Students cut up magazines and newspapers to create an American flag collage
-- a visual essay of their thoughts about "What America Means to Me."
Objectives
Students
search for images and headlines that demonstrate what they think makes
the United States a great place to live.
create five-point stars
cut up the images and headlines and use them, along with the five-point
stars, to create a large American flag.
use the completed flag as an inspiration for This Is What America
Means to Me essays.
Keywords
flag, collage, America, United States, U.S., magazine, newspaper
Materials Needed
a variety of photo and news headline sources, such as magazines, newspapers,
and books; see more source ideas in the Lesson Plan section below
glue
Lesson Plan
This activity will result in a dramatic bulletin board for classroom or hallway
display.
Introduce the activity by asking students to complete the statement
"To me, America means…" As students share their thoughts aloud, write
their responses on a chalkboard or chart paper.
Explain to students that they are going to create a large American flag
collage that will convey the ideas expressed in the complete-the-statement
activity. Tell students that they will do that by drawing or locating
images that convey what the United States is and then combining those
images into a flag motif. To create the This Is America! flag collage,
students should
Find appropriate collage images that contain shades of red to use
to create the flag's red stripes.
Find appropriate collage images that contain shades of blue to use
to create the blue background for the flag's stars.
Find appropriate newspapers headlines that display an abundance of
white space to use to create the flag's white stripes.
Cut the images and headlines into collage pieces in a way that emphasizes
the red, blue, or white that appears in them, and then correctly attach
the images to a bulletin board covered with white paper.
Create five-point stars to serve as the stars on the flag and correctly
attach them to the bulletin board. (See the Education World lesson Seeing
Stars for an idea that might be worked into the collage.)
Project Notes
You may want to consider the following tips as students work on this project:
Images with predominantly blue or red shades may be difficult to find;
if so, use red stripes and a blue background for the stars and attach
images so the colored background is highly visible.
This project also makes a great school-wide project. Involve the entire
school (or an entire grade level) and create a flag for the entryway
to the school or to a wing of the school.
Emphasize to students that, although library books can be a great
resource for "This Is America!" images, they cannot be cut up! Help
students learn to use a color photocopier or scanner to copy images
found in library books.
The Internet also can be a rich source of patriotic images and/or
clip art. The Web sites of national magazines such as Time and Life
can contain a number of images. See below for a list of some online
image resources.
Black-and-white clip art can be reproduced on colored paper or used
to supplement headlines in the white stripes of the flag collage.
Images need not be limited to patriotic images. Encourage students
to search for images of explorers, famous events, popular sporting events,
families and family activities, holiday celebrations, and more.
When the flag is completed, have students use it as the inspiration
for original essays titled "This Is What America Means to Me." Display
student essays around the flag. Invite students to select their favorite
essays to read aloud at a Parents Night event, Flag Day celebration,
or September 11 commemoration.
InternetPhoto and Clip Art Sources
Use your favorite search engine to locate photo and clip art images that
students can use to create the This Is America! flag collage. Here are
a handful of the patriotic photos and clip art images we found:
Students write essays titled "This Is What America Means to Me."
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Gary Hopkins
National Standards
FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
GRADES K - 4 NA-VA.K-4.1
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes NA-VA.K-4.3
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.K-4.4
Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures NA-VA.K-4.6
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 5 - 8 NA-VA.5-8.1
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes NA-VA.5-8.3
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.5-8.4
Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures NA-VA.5-8.6
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 9 - 12 NA-VA.9-12.1
Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes NA-VA.9-12.3
Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.9-12.4
Understanding the Visual Arts In Relation to History and Cultures NA-VA.9-12.6
Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES K - 4 NSS-USH.K-4.1
Living and Working together in Families and Communities, Now and Long
Ago NSS-USH.K-4.3
The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and
the People from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic,
and Political Heritage
GRADES 5 - 12
A wide range of the 5-12 standards are met by this activity.
TECHNOLOGY
GRADES K - 12 NT.K-12.1 Basic
Operations and Concepts NT.K-12.5 Technology
Research tools
