Need a round-up of activities to convince you Canva is amazing? Is there really anything better than Canva? It has so many options, pre-made projects, and amazing templates. You can take any content and turn it into a creative project where students can easily show 21st century skills. Gone are the days of the boring PowerPoint (except I definitely still use boring PowerPoint sometimes when appropriate). Enjoy this list of Canva inspiration.
1. Mood Boards
Teaching mood is sometimes a confusing concept. Use Canva to help students create Mood Boards to pair analysis and artistry. I have a premade, purposeful, high-quality project here that can walk you through teaching this literary element in a fun way. Canva has plenty of pre-made Mood Boards templates that are beautiful and functional.
2. Literary Quote Book
Another great way to spice up analysis is to create an illustrated quote book. Canva has thousands of free images available, or students can upload their own. They could keep the Literary Quote Book as an ongoing project throughout the year as they add to it, making connections to broader themes. You can then utilize the Quote Book as a study tool or link it to an analysis project at the end of the semester. You can find a premade resource here if you want done-for-you instructions and a rubric.
3. Posters
You can do so much with posters in Canva. Build class culture by having students decorate with their favorite literary quotes. Create collages for novels, or creative artistic analysis of characters or settings. Students can create posters for vocabulary or grammar rules or literary elements. Prep for testing when you have to take down your regular decor and replace it with affirmations for your students.
4. Infographics
Similar to the poster use, have students create attractive infographics that can be used for study help and quick tips. Vocabulary and spelling can be made into small bookmark-sized infographics for students to keep handy. You can compare misused vocabulary, a plot diagram to keep in a novel, a list of important events from the reading, or topics for group discussions.
5. Social Media Accounts
This would be a really fun character study activity. You can create templates in Canva to share with students or print to work on in class. Think about profiles on Facebook for a novel, or how a clash between characters might look if it was a Twitter feud. You could have students create the Instagram feeds of poets.
6. Branding
You can find branding kit examples and have students use branding and business templates. You’re probably thinking, “For what?” Maybe you practice persuasion with the best inventions of the 21st century, and students create branding profiles for their presentation. Maybe as you study Frankenstein you have students create the doctor’s presentation at the next science fair. I love working with other departments, so maybe working with your science teachers to help students with new inventions. You take care of the writing and creating and your colleagues can focus on the science know-how.
7. Invitations and Cards
Another fun activity you might try with Canva is use their array of invite templates. Students can pick key events and have students create the invites. Think about more than just parties. Think about a funeral notice for Will’s brother in Long Way Down or Nick’s attempt to get people to attend Gatsby’s funeral. If you’re reading any type of Victorian-era novels, students can design their calling cards and create the invites to the various balls and luncheons.
8. Newspaper
Create newspaper or newsletter templates and assign groups of students to write different editions or articles. One group can write events for the beginning, middle, and end of a novel. Students can write a front-page article, a wanted-ad, sports, highlights, or other news-worthy articles.
9. Resumes
Have a job fair for favorite characters (or assign from your current novel) and have students create character resumes. What is the dream job they are applying for? What skills and qualifications are they highlighting? Who are their references? Students can really do some cool things with character analysis, like how a resume from Lenny in Of Mice Men would differ in structure and vocabulary from George. Or a villain would omit needing references or if a hero received a bad reference. Again, Canva templates are our friends!
10. Mind Maps and Concept Maps
Canva also has a host of shapes and borders to use and is really easy to drag and drop where you need. It’s an excellent tool for creating mind maps. Use it as a study help before unit tests, or have various topics that students add to throughout a novel. Depending on your class structure, you can have students work in teams on the same Canva document and work together to put information in one space. You can also always make blank mind maps that you can print for your students if you don’t have easy access to computers.
Bonus!
Don’t forget how great Canva can be for teachers! It’s perfect for setting up graphic organizers and creating worksheets. I also love it for creating slideshow backgrounds before dropping them into Google Slides or PowerPoint where I can add some animations and transitions. My worksheets and journal pages have a little something extra and look nicer when I create them in Canva verses using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can also create education aids (like posters and infographics I suggested above), or develop your lesson plans for submission within Canva.
Canva is a really great tool for the classroom. I love how it is basically already set up to unleash creative and artistic talent, but it comes with so many features so even the least-artistic among us can put together something amazing. What are your favorite options for using Canva in your secondary ELA classes? Comment here your best ideas or keep the conversation going with me on Facebook and Instagram.
Happy teaching!