Age: 5-9yrs

Ease ***

Overview

This activity gives learners a chance to reflect on their day. Children learn how to structure a day and develop their chronological awareness in a real-life context. They have the opportunity to assess the day’s activities.

Description

Create a timetable so that once a month a learner takes on the role of “Photographer of the Day”. The photographer gets a special cap and a card on a piece of string around his/her neck or badge with Reporter written on it. The photographer’s role is to document the day’s activities on camera. At lunch time (or near the end of the day if you have time!) the teacher uploads the photos to the computer and puts them in a PowerPoint Presentation. In the afternoon the class can view the photos and discuss the day’s events chronologically under the teacher’s guidance. Learners find it really hilarious to see themselves at work and play… and it doesn’t matter if some of the photos are blurry or badly taken, they seem to think this is yet more entertaining!

What do I need?

Tablet or camera
Interactive Whiteboard
Picasa viewer

Added value

We’ve found that re-capping on the day’s events not only improves memory but this activity also encourages children to tell their parents what they’ve been doing in school that day – rather than just saying “I can’t remember” when they’re asked!

Hints and tips

Learners can take pictures for half or a full day but restrict the periods within that touring the first few minutes of a lesson  otherwise it can be disruptive during tasks. Remember to ask then to photograph during playtime and lunch also. You may feel that you’d like to supervise this yourself – or ask a responsible older child to help the reporter.

In the early attempts, many of the photos will be unusable, either learners will not use the functions on the camera effectively or they’ll place a finger over the viewer! However, these are all important teaching points and should be discussed in the plenary

Make sure the camera’s battery is charged and that you check it’s working correctly. It’s always a shame if the camera doesn’t work and the learners are eager to ‘get to it’!
Ensure all children get a chance to be the reporter

If you don’t have time at lunch time/during the afternoon to upload the pictures to PowerPoint, doing after school and review it next morning before nominating the next “Photographer of the day.

Safety

If you decide to upload photos of children to the internet, ensure that you have parents’ permission.

Other opportunities to use the same software

• Use www.fodey.com  www.inthepaper.co.uk to turn reports into newspapers.
• Create content online by uploading reports to www.picasa.google.com  or www.slideshare.net  (you can even add audio commentary on Slide Share!)

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