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Lesson plan · Grades 6-8 · 45 minutes

Frame It

I can compose a photo using the rule of thirds, the horizon, leading lines and framing, and explain when I broke a rule on purpose.

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Standard
MA:Cr2 NCAS
Shape
Explore first
Grouping
Students alone or in pairs on devices, with whole-class debriefs.
You need
A device for each student or pair. The tool on the projector. Optional: phones or school cameras for Apply.
Tool
curioclass.org/tools/frame-it/
  1. Hook5 min
  2. Explore15 min
  3. Make sense10 min
  4. Apply10 min
  5. Exit check5 min

Before class

  • Pick two photos to compare in the Hook: the same subject, one dead center and one on a third. Any well-known photos will do.
  • Check that the Light studio loads on a student device. It needs WebGL.
  • Assignment stars save on each device, so students should keep the same one.

Hook 5 min

  1. Show the two photos. "Which one feels more alive? Why?" Take answers without naming any rules yet.
  2. "Photographers have a few tricks for where to put things. Today you find them by shooting."

Explore 15 min

  1. Students open Shoot. They drag to aim, slide Zoom, and put the lighthouse on a circle where the thirds lines cross. Then Take photo.
  2. They read the review: the thirds grid, the subject, the horizon and any leading lines are drawn on their photo, with what worked and what to try.
  3. Students move to Assignments and work through the briefs. Every brief starts from a view that doesn't pass yet.
  4. Circulate and ask: "What did the review say? What will you change?"

Make sense 10 min

  1. Project two student photos of the same place. "Which feels more alive, and why?"
  2. Name the rules they found: the rule of thirds, the horizon on a third line, leading lines that end at the subject, framing, and filling the frame.
  3. Show the mirror reflection brief. "Here the horizon goes right across the middle on purpose. Why does breaking the rule work here?" (The reflection makes a symmetry.)
  4. "Why does a tiny hiker make mountains look bigger?" (It shows the scale.)

Apply 10 min

  1. Students open the Light studio. They move the sun on the dial and try side light for texture, then a silhouette.
  2. "Which light makes the apple look most round? Which hides its shape?"
  3. If cameras are allowed, students take one real photo around the room that uses a rule (or breaks one on purpose) and title it with the rule.

Exit check 5 min

Students pick their best photo (Save photo downloads it) and write two sentences: which rule they used, and one rule they broke or would break on purpose, and why. Two sentences with no rule named show who needs the review vocabulary again.

Support and stretch

  • Support: keep the thirds grid on and work only the first three briefs.
  • Support: give a sentence frame: "I put the ___ on a third because ___."
  • Stretch: finish all twelve briefs, including the S-curve path and a frame within a frame.
  • Stretch: make all five looks in the Light studio and describe how direction, quality and color change the mood.

Short on time

  • Shoot and three Assignments (12 min).
  • Then compare two photos as a class (5 min) and do the exit sentences (3 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.