Young students take beautiful photos. Each time I am involved in a photography project with the children in our kindergarten I am amazed. Their perspective, the way they frame shots, the way they seek out the beauty in the everyday. They have a natural talent.

How this project started:
Our K1 students started a Unit of Inquiry exploring living and nonliving things in our environment. The very first thing the teachers did was to collect students initial thoughts on what it means to be living (is our house living because we live in it?…lots of interesting understanding to explore) and then we headed out into our school environment, outside and inside, and took photos of things that we thought were both living and nonliving.

Linking it to expectations:
From the NETS:
– students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology
– students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively

From our UWC Learning Principles:
– learners collaborate
– learners feel secure and supported
– learners construct meaning by seeing patterns and making connections
– learners understand the purpose of the learning

From our UWC Profile:
– Creative and Innovative: Students think creatively to produce original works

Can we say photography, or expressing ourselves through intentionally taken photographs, is a language that children naturally speak? I think we can.