The rain held off until after lunch, so my students and I headed out to explore our school campus through our camera lenses (iPads for them). Yesterday I wrote a post about teaching students some photography techniques, today we put those techniques to use as we tracked down and photographed ten items on our scavenger hunt. I adapted some ideas from the book, Go Photo! An Activity Book for Kids, with some more concrete subjects (something bumpy) and some more abstract subjects (speed). And even when my students wanted answers, I encouraged them to figure out what to take a photo of to represent the item on the list.

Students set off to explore our playground area in search of the items on their list. I encouraged them to take their own photos and not to all take the same photos (first graders do like to copy each other). I love watching the creativity and engagement when students have a task to complete and open-ended possibilities to accomplish it. On our gloomy about-to-rain day, reflection was a challenge. When I asked a student about it, he pointed me to a piece of plastic under the climbing structure that was reflecting light. I like that kind of creativity. Water was another challenge–and it wasn’t long into our exploration that I heard a student saying, “The ocean is right over there!”

While I watched students and photographed them in action, I also participated in the scavenger hunt. I missed a few items along the way, but enjoyed the creative process as well. For reflection, I cozied up to the play structure, thinking metal would reflect. I managed a glimpse of my student’s red sweatshirt reflected in the metal. I used to bug’s eye view technique, getting low and close.

I noticed the group of 4 soccer balls, just sitting there, for my “rest” photo. Again I got close and low. I like the way the macro feature on my phone camera blurs the palms in the distance.

Like my students, I was also drawn to the ocean as my water shot. I used the palm trees as a way to frame the water in the distance.

When we returned to the classroom I had students go through their photos and list what technique they used for each item on their scavenger hunt list. I like that they needed to examine their photos carefully and determine which item was which, and what techniques they had put to use.

So now it’s your turn. Head outside or even take a look around the house. What photos might you take to document each item? What photography technique will you use to frame and enhance your photo–or just give it a more unique perspective? I’d love to see and hear what you come up with!