful in photographing athletic
events.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Preparation of the slide show had a noticeable effect on the students.
As the school staff and students concentrated on selecting positive
aspects of the school to portray, school spirit and pride increased.
Students also became more aware of both the unusual and the commonplace
as they looked at their surroundings from the viewpoint of a photographer.
Smith's tests on photography showed that they had learned the
relationship between shutter speed and aperture, what "fast"
film means, how split image focusing works, and other camera basics.
Smith recommends the project to any junior high or middle school
teacher, but cautions against trying to work with such a large
group. "While I am happy with the final product, I think
that my attempt to make all the students feel they had a part
in it resulted in few of the students feeling their part was significant."