Please note, the workshops will not be given during the 2007-2008 school year.

Description
The Photography and Literacy (formerly called Literacy through Photography)Program encourage students to find their voice through photographs and writing. By using photographs of children from around the world, students also gain a better understanding of cultural diversity – and their own connection to the global community.

Photography encourages children to look more closely at the world around them, to become more observant of their surroundings and emotions, and this awareness helps to ground and enhance their writing skills. Because photographs are so specific, learning to ‘read’ visuals is an invaluable skill – one that strongly encourages kids to differentiate between assumption and fact.

The Photographpy and Literacy (PAL) program is designed to support state and national mandates for writing and visual arts.

Program Options
Grades K-1
30-minutes. Using 26 pictures of the children, animals and activities/concepts introduced in the assembly, Joan asks the children to choose an item from each picture that represents a word from the alphabet. Together, they write that word on a piece of paper, stick it to the print, and arrange the prints in alphabetical order. If time allows, the children help Joan to write a sentence incorporating each word.

Grades 2-6
45-minutes. A series of carefully chosen, narrative-based photographs – all taken by Joan - illustrate how composition and angle convey information, and how light can be the grammar that tells a story. This exploration of photography has a great power to stimulate thinking and writing. By looking closely at the pictures, students become photo-detectives, and discover details and impressions. Joan encourages students to ask questions such as: What happened? Why? When? Where? Through the process of analyzing and discussing the details, visual information is translated into strong descriptive language.

Grades 7- 12
A 45-minute slide presentation - especially relevant to art students - which shows the various aspects of a professional photojournalist’s work. Topics of discussion include the research, preparation, editing, marketing and legal aspects which go into every assignment, how a photojournalist turns an idea into a published story, visual literacy, interviewing techniques, cultural awareness, the use of text and sequencing, and editing/layout.

Teacher Workshops
Provides technical and theoretical skills that help educators to use photography – and the concepts behind visual literacy - as an innovative and exciting approach to creative writing.