LA T3.07Recalling the Day with Photos
The adult and child look at printed photographs of the child's own activities and talk about what happened, in order.
Safety
- Show printed photographs, not a phone or tablet screen, in keeping with the curriculum's no-screens rule.
- Laminate photographs or keep them in a board-book album, with no loose plastic sleeves the child can pull off and mouth.
Presentation
- 1
Take photographs of the child during the day and print them. Show them to the child the same day or the next day.
- 2
Sit with the child and look at one photograph. Say what it shows: "This is you. You are washing your hands."
- 3
Wait for the child to point or talk. Repeat and add to what they say: "Yes, the water was cold."
- 4
Show the next photograph and talk about it the same way.
- 5
Lay two photographs side by side in order and say: "First you washed your hands. Then you ate snack."
- 6
Invite the child to show which came first, or to place the next photograph in the row. This is the point of interest: the child remembers the order.
- 7
Keep the album on the book shelf so the child can look at it alone or with a family member at pickup.
Extensions, easiest to hardest
- Three photographs in order
- Photographs of a longer event (a walk, a visit to a farm) that the child uses to tell a family member what happened
- The child tells what happened using photographs from home
- Talking about the morning without photographs at the end of the work period
Control of error
The adult, who knows what the child did and reminds them what happened first.
Ready to move on when the child…
- Points to and names self and others in photographs
- Says a word or sentence about what happened in a photograph
- Puts two photographs in order with little help
- Tells a family member about an event using the photographs
Guide note
Photographs of children need the family's permission under the school's photo policy. Photographs that show other children stay in albums kept at school unless those families have also agreed.