Students act as school storytellers, using portraits, self-portraits, and short articles to document the people and places that shape daily life in the school community. Through a scavenger-hunt launch, brief interviews, photography practice, and observation of meaningful locations, they learn to combine visual composition with clear, accurate writing. Ongoing critique, revision, and reflection help them improve both images and text before publishing a class mini-magazine. The work culminates in sharing their magazine and selected pieces at the Art Expo on May 7th.

Students will create strong portraits and self-portraits by practicing composition, lighting, posing, and careful observation of school people and places. They will gather accurate information through short interviews, note-taking, and quote selection, then turn that information into clear captions and short articles that explain why each person or location matters to the school community. Students will use feedback from gallery walks, partner read-alouds, and self-review to revise both photographs and writing. They will present their work in a class mini-magazine and explain how their images and words help tell the story of the school at the Art Expo on May 7th.

Students will create portrait studies, self-portraits, interview notes, caption drafts, location sketches, and short article drafts as they document the people and places that shape the school community. Midway through, they will share selected portraits and articles in a gallery walk, collect sticky-note feedback, and revise one photo and one piece of writing to show growth from draft to final. By the end, the class will produce a polished mini-magazine featuring student portraits, self-portraits, and short articles about school people and places. At the Art Expo on May 7th, students will present the magazine and explain one portrait, one self-portrait, and one article to visitors.

Start with a School Stories Scavenger Hunt where teams use a clue map to visit important spots, meet the principal and office staff, and photograph places that help tell the story of the school. At each stop, students collect quick interview notes, key facts, and possible quotes they can later turn into captions and short articles. End the launch with a fast share-out of favorite images and discoveries, then introduce the challenge of creating a mini-magazine with portraits, self-portraits, and articles that answer how their school community is special. This gives every student a shared bank of people, places, and story ideas to build on over the next four weeks.

Host the class mini-magazine reveal at the Art Expo on May 7th as a gallery-style showcase with printed magazine spreads, mounted portraits, self-portraits, and short articles displayed by school location or theme. Invite the principal, office staff, families, and other classes to attend, and have students stand by their work to share one portrait, one self-portrait, and one article while explaining how their photos and writing show what makes the school special. Add a digital slideshow or QR codes linking to interview quotes and extra images from the scavenger hunt so visitors can see the research and revision behind the final pieces. Create a simple feedback station where guests leave short comments about what they learned about the people and places in the school community.