OPTIC Photo Journal
Instructions – Biweekly each student will take photographs (digital or analog) and summarize such photographs for meaning and argument using the OPTIC mnemonic strategy throughout the year. Beginning on the fourth week – I will begin asking random students to present an analysis of a photograph of his/her choice to the class. The students will create an ongoing journal collecting and organizing their pieces in VoiceThread, Comic Life, or PowerPoint (this of course the dull option and highly discouraged). Each 6-week grading period, students will complete and submit an OPTIC Analysis Worksheet and an OPTIC Photography Rubric for each (this would be three) photographic entry.
OPTIC: O - is for overview - write down a few notes on what the visual appears to be about. P - is for parts-zero in on the parts of the visual. Write down any elements or details that seem important. T - is for title-highlight the words of the title of the visual (if one is available). I - is for interrelationships-use the title as the theory and the parts of the visual as clues to detect and specify the interrelationships in the graphic. C - is for conclusion--draw a conclusion about the visual as a whole. What does the visual mean? Summarize the message of the visual in one or two sentences. This mnemonic device is helpful with key concepts to think about when approaching any kind of visual text.
Collaborative Lesson Plan File