It's important to understand the many different ways pictures communicate to us. According to this article, angle, framing, light, focus and composition are just a few ways pictures communicate to us. The Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning Corporation (McRel) has created standards by which our students from grades K-12 should exceed. For example, middle school students (grades 6-8) should "understand how symbols, images, sound, and other conventions are used in visual media". (McRel Standard 9) For example, students should comprehend the concept of the sound of brakes from a car and a loud bang insinuates that there was a car accident.
A good way to get students to access, analyze, evaluate & communicate photos would be to assign groups to a different photo. That way each student is putting forth their observations and are building on the standard that is required of them. Another activity would be to have students use a camera's viewfinder to understand "framing". This will help them build on how a certain view means something different. Students should be able to ask themselves questions such as "what am I looking at?", "what does this mean to me?", & "how does the image and the text/ sound relate to each other?". (Riesland, 2005, para. 10)
As educators, it's important that our students understand how to interpret and analyze photos, videos, etc. Our world is continually changing and our students have to adjust to these changes in order to be successful, literate adults.
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