Kathy Cothran

Sending children out with digital cameras to find specific examples of a concept is an excellent way for the children to demonstrate understanding of a concept.

You might consider sending children out to photograph objects that are living and nonliving. Be sure to give the students a paper for keeping track of what they've photographed. When they are all finished, upload the photos to the computer. Either print the photos and let each pair of students write an explanation for each photo, or just show them on a large screen and let each child or pair of students explain to the class how their photo illustrates living or non living.

You might also specify geometry concepts you want your students to find. For younger students they may be looking for particular shapes such as circles, squares, rectangles and triangles. Older students will be looking for geometric concepts such as intersecting lines, parallel lines, specific types of triangles, tessellations, congruent and similar shapes, etc. All of these items can be found around the school and schoolyard. Once the photos are taken, you may want the children to create a mini book with a photo and explanation of each geometric concept. Or maybe you'd like to create a class collage and so you would put the titles of the types of geometric concepts on a bulletin board and children sort and hang their photograph in the proper location.

Another scavenger hunt idea is to have each child choose a letter from the alphabet (or a number) and then search around school or home for an object that begins with that letter or illustrates that number. Take a picture of the object(s). As an addition, or a getting to know you idea, include the child in the photo so when it is labeled the child's name is included! Compile into a class book that can take turns going home with the students.

The same type of scavenger hunt can be done for colors and shapes and compiled into a collage of your choice (whether electronic or paper.)

Try a digital scavenger hunt for rhyming words. Put the two objects together and take one photograph, or take a photograph of each object and put the photos side by side. Be sure to add the words!

If you need more cameras for your class to use, try asking parents to donate their old cameras. People are updating and getting new cameras much more often these days. Just be sure to ask for them to donate the cord along with the camera!

All of these activities are ways to engage children in their learning by using technology in a way that gets their attention and creates learners that are eager to start each school day.