Lesson Overview:

ESL students will perform writing tasks and create collages that depicts who they are and what is important to them. Students will interpret each other’s collages, then present their own finished collages to their classmates, focusing on the interests, qualities, and traditions that help make them unique as individuals.

Length of Lesson:

Three to four 45-minute class periods

Notes:

This lesson is particularly suited to ESL students who are learning how to communicate in social settings.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• evaluate what makes them unique individuals via peer discussion and creative research.
• create a collage that visually depicts their uniqueness and individuality.
• interpret the intent behind fellow students’ collages.
• ESOL students will refine English-speaking and listening skills.

Supplies:

• 11" x 17" poster board (two 8 ½" x 11" sturdy pieces of paper can be taped or glued together)
• colored markers or colored pencils
• overhead projector (optional)
• examples of collages by 20th century artists such as Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, and Hannah Hoch
• examples of autobiographical works (optional)
• scissors
• glue
• Students’ personal items for collages (i.e., photographs, special fabrics, memorabilia)
• used-but-recent magazines and newspapers
• pencils or pens

Instructional Plan:

Warm Up

Post the following warm-up questions on the board or overhead projector: What does "unique" mean? What makes an individual unique? What makes you unique?

Give students an opportunity to respond to the warm-up questions on paper, in their journals, or orally.

Class Discussion

Discuss the warm-up, focusing on "everyday life." Ask students the following: What does the term, "everyday life," mean? What kinds of activities are parts of students’ "everyday" lives? Relate the term, "everyday life" to the concept of "routine," and discuss daily life and activities that may be a part of an individual’s routine regardless of where he/she lives in the world. Ask students to describe what they do every morning. Also discuss what routine activities would only occur in certain parts of the world (i.e., in cold climates, individuals may always have to put on warm clothes before the go outside). (To go more in-depth on the effect of geography and climate on lifestyle, see the Xpeditions' lesson, Through the Eyes of a Refugee.")

Discuss modern fashions, hairstyles, clothing, etc. Ask students what television shows and movies they like, and what their peers like. Discuss the term "trendy" and ask students to share what they think is trendy today. Discuss how society and the time period in which we live affects who we are as individuals.

Emphasize that the things we do, clothing we wear, foods we eat, traditions we observe, and routine activities that we participate in—as well as our memories, role models, hobbies, and family traditions—make us who we are: unique and special people.

Writing and Sharing Exercises

Tell students that many individuals choose to tell their stories through written autobiographies. You may wish to pass out examples of autobiographical works to students. (Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi is one example. See the ARTSEDGE lesson, "Twain: Steamboat's a-Comin' to explore the genre of autobiography further.) Rather than creating a written autobiography, tell students they will be creating a visual autobiography through collage.

Distribute the Unique Me! Collage Questionnaire handout and review the instructions, clarifying any information that is unclear. Explain to students that their completed handouts will form the basis for their collages. (If working with ESOL students, you may wish to have students work in pairs to discuss the meaning of each question.) Since students will have different ideas about what is important in their lives, each student should complete the handout.

Discuss responses. Call on individual students and have them elaborate on their response choices. To summarize, ask students the following questions:

• Describe one thing you discussed with your classmates or wrote on your handout that makes you unique?
• How do the things that are part of your everyday life make you unique or special?

Review the meaning of "unique" and re-emphasize that our memories, role models, hobbies, family traditions, and the society and time in which we live—as well as the things we do, clothing we wear, foods we eat, traditions we observe, and routine activities that we participate in—help to define who we are: unique individuals.

Distribute the 11" x 17" paper and glue sticks. Have students attach their handouts to one side of the 11" x 17" paper. Collect and save the paper for use in creating the collages the next day.

Tell students that they will be making their own collages using photographs, feathers, newspaper clippings, pictures from magazines or the Internet, special fabric, and/or anything that they feel represents themselves and/or facets of their personality. Ask them to bring these materials to the next class period.

Making "Unique Me" Collages

Write the question, "What is a collage?" on the board or overhead projector. Allow students time to respond to the question on paper or orally.

Discuss the definition of a collage. Emphasize the fact that a collage juxtaposes images of different types, and different media are utilized to create collages. Emphasize the fact that balance, sometimes achieved through the careful juxtaposition of images, helps to create an aesthetically pleasing finished product. Explain the difference between two-dimensional collages (flat) and low-relief collages (images slightly protrude from the surface). You may wish to distribute the accompanying Vocabulary handout.

Show examples of collages by 20th century artists such as Pablo Picasso, Hannah Hoch, and Max Ernst. You may want to print examples of such works and hand them out to the students or show images on an overhead projector. (See the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage, and Construction for examples of collage works.) Discuss which collages are most effective and why, and point out elements of good composition.

Distribute the 11" x 17" paper, scissors, glue, and several old magazines and newspapers to students. Allow students to use any images from the magazines that they feel represent themselves and the society in which they are living. Instruct students to take out the materials they brought to make their collages and begin arranging the images on the blank sides of the large paper. Remind them to think about balance when creating their compositions. Once they are satisfied with the general composition of the collage, they can begin gluing the images on the paper.

Follow-up Discussion

After students complete their collages, collect supplies and student collages. Allow ample time for clean up.

Ask students to respond to the following questions, either verbally or on paper:

• What is one thing that you have learned today, that you did not know when we began this lesson?
• Using the words "juxtaposition" and "balance," describe how and why you made certain decisions in making your composition.

Discuss responses, focusing on clarifying vocabulary terms and reasons why the class is creating collages: to examine students’ individual uniqueness.

Presenting...My Life!

Tell students to present their collages to the class, sharing information about what makes each student unique.

Before the student presents his/her own work, allow the class to comment on the images and symbols included in the collage. Discuss why they think the artist selected the images, then allow each student to describe his/her process in creating the collage, explaining why he/she selected the images and how the collage as a whole represents him/her as an individual.

Assessment:

Ask students to review their peers' work. Ask each student to offer one positive comment and one "needs improvement" suggestion relative to the presentation and/or collage.

Critique each student’s collage based on whether they met the following guidelines:

• The finished collage covered the entirety of the 11” x 17” paper.
• If words were used in the collage, they were not written on the page by hand.
• The collage revealed student's attention to composition, through balance and the careful juxtaposition of images.
• The questionnaire is complete, using proper grammar and spelling, and is attached to the back of the collage.

Sources:

Print:

• Davis, Jim. The Merriam-Webster and Garfield Dictionary. Springfield: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1999.

Authors:

• Melody J. Philpotts, English Teacher
  Frederick Douglass High School
  Upper Marlboro, MD