I chose these pictures because they encompass parts of Madison that I am proud of. I have wonderful memories of all three locations shown--the Memorial Union Terrace, capital square, and Camp Randall--and I want others to see the city from my point of view. People I meet who have never spent time in Madison have only heard about the crazy Halloweens on State Street, and I hate that reputation. There is so much more to the campus and downtown area that I AM actually proud of, and I hope that these pictures capture the serenity of the lake, the excitement of fall football games, and beauty of the capital city for viewers.
I see many possibilities to use Flickr in the classroom. Students could add a visual angle to "Where I'm From" poems. They could take pictures of important elements in their lives, and post the slideshow in blogs where they also post final drafts of their poems. I could also have students search Flickr for images that remind them of the literature we study. They could use the discussion option to explain their connections, and open up a deeper literature discussion in an online forum.
Voice Thread
I thought it would be useful to set up a voice thread for one of my upcoming units in English 9: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Students always have trouble visualizing this story, mostly because many of them have such different homes and lifestyles than those depicted in the novella. The voice thread that I have started would be a space for them to make connections to the text through pictures. We'll see how it goes next month!
I like your idea for The House on Mango street. Having the students connect the text to a picture and reflect on that connection will definitely help them start to visualize with the setting and identify with the characters. Did you end up using this or doing anything further with it?
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