Coloring in the middle school and high school classroom is often dismissed as boring or low-level; however, simple coloring can be one of the most powerful tools to incorporate creativity with high-level learning. I have always been a doodler, and I find that many teenagers are as well! Doodling can help boost comprehension and attention, so what's not to love!
Sketch Notes
This has quickly become one of the most popular trends on Teachergram and Pinterest. Sketch Notes are notes that purposefully use doodles to display different types of information. Sketch Notes are perfect for the beginning of a lesson when you are reviewing the historical significance or background of the author, as well as, a variety of other instructional scenarios. Instead of normal notes or guided notes, encourage the students to visualize their learning.
Sketch notes can come in a variety of styles. You can give them a blank page and let their imaginations run wild - if they're reading about Poe they might draw dark images and use dark colors when making headers for their notes (worked well with my high schoolers) OR you can give them a page with headers and a few images they can color [mandalas work great!], so they have a starting point (works well with current middle schoolers). Click here to purchase the history of Valentine's Day sketch notes resource.
Freebies:
Social Animals Sketch Notes (Social Animals is a Netflix documentary - Easily connects to Feed by M.T. Anderson or other technology-based sci fi/dystopian novels)
"All Summer in a Day" Sketch Notes (short story by Ray Bradbury)
Children's Books
One of my favorite ways to teach and assess students on summary and syntax is to have them write a children's book about a short story we recently read. This, of course, infuses the element of creativity into an assessment. I've done this a variety of ways - sometimes I'll staple the pages together for them, and other times I'll have them do it themselves. You can use printer paper, construction paper, anything! You could even make it digital using the next tool I discuss!
My typical requirements:
Design a front cover + include title and author
Fill all pages with a picture and 1-3 sentences of text.
On the back page create a logo for your publishing company using your name
It's a simple, yet effective assessment because students have to choose the most important elements of the story to include. It forces them to summarize their thoughts in a small space - summary seems to be an easy task, but often secondary students end up writing more than what was on the paper! They need the practice!
Storyboards
This is probably my favorite post-reading activity. It is an effective way to measure what students viewed as important and how they understood the story. It's perfect for after an entire short story or after a chapter of a novel.
For a digital way to complete storyboards, check out StoryboardThat. It allows students to make 3 storyboards per month, and I just have the kids screenshot their completed storyboards to avoid the watermark through downloading.
One-Pagers
This is one of my favorite ways to assess a student's understanding of a text through a creative project. Students essentially fill a page with information related to the text. However, to have the most success, I recommend having guidelines for what should be included when working with a larger novel. Click here to purchase my one-pager resource that includes a rubric! This resource can be used with any text, and it yields a creative project that shows deep understanding of the novel.
You can also use one-pagers to jigsaw a longer reading. Students read information or a story and produce a one-pager by the end of class. For the activity to the right, my students read the "10 Stages of Genocide" graphic novels in groups while creating one-pagers that would serve as visual notes for them when they presented their stage to the class.
FYI - the "10 Stages of Genocide" graphic novels can currently only be purchased at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in Dallas, Texas. I picked them up on a visit. However, you may be able to request access. Click here for details. And I highly recommend the museum if you're ever able to visit. If you're local to Dallas, they do school tours!
Word Art Summaries
This is a fantastic tool that I learned at the Keeping the Wonder conference. When you want the students to consume information that might not be naturally engaging, have them use the letters of the topic to draw images based on what they read. For the example to the right, students read through the Declaration of Human Rights in groups and completed these. It was a far more engaging way to read a list of rights, and it helped them remember them throughout our unit.
Podcast Listening
Podcasts are a huge hit with all age groups! I can almost always find a podcast pairing for whatever literature we're reading or topic we're discussing. Podcasts are extremely dynamic and beneficial in a classroom. There are podcast episodes for nearly everything!
In the image to the left, you can see that my students completed a collaborative poster while listening to a podcast about MLK. They didn't know exactly which part they had, so they colored as desired and included the most powerful quote that they heard. (The podcasters actually interviewed me in this particular episode as an update to the original one my class listened to, after seeing my post on Instagram! Another reason why I love podcasters - Most respond quickly on social media, which makes them super accessible to students!)
Ashley Bible from Building Book Love is the Podcast Guru! Check out her podcast blog post that includes information on her Podcast Doodle Notes which I have used many times!
Binder Covers & Adult Coloring Pages
This is a simple organizational AND classroom management tip. Each year, I print a big stack of binder covers for students. This not only keeps their binders labeled and organized, but it can also be used as "oops, we have 5 minutes left of the period" classroom management strategy. Allow the kids to color their binder covers or other coloring pages during this time. Coloring is a proven stress reliever and calming activity. Check out this article regarding the benefits. Students also appreciate these binder covers for other classes too, so it can benefit other teachers in the building! Go here for some binder covers! I've also found more online and even made my own in PowerPoint. Adult coloring pages are also prevalent through a Google Search and easy to print in bulk!
Assorted Lessons
One of my most popular lessons with students was a literary device color-by-number activity with "The Raven" - I chose a haunted house image from the internet and used PowerPoint to add numbers to the house. Then, I gave them examples and the answers led them to know which color to use on the house. This can be done easily with any story! Click here to download this resource in my free Google Drive (It's in the Edgar Allan Poe/Gothic Lit folder).
Other coloring activities that I've done are directly related to the story and either add a bit of fun or help them understand a topic within the text further.
For example, when I taught The Canterbury Tales or "The Masque of the Red Death" I have used a seven-deadly-sins approach to the reading. So, students complete what I have called a "Sins Wheel." Students visualize the seven deadly sins to solidify the knowledge in their brains and help them identify them later in the respective stories. I find that students today are successful when they visualize something first.
I also love to incorporate directed drawings whenever possible. It is a fun way to strengthen listening skills and display learned information. After reading about Roman Soldiers as part of our mythology unit, students completed this roman soldier directed drawing by Art For Kids Hub on YouTube. They have a million fun drawings! We also used the Wonder Woman one after talking about Diana in our mythology unit! After drawing, they recorded the most significant information that they learned during their reading. I don't grade based on their artistic ability, but I do believe that by allowing them to draw, their comprehension of roman soldiers and Diana were stronger after this lesson.
Students today are creatures of the internet and media, so for the most part, they consume information exclusively through images. This is why I think so many of our students need visual cues while learning. This doesn't discount other methods of learning, as we all use those as well, but there's something special about a visual.
Let me know in the comments some of the ways that you use coloring in your classroom!
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