Literacy Through Photography is a multi-lesson curriculum program combining visual literacy and writing. Teachers are trained to incorporate visual imagery and writing into core classroom teaching. Each lesson is linked directly to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills objectives for English Language Arts, and meets the standards set forth national curriculum mandates of No Child Left Behind, and the National Council of Teachers of English Standards for the English Language Arts. The curriculum can easily be adapted to accommodate different age groups, class sizes, and teaching schedules.

The Curriculum interconnects photo-based image-making and diverse kinds of writing, from narrative essays to poetry. Students in the Literacy Through Photography program are given the opportunity to work with cameras and create images that follow the specially designed lessons plans around four main themes, SELF, FAMILY, COMMUNITY, and DREAMS. Their photographs (film-based and digital) serve as effective catalysts for the related writing assignments. FotoFest offers students and teachers a year-end public display of the student work. The year-end projects range from wall mounted posters and collages of photography and writing to three-dimensional installations and video presentations.

The goal of the SELF lessons is to motivate students to think about who they are. They learn about the elements of a portrait and six different photographic techniques they can use to create their own portrait. After creating their elf-portraits, students focus their energy on creative writing exercises that encourage them to express strong emotions in writing.

Self Portrait Shot List (40 minutes)

"... It felt like I was crying in earth so I went through all the eight Planets. I felt really angry. My posture was to show my muscles. I stopped at Neptune and got made because I did not like freezing cold places so I wanted to conquer Neptune. I am the king of Neptune!!! "

Raheem Babajite, KIPP SHINE Prep, 2008

In the FAMILY lessons, students learn to “read" a family portrait. They spend time researching their family trees and obtain information about their heritage. They interview and create “character sketches” of important family members. In their writing assignments, students are encouraged to explore their feelings, both positive and negative, about the relationships within their families, and conceive of ways to capture those feelings visually- in photographs, and verbally through their writings.

"In this picture you can see the love that I feel for my mom and the love that she feels for me.

This is what we do every morning before I go to school. She blesses me…all my comings and goings. She is afraid that one day I will not return from the streets of the neighborhood. This is why I always have her in my heart.'

Mario Cruz, Wheatley High School, 2005

The goal of the COMMUNITY lessons is for students to explore their relationships with their communities and to communicate their positive and negative feelings about their communities. They spend time thinking about how to capture the essence of their communities in photographs.

Through DREAMS lessons, students are encouraged to explore their imagination and detail their dreams…their sleeping dreams and their daytime fantasies. They spend time thinking of the best ways to capture dream images in photographs and through writings.

Early in our history with Houston ISD classes it became evident that Literacy Through Photography was an especially effective tool in ESL (English as a Second Language) classrooms. In fall 2005, the new LTP ESL curriculum was made widely available for the first time. The program has been piloted in select LTP classrooms in HISD for two years. After extensive review, all lessons have been reviewed and modified for use in ESL and LEP (Limited English Proficiency) classes, and linked to English Language Arts Objectives for Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading.

As an educational extension of the FOTOFEST2006 Biennial, The Earth, a new four-lesson curriculum has been created to lead students on personal investigation of their relationship with the Earth. Students will learn about the Earth’s history, cycles, and sustainability through a series of stories about differing cultural views about its existence, and creative writing assignments.