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Create To Communicate

UNIT II: COLLAGE

A collage is a picture or design created by gluing different materials, objects, shapes, or colors onto a surface. Collage is a great tactile alternative to drawing and painting. When paired with a language focus, collage can generate enthusiasm and motivation for language use, engage students with English, and aid in the understanding of the target structure, vocabulary, or grammatical forms.
Tips for Collage:
  • Gathering materials
    Collages can be made from a wide range of materials, as the following lesson plans will show. Many recycled and free materials can be used to create collages. Look for and collect recycled paper, colored papers, magazines, cardboard, newspapers, postcards, old greeting cards, string, yarn, fabrics, and buttons to use in collage activities.
  • Bases and surfaces
    Every collage project needs a base to create the collage on. The base can be anything that other materials can be glued or taped to, such as a piece of paper, cardboard, or poster board. If students are creating a small collage, with little layering, a piece of regular paper would be fine to use as the base. However, if students are creating a large collage or a collage with many different materials or many layers, the base should be something stronger and thicker, such as recycled cardboard, heavy paper, or poster board.
  • Building by layering
    Layering materials is a common technique used to create collages. Have students start with the large forms or shapes of the collage first and then layer the smaller details last. For example, if creating a collage of a person, begin with the large parts of the person’s body first, such as the torso, legs, arms and head. Then use smaller pieces of paper or other materials to make the small details, such as the hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
  • Using glue
    Glue is a common material used in collage. There are several types of glue that can be used in collage activities: white glue, paste, or glue sticks. When using glue or paste, students can pour glue from the bottle, or paint glue onto the surface. To paint glue onto paper, first pour a small amount of glue on a piece of paper or in little jar. Then, use an old paintbrush to dip into the glue and paint it onto the surface.
Collage Materials
This is a list of all the materials that can be used to create collages. Each lesson plan in this chapter will have a list of the specific materials needed to complete that particular project, with suggestions for variations in case different resources are on hand.
Required
  • Collage surface: paper, cardboard, or the classroom board or wall
  • Material(s) to create the collage
  • Glue or tape
Optional
  • Brushes for glue or paint
  • Colored pencils
  • Crayons
  • Fabric
  • Greeting cards
  • Magazines
  • Markers
  • Materials from nature: grass, straw, twigs, sand, small rocks, flowers, leaves, seeds
  • Newspaper
  • Paper
  • Pencils
  • Photographs
  • Recycled materials
  • Scissors
  • String or yarn

COLLAGE ACTIVITIES