During my student teaching at Spring Lake High School I wanted to find a way to combine my love of typography/hand-lettering with my passion for service learning. I had many ideas and brainstormed a lot with my host teacher, Jennifer Gwinnup, on the best ways to pursue my goal!
Since my time at Spring Lake was so limited I decided I wanted to have a lasting impact with the school district. As a result, our 3 Design 1 classes visited the 4 Kindergarten classrooms at the Elementary School next door and used it as inspiration to design a full alphabet for the classrooms.
The inspiration for letters came from the Daily Drop Cap blog done by Jessica Hische in the early part of her career. We talked about how many ways you really can design a letter! Students were really excited after seeing the blog.
Since my time at Spring Lake was so limited I decided I wanted to have a lasting impact with the school district. As a result, our 3 Design 1 classes visited the 4 Kindergarten classrooms at the Elementary School next door and used it as inspiration to design a full alphabet for the classrooms.
The inspiration for letters came from the Daily Drop Cap blog done by Jessica Hische in the early part of her career. We talked about how many ways you really can design a letter! Students were really excited after seeing the blog.
Each student was assigned a letter and they had to make a design based on alliteration and design for their “client” which was of course, the kindergarten students. Students took photos of decor within the classroom, focusing on colors, shapes, and illustration styles present. They had a chance to sit down with the younger students and “interview” them.
Questions they asked included:
What is your favorite animal?
What holiday do you like best?
What kind of food do you like for lunch?
What makes you happy?
What kinds of colors do you like?
Questions they asked included:
What is your favorite animal?
What holiday do you like best?
What kind of food do you like for lunch?
What makes you happy?
What kinds of colors do you like?
The questions helped the high school students learn to empathize with their kindergarten counterparts. We followed up by moving into the design process. When students had several concepts they were proud of, we took them back to the kindergarten classes to see what the younger students thought. From this, my design students were able to reevaluate their design choices and make a final letter that would either be hung on the wall of the classrooms or made into a book, depending on what the kindergarten teacher wanted for her classroom.
When doing self-assessments at the end of the trimester, students were most proud of these projects. The expectations were high because these letters would be viewed and admired for a long time after they had finished the class. Our classes worked very hard to make 4 complete alphabets for the kindergarten classes. The end results were not only encouraging, but inspiring as a new teacher!
When doing self-assessments at the end of the trimester, students were most proud of these projects. The expectations were high because these letters would be viewed and admired for a long time after they had finished the class. Our classes worked very hard to make 4 complete alphabets for the kindergarten classes. The end results were not only encouraging, but inspiring as a new teacher!
What do you think? Is this a service learning project that could be successful in your district? I highly recommend it!
National Standards Addressed
VA:Cr3.1.HSII
Engage in constructive critique with peers, then reflect on, re-engage, revise, and refine works of art and design in response to personal artistic vision.
VA:Pr.4.1.HSI
Analyze, select, and curate artifacts and/or artworks for presentation and preservation.
VA:Cn10.1.HSI
Document the process of developing ideas from early stages to fully elaborated ideas.
Engage in constructive critique with peers, then reflect on, re-engage, revise, and refine works of art and design in response to personal artistic vision.
VA:Pr.4.1.HSI
Analyze, select, and curate artifacts and/or artworks for presentation and preservation.
VA:Cn10.1.HSI
Document the process of developing ideas from early stages to fully elaborated ideas.