My Classroom Confidential

Word Collage

 Welcome to our blog!

Summer break is refreshing, and I am definitely enjoying it! However, my mind, prompted by different things I see or hear, keeps going back to my classroom sometimes.

The other day, I was getting ready to recycle some ads and other colorful printed materials we got in the mail. Big, small, chunky, slim, wide, tall, cursive, colorful, plain, decorated, upright, crooked, and other kids of words trapped my eye and mind on the papers. They were so intriguing and beautiful. I knew I could do something with them with my students in the classroom.

…And I started cutting. After cutting enough, I played with the words, organizing them on a straw chair to create different messages. Here is one of them.

Doing a word collage project in ELAR can encourage and help my students in a few ways:

1. Be creative
2.  “Recycle” words and use them in new ways
3. Work through writer’s block (the words are already there; all the kids need to do is figure out how to combine them to create their messages).
4. Adds color to writing
5. Makes it hands-on
6. Encourages the process of selection/connection/analysis=higher level thinking
7. Can be done in the CLASSROOM or at HOME (for family projects)

Project Supplies

• Construction paper or regular paper
• Scissors
• Cut-out words from printed materials (magazines, ads, etc.)
• Glue/tape (tape is less messy)
• Writing tools
• Markers, coloring pencils for extra decorations
• Other as needed

Project Options

So far, I thought of a few possible ways to use a word collage. If you come up with other ideas for this, PLEASE (and Thank You!) share in the comments section. I love to learn new ways to make use of the tools and materials I already have.

1. Collage Key Word Paragraph /Poem

It can be used to

• describe a character in a story
• write a summary
• write a poem
• design the front of a greeting card
• Other

Steps:

• Give the students the prompt/question/task. With this, decide how many cut-out words they will need to use (you can give them an approximate number, such as 5-10 ).
• Allow students to brainstorm ideas.
• Based on the brainstorm, they select the needed cut-out key words.
• They write their paragraph/poem, gluing the cut-out words where they are needed in the sentence. The cut-out words will stand out and make the text more dynamic and exciting to write and read.
• If they also use cut-out images, the context of the sentence needs to explain how the image fits in the context/is related to the task.

2. Word Collage Poem 

Steps:

• Give the students the prompt/task/the theme for the poem. Example: My Summer, My Best Friend, My Pet, etc.
• Allow students to brainstorm ideas.
• Based on the brainstorm, they select the needed cut-out words.
• They create their poem organizing and gluing the cut-out words on the paper.
• They add punctuation in the poem by writing it in the appropriate places.
• They can also glue pics around the poem.
• Students give the poem a title and date it.
• Under the poem, they write the main idea of the poem and a life lesson that can be learned from the poem.
• Challenge: in the directions, you can ask the students to make their poem more interesting by including one or more of the following devices: metaphor, simile, alliteration, personification, rhyme, repetition, hyperbole, etc.

3. Word Collage Theme

Steps:

• After finishing a story, allow the students to come up with a list of life lessons/themes they can learn from the story. This allows students to review by making inferences.
• They will select a theme they like the most.
• Based on the theme, they select the needed cut-out words.
• They create their theme message organizing and gluing the cut-out words on the  paper. (If they cannot find all the words they need to write the theme, allow them to fill in handwritten words where needed.)
• They add punctuation to the theme sentence by writing it in the appropriate places.
• They can also glue pics around the theme.
• Text evidence: under the theme, list 3-5 events, situations, and/or character actions that support the theme.
• Students title their project Story Title Theme Collage and put their name and date on it
• The project can be done on 2 themes as well. Have the students fold the piece of construction paper in 2. Do a collage theme on each half side following the directions above.

Present and Display

When done, you can have the students present their projects in front of the class and then display them in the classroom or in the hallways.

Grading Guidelines 

Depending on how you want to approach these projects, you make your final decision on how you want to grade them. The following are some general suggestions. Feel free to adjust the points as you see fit.

• Total points=100
• The student addressed the task/ question/ prompt/ directions thoroughly=40 points
• The cut-out words were correctly and meaningfully integrated in the context=15 points
• Clarity of message created (punctuation, grammar, spelling, clearness of thought, flow of ideas)=20 points
• Neatness and organization of project=10 points
• Title included and meaningful=5 points
• Name and date included=3+2=5 points
• Creativity, originality, other=5 points

Tip!!!

Keep a box of magazines, ads, newspapers, and other printed materials. Your students can bring these in throughout the year. When students are done with their work in the classroom, they can help by cutting out words that will be used for future projects.They can also cut pictures. Keep all the cut-outs in a shoe box. You could make it soecial by giving it a name, such as The Collage Treasure Chest, The Collage Bank, The Pic Word Box, etc. Your students can come up with a creative name for it!

 

Please share any comments or suggestions related to this project in the comments section.

Thank you for stopping by!

Anca Morcovescu