Picture+This!

= Picture This! =

Using images in the classroom
Why use images in the classroom? Images can support students' ability to comprehend, make meaning and communicate. Here are some ways to incorporate images into your lessons:
 * Digital Storytelling - the use of digital tools to combine images, text, audio etc. to create a narrative. Support the "writing process" with a storyboard - a "roadmap" for the digital story that tells the storyline and shows how/where images and audio will be used to support the story.
 * Photo Essays - A series or set of photos intended to tell a story or express and emotion. Photo essays can include sets of images on their own or images with text and/or captions
 * Photo Montage - making a composite picture by joining or layer other pictures
 * Sequencing - illustrate steps in a process, show events over time, show growth and/or change over time
 * Insert images into blog posts, slideshows and presentations, reports, try a Voicethread
 * Use images a discussion starters. Check out this article on selecting effective and evocative images for use in your classroom.
 * Use images as writing prompts
 * Create a personal picture dictionary
 * Put on your thinking cap. You can probably come up with more!

Find free clipart online:
Please be aware of Terms and Conditions at each individual site ** and always respect copyright. ** DK Clipart - Dorling Kindersley Books offers a palette of high quality images for all content areas. Public Domain Clipart - This site has made a good faith effort to include only images which appear to be in the public domain. Public Domain images are considered to be freely available for any use by the public.

Look for Photo with Creative Commons Licensing:
Popular web-based photo albums, for example Flickr, encourage users to apply Creative Commons licensing to their photos. This means you may be able to reuse these photos in your own projects. There are different levels of Creative Commons licensing so please be sure to check what level of reuse is allowed. When searching Google Image click Advanced Image Search (next to the search field) and look for images that are labeled for reuse.

Free Digital Storytelling eBook from Microsoft:
Digital Storytelling in the Classroom

Web-based photo editors:
What's to like about these web-based photo editors? You don't need a user name or password (but you can register if you want to). Just upload a photo and begin editing!

SumoPaint http://www.sumopaint.com/
 * Pixlr** http://www.pixlr.com/
 * Picnik** http://www.picnik.com/
 * FOR iPAD!** Look for the free Photoshop Express app!

Some basic things you can do to edit your pictures:
 * Rotate, flip and straighten
 * Crop and resize
 * Adjust the exposure (light/dark) or contrast(black/white)
 * sharpen - increase edge contrast (does not fix out of focus pictures)
 * Touch-up red eyes or blemishes
 * Add text, stickers, or speech bubbles
 * Special effects: B&W, Sepia and many others
 * Add frames and borders

= Composition = The points where the lines intersect are called Golden Sections. The Rule of Thirds is also called the Golden Rule in composition. The Rule of Thirds can be used to draw your eye to important elements in your picture. You can use a photo editor to crop your pictures to take advantage of the Rule of Thirds, but with time and practice you will start to see in thirds when setting up you image in your camera's viewfinder.
 * == The Rule of Thirds or the Golden Ratio == ||
 * Imagine that you divide your image into thirds both horizontally and vertically.

The Rule of Thirds looks like the image to the right: || ||
 * Have a look at some good examples of effective and ineffective use of the Rule of Thirds on the[| About.com photography page] . ||
 * == Leading Lines == ||
 * Using leading lines are another way to add interest to your photographs. They are especially powerful when used together with the Rule of Thirds. leading lines help move the viewer's eye from one point to another in a picture. Leading lines can be curved or straight as seen in the image to the right by Ben Yoder. Read more about leading lines in Ben's article in the Columbus Photography Examiner:

@http://www.examiner.com/photography-in-columbus/photography-101-rules-for-composition-leading-lines || ||