Daily Lesson Planning Tool

Teacher: / S. Brandt / Course/Grade: / ENGLISH SENIOR SEMINAR / School: / Woodside High School
Lesson Topic: / Model Analytical Writing with Student Photograph Analysis Essay / Date of Lesson: / 2MP / Pd: / 2
CCRE/Objective
Materials and Resources: / SmartBoard, Paper or white boards, Writing Utensil, Laptop Cart or Computer with Internet Access,
Image from http://www.our21.com/UnitedNations/photo-1.htm
Additional supplemental material: NPR podcast of the documentary of Kevin Carter’s life, work, and suicide: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241442
Lesson
Component / Teacher / Student
Engage
& Hook / 1.  Ask students to think and then comment on the phrase: “A picture is worth a thousand words”.
2.  Is there more to a photograph than just that moment in time? What story might a photograph tell other than just that second of time?
3.  TEACHER NOTES: To spur some discussion, you may want to talk about what one photographer, Reed Burr, states on his blog: “Oftentimes, a photographer is thought of as just a person who takes pictures. This is most definitely not the case. Photography is an expression of art in the form of an image telling a story for itself. A photographer is the narrator of each image’s story. A well-taken picture should truly say a thousand words and have the ability to move our human emotions. The persuasion of our emotions is all determined by the personality of the image alone. Every moment caught within the frame of a camera is conducted by the photographer, all at the click of one simple button, right? Or is it? Maybe there is more to photography than just clicking a button.”
Burr, Reed. “The Inspirational Profile – Kevin Carter.” Reed Burr Photography. 31 August 2012. 29 November 2012. <http://www.reedburrphotography.com/2012/08/31/the-inspirational-profile-kevin-carter/>. / 1-2 Student responses could be given:
·  by teacher calling on students to respond
·  by putting responses on sticky notes and then post them on the board to see common answers
·  think-pair-share
·  in a journal response then share some of the responses
Explain
& Model / 1.  Have the students take out a piece of paper (or if you have a class set of white boards, they can use the white boards) to write down their initial responses to Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize winning photograph.
2.  Project Kevin Carter Pulitzer Prize Winning Photo on the SmartBoard.
3.  It is important for the students to not talk to each other or say anything about the photograph to the class as you want to get each individual student’s gut reaction to the photograph by having them write their initial responses down first.
4.  After a couple of minutes of silent writing, ask the students to share their initial responses to the photograph with the class.
5.  Depending on how much time you want to spend on the photograph with your students here are possible questions to spur further discussion:
·  What questions or concerns do you have that the picture does not readily answer for you?
·  Do you think Kevin Carter deserved the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph?
·  This photograph was taken during a famine in Sudan in the early 1990s, have conditions in Africa changed much since then?
6.  TEACHER NOTES: There is lots of information about Kevin Carter and his Pulitzer Prize photograph on the internet. Some interesting facts about Kevin Carter that anyone can find on the internet:
·  Three months after taking this famous photo of the Sudanese child and vulture, Carter committed suicide.
·  Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the “Band Bang Club” who traveled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during apartheid.
·  Documentary entitled The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006. NPR has a podcast of this documentary of Kevin Carter’s life, work, and suicide: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5241442 / 1-2. Students look at the photograph and quietly write down their first impressions and observations.
4.  Students share their initial responses to the photograph with the class.
5.  Students can either share their answers with the class as a whole OR to an elbow partner and then to the class as a whole.
Explore
& Apply / 1.  Remind the students of the lesson they did on Visual Literacy where they defined the terms Focal Point, Context, Figure Ground Contrast, Color, Lines, and Grouping.
2.  Project on the SmartBoard the college student sample essay analyzing Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize photo. This student sample essay comes from Robert Diyanni and Pat C. Hoy II Frames of Mind: a rhetorical reader with occasions for writing.
3.  As the class reads the student sample essay, point out the different terms the student is analyzing such as focal point/center in the first body paragraph, the placement or grouping of the two objects (vulture & child) in the second body paragraph, the white color of the necklace on the emaciated child and the whiteness of the vulture’s beak in contrast to the dark brownness of their bodies is analyzed in the third body paragraph, the line (angle / placement) of the child in relation to the vulture, etc.
4.  Tell the students they will choose ONE photograph from one of the following links to analyze referring to their notes on visual literacy:
·  Pulitzer Prize Winning Breaking News and Feature Photographs (organized by year)
http://www.pulitzer.org/
·  National Geographic Photography
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/?source=NavPhoHome
·  National Gallery of Art Collection and Exhibitions
http://www.nga.gov/ / 2.  Students read the student sample essay in order to understand how one can analyze a photograph using visual literacy terms.
4.  Students will write a visual literacy analysis paper based upon a student chosen photograph from one of the following links:
·  Pulitzer Prize Winning Breaking News and Feature Photographs (organized by year)
http://www.pulitzer.org/
·  National Geographic Photography
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/?source=NavPhoHome
·  National Gallery of Art Collection and Exhibitions
http://www.nga.gov/
Evaluate
& Close / 1.  Tell students they will write a visual literacy analysis paper similar to the student model essay.
2.  Have students get a laptop or get on a computer to start looking at photographs from one of the following links:
·  Pulitzer Prize Winning Breaking News and Feature Photographs (organized by year)
http://www.pulitzer.org/
·  National Geographic Photography
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/?source=NavPhoHome
·  National Gallery of Art Collection and Exhibitions
http://www.nga.gov/
3.  Once students find a photograph to analyze have them access the Analytical Writing of a Photograph Guidelines document from your Hands-Out folder.
4.  Once the students are finished with their essay, have them save their completed essay in their Hands-In folder as:
Their Name_Analytical_Writng_of Photograph / 2.  Students get a laptop or get on a computer to start looking for a photograph from one of the following links:
·  Pulitzer Prize Winning Breaking News and Feature Photographs (organized by year)
http://www.pulitzer.org/
·  National Geographic Photography
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/?source=NavPhoHome
·  National Gallery of Art Collection and Exhibitions
http://www.nga.gov/
3.  Students will analyze a minimum of TWO visual literacy terms in a photograph chosen by the student.
4.  When students are finished with their essay, have them save their completed essay in their Hands-In folder as:
Their Name_Analytical_Writng_of Photograph.

June 6, 2007