Photo Story Ideas and Tips

We wanted our children to take pictures of themselves at home and in their community to share with their Global Buddies in order for the children to "see" each other in their daily lives. In order to make sure the parents understood what we were asking, we designed the following letter. You are welcome to copy it and/or edit it as you need. One teacher sent simple digital cameras home with her children for them to use, then she uploaded the pictures on the computer at school. The other teacher asked the parents to take pictures and send them to her at school. Both ways worked well. We helped the children create their photo stories at school. I am also including some tips for navigating photo story. These personal picture "stories" of the children in their own words were one of the best parts of Global Buddies! The children were able to hear their friends' voices as they told their stories and actually see where they lived and what they did at home and with their families!

Letter to parents
Dear Parents,

Today your child is bringing home a camera for our Global Buddies project. We are working on individual Photo Stories to send to our Buddies. The point of the Photo Story is to share what we do in our day to day lives with our Buddies. Please have a conversation with your child about what they would like to show in the pictures and then help them take the pictures that would share that part of his/her life at your house and/or in your neighborhood.

It might be favorite activities he/she enjoys participating in at home like riding bikes, playing ball, playing in the backyard, cooking, playing a musical instrument, etc. You might want to take a picture of your child going to his/her house of worship, going to the grocery store, going to visit grandmamma, etc. Be thoughtful of what would “tell” your child’s story.

Thank you for your help in this special project!



Global Buddies Photo Story Tips
When saving to computer, use these steps:

1. Under file name, click Browse and make sure it is where you want it saved (I put withsound at the end of each photostory name to differentiate it from previous stories saved with that child’s name.)

2. Settings – use #3

3. Highlight “save your story for playback on your computer”

4. Click save project (may need to rehighligh send as an email)

5. Click next and it will start saving


When sending as an email, use these steps:

1. Under file name, add the words withsound to help differentiate it

2. Settings – use #3

3. Highlight send as an email

4. Click save project

5. Click next (may need to rehighlight send as an email)

6. Click next and it will start saving

7. Click continue to send as an email

8. If it doesn’t pop up, look at the bottom of the screen and see if it is there.


When recording voice:
1. Plug microphone into the computer and turn it on – button on mic stand on Logitech model

2. Click big red button on screen; box may pop up about the audio, click no

3. Soon as you click no, it will start recording (You will see the timer moving)

4. When through recording, click square button by the red one. It will stop.

5. Click on the next picture and repeat steps.

6. If you need to rerecord audio, click on the back arrow to the right of the square button. Box will come up asking if you want to delete the audio and you say yes.