Welcome to #TeachWriting, our bi-weekly chat about writing instruction! Our topic tonight is PICTURES and WRITING - so feel free to share random pics as part (or all) of your answer! Moderating tonight is co-founder and ne'er-do-well, @bkuhl2you!
Last early share - The Hubble Site - tons of images here from the Hubble Space Telescope - the Deep Field is a good one . . . https://t.co/cPrElMxPc7#TeachWriting
What I like about this is that the photos are like an open ended question. There is no wrong answer which is what many people struggle with when writing. It then allows them to really create #TeachWriting
Tonight's chat will follow a standard Q1/A1 format - questions will come from this account, and will begin with Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. Please begin your response with A1, A2, A3, etc. #TeachWriting
There's also lots of ways "in" for a picture - no obvious right answers, more ways to challenge thinking and get to surprising places. Lots of good things. Stick around - questions coming soon! #TeachWriting
A1 - For both, you're selecting a topic, choosing the limits of what to say and what not to say, and creating a product that represents a combination of your ideas and your subject. Lots of perspective in pictures. #TeachWriting
And students mostly see that once you explain it to them - do you have a way that you like to help kids get that idea? A picture you like to use? #TeachWriting
Images in writing are such a powerful way to help students learn. When writing or reading be able to visualize the information is really crucial to fully understanding #TeachWriting
Absolutely! Used to try to teach this explicitly, but it fell by the wayside because of other things. Sad, since it's such a big part of enjoying what you read. #TeachWriting
Nobody mentioned technology! That's a good thing, I think. Pictures and writing are both a product of technology, and strongly affected by the tools you use to create them. #TeachWriting
When people don’t enjoy reading or struggle with literature I think it’s because this skill was never fully explored. Which is why it’s so important to find the joy in the written word #TeachWriting
A2 - Here's a good one - https://t.co/OFTs427YS6 - each blob of light is a GALAXY, with BILLIONS of stars. Mind-blowing the scale of the universe. Now kids, write about that for a little while . . . #TeachWriting
A2. Picture prompts are one way I get #youngplaywrights started on a new idea. I also encourage writers to find pictures of people, settings, objects, whatever, that provide inspiration for their characters. #teachwriting
A2 - This site - https://t.co/QlZUELq23s - is a good way to use pictures to get kids thinking, talking, and writing (and hopefully asking lots of questions) about stuff that happens. OBSERVATIONS! Big stuff. #TeachWriting
A:1. I like to use illustrations to teach about descriptive writing. Having a picture to look at helps my students with adding details to their pieces.#TeachWriting
Is there a book you really like to use for this, where the pictures are clearly and obviously an important part of the story? I'm thinking of picture books like ISH or the NO, DAVID series. . . #TeachWriting
A:2 I use story cubes as a rotation in my class. These are pictures on die that are used for group story telling. They are beneficial for the creative process. I will have groups record their stories as they are being created. They love it! #TeachWriting
A3 - I like pictures that take a little thinking, and challenge some expectations. I want them to have to talk it out, or write an initial impression and revise it later. It's a cool way to help them see the reward of digging deeper. #TeachWriting
A3. I don't have a "go-to" picture resource, so I'm curious to see what others say. However, I do recall using archival photos for a devised play with youth based on vaudeville. #TeachWriting
A2- One way to use pictures to teach writing is to have your students write about a picture that is meaningful to them. What is the story behind the picture? Why is it important to them? #TeachWriting
A5 - Sorry, sort of a think-y question. I think kids think pictures are an expression of identity in a way that we don't. We don't take as many pictures of ourselves in as many different ways (I think). I think kids might also try to read text like pictures. . . #TeachWriting
A5. Not sure I use pictures enough to answer this question, but will say that I sense sometimes that when I present something as inspiration for writing (like a picture), students have difficulty being creative. Default is analyzing for the "right" thing. #teachwriting
A5 - My students think it's the coolest thing in the world that you can google my name and find my picture. You can do that with most adults these days, I think. As if being on google is somehow special to them. . . #TeachWriting
A5- Pictures are much easier to take for my students than they were for me at their age. For me, pictures are a way to capture special moments or places. I think some students feel that way, but social media has changed the reasons that people take pictures. #TeachWriting
That's interesting - I know that I've used some pictures and had kids who were shy about trying to interpret it. I think sometimes simpler stuff works better for this - a kids book, a cartoon, other things - it might make them more comfortable "playing" #TeachWriting
Agree - most of my kids take pictures of themselves a lot with their chromebooks. Very few share those pics with others. Lots have Snapchat, though, and that's a different kind of picture altogether. All kinds of modifying going on there. #TeachWriting
Or maybe give them a digital camera, have them take some pictures, then write about their pictures? Try to explain their crazy pics? Sorry, brainstorming here. #TeachWriting
You're the first person to bring up memes! Had a kid argue with me two years ago about Neil deGrasse Tyson because of a meme. Always a mixed bag. #TeachWriting
Brainstorming is great. And I think you're on to something with students taking their own pictures then writing about them. When it is further removed, there is default need to find the "right" answer. Anything to break from that is worth a try! #TeachWriting
A7 - I drove around and took pictures of things in our community for a community writing thing, then asked students to write about those places using my pictures. It sort of flopped. I'm not sure why, really. Maybe I took pictures of the wrong things? #TeachWriting
A7. Interesting idea. I've been taking a lot of nature pictures recently - very informal shots of interesting things I found out and about. I'd be curious to hear what those pictures inspire in others. #TeachWriting
A7 - Like the community swimming pool. The restaurant on the corner. The grocery store. Stuff like that. I thought it was enough places that kids would be able to connect. I ended up with a lot of uninspired, superficial stuff. (Probably felt too rushed) #TeachWriting
A7- I have not taken pictures for instruction, but I would be interested in taking pictures of certain places or events and asking my students to tell a story about the picture or share how they relate to the picture. #TeachWriting
A7. The theatre company where I work runs statewide youth poetry contest. One prompt was to write a "poem of place" about a specific local place. Those poems chosen for publication included a picture of the place, which I believe was taken by the author. #TeachWriting
I might try that now, actually, if we do this again. We're 1-1 chromebooks, so yes, we're tech-heavy. (Actually working on something with Google Earth and the Ancient Greeks, so maybe a good connection.) #TeachWriting
It's possible - if I had planned it a little better, I would have sent the kids home with the camera to take pictures. I've done that with clubs, and had good results a few times. #TeachWriting
Q8 - My buddy Ralph Fletcher and I were talking about how we use our phones these days to capture what we’re thinking. How are those pictures different from other pictures? #TeachWriting
A8. My "thinking photos" aren't often as nice, or fun, or memorable, as aesthetic pictures. Actually, I don't tend to look at "thinking photos" again. #TeachWriting
Q8 - My buddy Ralph Fletcher and I were talking about how we use our phones these days to capture what we’re thinking. How are those pictures different from other pictures? #TeachWriting
So, if I'm at a store, and I see a book I want to read, I take a picture of the cover. I see a cool poster, I might take a picture to remind myself to check it out. I see a book sitting on a teacher's desk, I might take a picture of that. It's a memory aid? #TeachWriting
A8- The pictures we take to capture what we are thinking can be considered more casual. However, pictures to capture how you are thinking or feeling may have a story to be told. How could we use a picture that captures thoughts or feelings to teach writing? #TeachWriting
A8 - I might also pull my phone out and take a picture of something I wrote on the board, or a note I wrote myself, or something like that. It helps me remember. Usually. #TeachWriting
I think these pictures can sometimes become individual writing prompts, or they can become part of some other activity. "Here are the pictures that were in my phone - what story do they tell?" #TeachWriting
We do this every two weeks, and we could use some more guest moderators - feel free to sign up to lead one of these chats! Join us again in two weeks! #TeachWriting
I don't have my own classroom, so I do this often with notes we make on the board that might be needed again in a future class. Again, we often never use them... #TeachWriting
As always, the archive will follow shortly on this hashtag from @bkuhl2you - who is still looking for an alternative to storify, BTW - thanks so much and see you again soon! #TeachWriting
