Several years ago I started a New Year’s Day activity with my family of making collages. Each person in the family made a collage of images, words, and phrases they hoped to encounter in the year ahead. We take all of the magazines in the house and sort through them, cutting out what we want for our own collage and making a huge mess in the process. We also create one page for the family. In the end, we share our collages with each other and then post them together on a bulletin board.
I love this activity. It is fun and interesting to see what the kids include on their collages. It is also reflective and motivating for me to see what catches my attention. The difference between each of our collages, in style and inclusion choices, also fascinates me. Our finished board is not beautiful, but it is meaningful.
This activity could be done in the classroom, too. Though it could be a great beginning of the school year activity, I think this year it could be an informative and powerful process to start 2021 with my students. Given magazines are not readily available in every household this year, I think I will need to come up with new ideas for “grabbing” images and phrases. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them. 🙂
May 2021 bring you all that you need.
Talking and Teaching Science 