Unit 6 Photo Activity

I thoroughly enjoyed this project. I enjoy photography and I went through my photos in order to find images that displayed the rules of photography. I feel very confident about finding an image for each of the rules discussed in the text book.

file:///Users/mikesmith/Desktop/PhotoActivity3.pdf

Unit 5 Web Activity Final

My project is designed for 8Th Grade Social Studies students. I wanted to create a graphic that shows the entire Constitutional line of Presidential succession. I have never seen a graphic that displays the entire line of succession. My students ask me every year about the line of succession. I thought this was a great way to finally create something that could easily display this information.


Unfortunately, I did not get any usability comments this time. I knew this image would definitely need some editing and time to process any additions to the 1st version.


Overall, I wanted to create a hierarchical status by using shape size to cue in importance. The largest seal belongs to the President of the United States with the 1st in line belonging to the slightly smaller V.P. and so on. I chose to add informational boxes to reinforce the names and order of succession. Chapter 6 reinforced the use of directional tools such as lines and arrows. I like the spiral effect, because it allows for a lot more information to be presented in this one graphic. I made sure that the proximity of the numbers with the seal was sufficient. I wanted it to make sure it that the viewer could refer to the informational boxes to get the correct name of the possible successor.

Ch. 6 Web Activity

I have created an image to display the Presidential line of succession for 8th grade students. I think that I need to add some more text, because of the small seals. Do you think the hierarchy comes through this image. I think is a solid graphic in the making, but needs a lot of work.

Ch. 6 Web Activity

Unit 5 Discussion

I decided to put in the 1st two sections of the Declaration of Independence. I spend a solid week in my class really dissecting this document with my students and making sure that they realize how important word selection and phrasing truly is. Thomas Jefferson’s genius was not just the ideas that were infused in this document but how they were described. He understood that phrasing these ideas in just the right way could make this document live forever.
When I saw the image that was created I was very pleased with the result. I initially loved the fact that it was displayed in black and white. I really like the powerful contrast between the black background and the white font. It is a nice dichotomy from the black text on white pages the kids are reading from their text book.

Answering the question, Is this image hierarchically accurate?” is kind of difficult. In dealing with the overall meaning of the Declaration of Independence, probably not. Because it is a randomly generated image certain terms or words may not be as prominent as they should be. In terms of studying the many underlying themes and messages contained in this document, this image brings different and maybe overlooked words to the forefront. I will definitely be using this image and Wordle with my students next year.

Unit 4 Visual Activity

My project is designed for an 8th Grade Social Studies class. It is graphic image that will be used for a study aid for a geography quiz.

Revised image

1st image



Usability Comments

edtechbeheler said...

I think you nailed it this time. The revised image is great. It uses the three elements of this unit (space, depth, and color) perfectly. Assigning different colors to each colony, and the way you labeled them succinctly is a good example of how to enable the learner to select the proper information. Good job.

Original image


I wanted to bring out a lot of color to reinforce the specific shape of the colonies. I tried to bring out some depth with the title and the name of each colony with shading. (Ch. 11) I worked with a 3-D border to focus the learners' selection toward a balanced and effective figure-ground. (Ch. 5)

Web Activity #4

Original Image & Revised Image


This is a basic image depicting the 13 Colonies for either 5th or 8th Grade students. I thought the original image had a lot of room for selection improvement. Working with space, color and depth I could bring the selection elements out a lot more. Do you think I was able to use the three elements (space, depth and color) to their maximum potential?

I spend a lot of time discussing the 13 Colonies and their individual histories with my students. Geographically, I want this image to be as clear and concise as possible. My students will be tested on the geography of these colonies and this image should be a good study guide.

Challenge Activity Week #3

I chose to do the Challenge Activity from page 245. For section "A" I chose a photo which I took on a cross county drive. I have always been fond of this particular image because of the architecture. When I first read the activity, my mind immediately went to this particular photo of an A-framed building. As I was trying to revise the image, I thought about color of the font. When I matched the font with the color of the photo, it really started to come together. I also chose to add the shading to the font in order to match the shape of the roof. I was very happy with the final outcome of this section.

My 1st image was the house with the font "Bank Gothic". I thought it matched the image style and how the image was cropped.

Usability Comments
I think the idea is very solid, but that you may need a better photo of an A-Frame house for this as students may just look at it and see a house, and not make the connection between that and the letter beside it. Especially with ESL students who already are trying to compensate for the new language.

I was definitely inspired by the power of typography with these two activities. Chapter 9 really portrayed the importance of font choice and the impression you can give your readers through the presentation of ideas. I wanted to bring out the artistic aspect of these images through the font I selected.

Section "B"

I would use this image to discuss how revolutions can grow and flourish through more than just using arms and violence against an unjust government. Recently we have seen how the people of Iran have been able to get their message out to the world using social media like Twitter. I chose to add some background imagery (Flag of Iran), but I am not 100% sure it was the right choice. I do like the contrast of the Heletica font with the Twitter "t". I think it is a good discussion starter for a current event lesson.

My first image is the same font style as the revised version. I did not have the flag background, and I think I like it better. I believe I would come full circle if I was to actually use this image in presentation. The addition by subtraction theory works for this process.



Usability Comments
I think the image definitely delivers on what you were trying to do. I also feel that with the world climate tie-in (even without) you've got a great discussion starter on your hands. Utilizing the Twitter "t" was a very smart idea too. It's timely, hip, and appropriate for your overall message.

I believe I used the "proximity" and "contrast" elements discussed in Chapter 8 very well. I like the black newspaper headline style of the word revolution with current style of the Twitter "t". I also focused the integration of imagery with the bird. I wanted it to be very tight and to emphasize the new tools of Revolution.

Challenge Activity

The 1st image would be for a student between 7th & 10th grades. I would use this two discuss how revolutions can grow and flourish through more than just using arms and violence against an unjust government. Recently we have seen how the people of Iran have been able to get their message out to the world using social media like Twitter. Do you think this image would be a good discussion starter? Using the Twitter "T" really seemed to work for me, do you think it hits the assignment "designing a word that expresses its meaning"?

The 2nd image is of an A-frame structured house. This image may help a younger ESL student to remember the capital A. These could be used in a flash card activity. How else might I be able to use the letters and architecture with ESL students?