Unit 2, Week 1
Multimedia Lessons
Lessons for Week 1 for Teaching Point of View RL.6.6
Length of time: 3-5 days, week 1
*This lesson is spread out over several days by examining one photo per day, with a culminating discussion at the end of the week that integrates ideas gleaned from “reading” the photographs and the anchor text.
Objectives:
Students will...
- come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
- follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
- interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally)
- write routinely over shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
I DO:
Review norms for whole- and small-group discussions in your class. You may want to explicitly model and teach discussion skills.
WE DO:
Review the idea of “Close Reading” a photograph. You could say something like: “This week, we are going to examine a series of photographs. I am not going to tell you much about the photograph upfront, rather I want to see what you pull out of the photographs when you examine them closely.”
One at a time, present the following images. You may choose to present these one per day, or multiple in one day.
- Wall Street Journal photograph of the brothers by Oliver Weiken/European Pressphoto Agency: (http://online.wsj.com/articles/palestinian-death-toll-rises-as-israel-threatens-broader-hamas-offensive-1405498640),
- Picture 17, with the horse by Sergey Ponomarev, NYT (http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/29/gaza-city-sergey-ponomarev-israel-photos/) or (http://alivein85.tumblr.com/post/92985671407/fotojournalismus-day-19-palestinian-death-toll),
- Vasily Maximov for the AFT picture of Pro-Russian separatists, (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10794741/Ukraine-crisis-Moscow-assures-Pentagon-it-will-not-invade.html)
- CNN photograph of Ukrainian children sending Putin a message (http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/gallery/irpt-maia-ukraine-essay-duplicate-2/index.html)
Ask students to discuss the photos, using the following guiding questions. Scaffold the discussion as needed for your students. Review the anchor chart with the following questions posted in your classroom, as they can be used repeatedly over the year. The line of questioning begins with a larger “lens” that becomes increasingly more focused as the discussion progresses.
- First Read: What do you notice about these photographs?
- Second Read: What is the tone of photographs? What images create this tone?
- Third Read: What can you tell about how the photo was made? Consider lighting, color, framing, etc. How does the vantage point of the photographer show us the point-of-view of the artist?
After students have examined all four photographs, ask students to compare them. If possible allow students to see all photographs together (projected, printed out or displayed on three different computers at once)
- Fourth Read: Compare and contrast all three photographs. What is different and what is similar?
By the end of the week, students will have had deep exposure to point of view from discussion of the anchor texts. This concept can now be interwoven into the examination of photographs by asking students to consider point of view in art. Allow students to also consider the point of view of the photographer or a person not pictured.
Have students turn and talk to a partner about how this work relates to point of view. Lead a whole-class discussion to ensure all students understand.
YOU DO:
Ask students to choose a person in a photograph, and do a QuickWrite activity in which the student writes an account of that moment in time from the point of view of that person. You as the teacher can decide how much or how little you want to structure this QuickWrite--you could leave it open to students’ interpretation of the task, or you could be more specific in what you would like them to write (short story, poem, description, etc.). This QuickWrite can be used as a baseline assessment to inform further instruction of writing for your class.