Time Travel
Travel back in time looking at old family photos. Take out that box of photos sitting in a closet, sort them and lay them out in chronological order, oldest to most recent. Let your observations lead the discussion. Some of the things we talked about as a family were how technology of photography and cameras has changed over time, how styles in fashion and home decorations have changed. We discussed how relatives who may not be here anymore can still communicate with us through these photos. I had fun looking at photos from my husband's family and seeing how his grandpa had a similar posture and gestures. Old videos are incredible time capsules that provide great perspective and rich conversations as well. It is especially fascinating to find photos and film of family members when they were our age and to imagine what it would be like to live like they did. Bet they couldn't imagine the way we are living right now all hunkered down due to the virus... or maybe they could. What historical challenges did they face? How was that like what we are experiencing today? How was it different?
If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t have set the photos up on the dinner table, a place used often by everyone in my family. We will need to find another area to lay the photos out so that we can circle back to it a couple of times this week to further our conversation and let the perspective and understanding sink and settle into our schema.
Learning Extension Activities:
- A video on the history of photography from TED-Ed
- A video from National Geographic Kids about how a digital camera works.
- Step-by-step directions on how to make a pinhole camera.
- If you find this topic interesting you can research of the history of photography at the RES school library.
- To take this learning opportunity further you could take photos to document this event in history for future generations to see what it was like during the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020 for you and your family. If you email me you're photos I can put together a historical document of what this event looked like for 1st graders in Richmond, Vermont and maybe someone will use it in their research years from now.
As with all the at home enrichment learning activities posted, I'm trying to keep in mind materials that are typically found at home. I am also doing the activities with my own family first. My sons are calling themselves as my Test Pilots. These are always optional, with the hope that they are ideas to help you connect to the world outside while we're all isolated in our homes. I love seeing what my fellow learners are doing, feel free to email me photos, videos, questions and honest feedback about the activity. Also please share with me activities you've done that you think your school mates will enjoy too.
