Last week I had a chat with Taryn, a Grade 4 teacher. She was inspired by our post last week on Canva collages. She wanted to do something similar but wasn’t sure where to start. Her class had already made collages earlier in the year when they created an all about me page using elements from the Canva graphic library. Taryn and I started chatting about an upcoming biomes unit to see if we could integrate some fun design work in Canva. As we brainstormed, we walked around her class, and checked out the limericks her class had just completed, presented beautifully on the bulletin board.
The limericks were so good! Lot’s of imagery and funny twists. One of them was even about living in the ocean. 🐟 That’s when it hit us in the face like a trout… What if the class used what they learned in their poem unit and wrote a poem about a buiome that they researched?
Biome Limericks 🤩
This led nicely into creating a visual to go along with their poems. A Biome Poem Canva Collage! Wham bam thank you ma’am! I thought this was a really great example of taking three curricular areas (ELA, Science and ADST) and combining them into a fun and engaging project. Could the same be done in other grades?
Grade 4 | Biomes + Poetry + Canva Collage
Students write limericks based on a biome. Poems are then used to inspire a visual to go along with them, either as a single image or as a series of slides for each line of the poem.
In this example we’re treated to a poem about an owl in a Temperate Rainforest.
Grade 5 | Body Systems + Perspective Writing + Canva Comics
Students write a comic from the perspective of a body system character. The comic can be assembled in canva using one of their pre-made templates or from scratch with the elements in the library.
In this example we follow the adventures of Hambie the Hamburger through the digestive system. Not sure I want to end up where Hambie does… hah!
Grade 6 | Extreme Environments + Persuasive Writing + Canva Ads
Students create an advertisement for an article of clothing that would help the wearer survive in an extreme environment. Catchy slogans and persuasive text try to convince the reader their designs are the best.
In this example The Hurricane Hoodie will protect us from everything a storm can throw at us!
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The Possibilities are Endless!
We found this mashup technique to be pretty effective when brainstorming creative projects. The key is to pick a platform or project type that your class is already familiar with. Our formula was as follows:
Content Area (Science / Social Studies / First Peoples Studies… ) +
Skill (ELA Writing / Math Concepts… ) +
Technology Project (Canva Collage / Video Production / Interactive App / Podcast… )
What could you do in your class?
Try coming up with another idea for our Science + Writing + Canva Collage mashup and post it in the comments below. Then, if you’re feeling frisky, try creating another mashup with a video or podcast as the project!