Middle school photography projects

April has come and with it, fabulous weather. We're all in shorts and summer shirts with the windows open. Today was the first day that not only the weather was nice, but that the wind was tolerable. We took advantage of our window of opportunity to finish a project we started a few weeks ago. Way back in March, we started the silhouette project. We walked around and worked so long and hard on our shadows, but the wind was just not feelin' it that day. It almost made away with Preston's…

The world is filled with so many different forms of art – including digital art. In this course, you’ll explore this special genre of art found in everything from advertising to animation to photography and beyond. Additionally, you’ll tap into your creative side to create digital art and make it come alive!

Our middle school is very close to having a 1:1 iPad program with most of the iPads being Minis. We are very lucky! During Q3, 7th graders experimented with using the iPad cameras and the effects of the photo editing app, Aviary. We studied five different themes or highlights of photography including Rule of Thirds, Illusion of Depth, Portraits, Implied Texture and Macro photography. Many of us surprised ourselves with our photography and editing skills. We turned in the photos through our…

How to Throw Things at Your Students (and Get Away With It!) % %

We have been involved with lots of art collaborations in the last few weeks and this one with Rogers Middle School has topped the list! Too much fun as you'll see by some of our photos... Here is how the lesson went: 7th graders were instructed to create a 1/2 portrait on a white ATC. We used only Sharpie but worked on adding a shadow with hatching, cross-hatching or stippling. Students also chose an emotion or feeling from a list as well as a "type" of person (cowboy, athlete, etc) to draw…

Bust out your camera and get ready to take some creative pics! 📸In this video, Kade explains Forced Perspective Photography. This is a fun photography techn...

In 6th grade, we talked about how colors can evoke emotions. For example, red can mean love or anger. The students took self portraits with ...

If you've been following my blog for a while you know I'm a big fan of David Hockney and have done several projects based on his photo collages. This time I decided to let my 3rd thru 5th graders take charge of the whole process. Each student had the opportunity to be the photographer. They divided into pairs and took pictures of different facial features at varied perspectives and ranges. (They were given a max of 10 shots). Some children chose to change facial expressions during their…

Update your classroom curriculum with this Introduction to Digital Photography lesson and project! This project is designed for middle school and high school teachers to be both engaging and easy-to-use. This is a great early project to get students working creatively. Plus, your students will connect how they use photography in their daily lives and the stories they are telling through social media.With step-by-step lesson plans, student photography worksheets, assessment materials, and…

One of my favorite ways to wrap up a middle school photography course is with something called the Social Identity Project. It’s a chance for students to use the technical skills they’ve been learning while also digging into deep questions; questions surrounding identity formation and what’s important to them. It culminates with a display of …