Specific Learning Goals
Gives students a chance to practice broad literacy skills, as well as creative thinking and writing. Includes art/drawing practice and an opportunity to work together cooperatively.
Required Materials
Each student will need a packet of unlined drawing paper, crayons or colored pencils, and paper or pen, and a blank index card.
Preparation
Staple together packets of drawing paper, depending on how many students will be in each group. For example, if you put your students in groups of 5, staple together 5 pieces of paper. Also, each student will need his or her own pen or pencil, as well as a set of crayons or colored pencils.
Assessment/Follow-Up
At the conclusion of the activity, the teacher and students can compare the original sentence with the final statement to see how closely they resemble each other. As follow-up, conduct a short discussion with the students to see what they learned from the activity.
Lesson Plan Overview
This lesson is similar to the classic game "Telephone" where players sit in a circle and whisper a sentence to each other to see how it changes and mutates through each individual's perception. However, this lesson is called the Visual "Telephone" Game because it is done on paper, rather than orally.
Lesson Plan Details
Give each student a blank index card and have them come up with a highly original, detailed, and creative simple sentence that will serve as a starting point for the activity. You can give them an example, such as: "The purple penguin flew in a hot air balloon."
Next, give each student a packet of blank drawing paper. The students will then illustrate their sentences on the first page of the packet and pass it along to the second person in their small group (circulating clockwise or counterclockwise). That student will then write down what s/he thinks is the original sentence. The packet is then passed to the next student who illustrates the secondary sentence. The packets are passed around the circle, alternating written sentences (derived from the previous drawing) and new drawings based on the prior sentence. Each time, the papers are folded up and somehow secured (with a paperclip?).
At the end, the students can compare the original sentence with the final sentence and see how it changed through the process.
Advice
- It's best to have groups be an even number of students so that it will end on a written sentence, rather than illustration. That way, it will be easier to compare the results.
- Consider modeling the old-fashioned oral version of "Telephone" before the game. Students may not be familiar with this game and it offers a quick glimpse of how to play the visual version, too.
