The Photo Essay Strategy

Most students fail at reasoning because they don't see how arguments are built. They stack evidence like bricks without mortar, jump from point to point without connection, and leave the analysis work to the reader.

This strategy solves that—by teaching reasoning visually before asking students to write it.

Two activities, two essential skills:

📷 The Photo Essay (2.0) teaches how reasoning flows—helping students understand that strong arguments aren't random points stacked together, but a logical progression where one idea builds on the next. Students sequence images to construct a cause-and-effect chain, then narrate the connections aloud, building analysis skills in a low-stakes, intuitive format.

 What students walk away with:

• A mental model for how arguments are structured (not just what goes in them)
• The ability to connect evidence to claims explicitly (no more "this quote shows...")
• Stronger body paragraphs that develop ideas instead of listing facts

What's included:

• Full teaching guides for both strategies
• Student-facing templates, examples, and sentence banks
• Scaffolded practice that moves from visual reasoning to written reasoning

Reasoning isn't abstract anymore. It's something students can see, build, and transfer.