How the Captions Program Works

Middle School age student taking a photograph of a wild mushroom growing on a hillside in Nayarit, M

Step 1

Student takes a photograph or short video on her or his cellphone or digital camera, or downloads an image (citing the source) from the Internet.

Four samples of student handwriting. His text contains information concerning wild mushrooms.

Step 2

Step 1

Student writes a story or caption that goes with the image. The length of the story or caption could be as short as a few words, or as long as a 3-sentence paragraph.

Wild mushrooms growing on a hillside in Nayarit, Mexico.

Step 3

Step 1

Step 3

Student sends the image and caption to the captions editor. For images from the Internet, the editor helps the student compose a professional email to procure permission.

APA Stylebook to check student's writing.

Step 4

Step 3

The editor checks the caption for errors in spelling and grammar. The editor also checks for language consistency and, if necessary, offers suggestions to improve the writing.

Student's writing with teacher's corrections.

Step 5

Step 4

Step 5

The editor returns the student’s work with proofreaders’ marks and edits in the margin.

Student's writing with corrections from the teacher

Step 6

Step 4

Step 5

The student incorporates the corrections and optional edits.

Step 7

Step 8 (optional)

The editor prepares an individualized worksheet that reinforces correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, and vocabulary selection.

Mushrooms growing in a forest to teach children narrow depth-of-field

Step 8 (optional)

Students learn photographic techniques by looking at examples of newspapers, magazines, curated pieces from museums, and photo banks.