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Rooflines Through the Lens

Merry Anderson Harsch
Williamstown Public Schools, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Subject: Social Studies
Grade: 6

"Photography was a completely new art for all of these children. Using it to document what they saw and having a product was very important to their educational experience."

Purpose and Description of Project

Merry Harsch's group of volunteers learned camera use and darkroom procedures, studied architectural styles and details, and documented their community's architectural heritage in both black-and-white prints and a color slide/tape show.

Art teacher Harsch worked closely with the school's social studies teacher, who concentrated on architectural features and history while Harsch primarily directed the photographic aspects of the project. Students each "adopted" a building-public building, private institution, or home-researched the building's history, principally through personal interviews with community resource people, and photographed the building as a whole as well as its achitectural details. They shared their prints with the entire school through a bulletin board contest seeking answers to architectural questions and took their slide/tape show from classroom to classroom.

Harsch says the project strengthened the students' observation and listening skills as well as photographic skills and raised their consciousness about the town's "architectural richness, variety, and heritage."

Activities

The social studies teacher first taught the students about basic kinds of rooflines and floor plans; they then drew the lines and plans from memory. The teacher presented materials showing how elements of various architectural styles may be mixed in one building; and familiarized students with such architectural terms as dormer, finial, and lintel. Then, after instruction in the use of 35 mm cameras and darkroom processes, the students each adopted a local building and researched it with local experts. In two groups, the students visited the chosen sites and participated in finding and identifying rooflines and architectural details while the adopting student took notes for use in the slide/tape show. Then that student photographed the building-taking both black-and-white and color shots of the entire building and of detail features while the other youngsters made sketches.

Each student made three prints of each of his or her black-and-white photos in the school darkroom while the color slides were processed commercially. The students got to take home one set of prints they had made, while others were used in a bulletin board contest to test other students' knowledge. Winners were given the opportunity to take pictures and work in the darkroom.

Students then used their on-site notes and research to develop a taped narration for their slides. The show was shared with other classes and is being integrated into the school's social studies unit.

Materials, Resources, and Expenses

Human resources included the social studies teacher, community experts on various buildings, and homeowners who supplied information and allowed their homes to be photographed. Students used four 35 mm cameras, as well as, print and slide film .

Outcomes and Adaptability

Harsch says that her students learned about photography, increased their architectural knowledge, and became more aware and insightful observers of their architectural and historical environment. She was also pleased at the enthusiasm generated among the students by the experience and the considerable pride they took in their photographic products.

Since every community has historically significant buildings, Harsch believes that the project could be carried out anywhere. And, she adds that while she had intended the unit for academically talented students, the group of volunteers turned out to be a mixed group and all were equally enthusiastic.

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