Easy But EXCITING Bulletin Boards for the Busy Teacher!
3:00 AM
Okay,
real talk. Are you “that” teacher? The one with the perfect classroom and the
beautiful and breathtaking bulletin boards? No? Not you, huh. Don't worry. You're in the right place.
Need a cool bulletin board idea? I have one. One word: Agamographs. They’re fun to make, even more fun to interact with, and they make AWESOME bulletin board materials. I’m going to show you how to make your own and help you rock that hallway wall.
Need a cool bulletin board idea? I have one. One word: Agamographs. They’re fun to make, even more fun to interact with, and they make AWESOME bulletin board materials. I’m going to show you how to make your own and help you rock that hallway wall.
The
BEST kind of bulletin boards are those that invite students to engage,
interact, and think. Am I right? It’s a great feeling when you catch students
interacting with a bulletin board in the hallway instead of just walking past.
I love designing bulletin boards and classroom décor that do more than just
hang there looking cute. We can’t all be Kylie Jenner. I jest. Please
forgive me, Kardashian fans.
Anyway.
With this in mind, I created a few Agamograph activities many years ago in my classroom. I wanted something fun for the end of the year, something that students would want to work on and show off to their friends. And you can make them too!
Anyway.
With this in mind, I created a few Agamograph activities many years ago in my classroom. I wanted something fun for the end of the year, something that students would want to work on and show off to their friends. And you can make them too!
What is an Agamograph?
An Agamograph is a piece of art that features two different
images. The images are spliced together and the artwork is folded accordion
style. This allows the viewer to see one image from the left angle and the
other image from the right. When you move from side to side, you see the
picture morph from one image to the next!
What I love most about Agamograph artwork is that it brings
life to a flat bulletin board and invites visitors to engage with it.
Once you display your Agamograph projects, you’ll begin catching visitors
moving back and forth to see the different images. Everyone seems to enjoy Agamograph displays!
Educational
Benefits of Using an Agamograph in the Classroom
In addition to providing students with a fun and engaging art
project, Agamographs can be used to compliment your lessons. For example, I
included Agamographs in my Space Unit to
provide a fun craft to go along with the activities. Agamographs also encourage
fine motor skills, following directions, and spatial reasoning. Agamographs are
the perfect brain break activity for the end of the day, holiday parties,
summer school, or any time your class needs a fun craft.
How
to Make Agamographs on Your Own
I put my Agamograph resources
on Teachers Pay Teachers to give teachers a quick and easy activity that would
bring life to their bulletin boards. But with a little bit of prep, you make
your own Agamograph project using any two images of your choice!
Choose two coloring pages that compliment something you are
working on in class for a fun review lesson. There are two ways to create an
Agamograph: digitally or the old fashioned way with paper. If you’re
comfortable going digital, you’ll need to copy and splice your images multiple
times to create one Agamograph image.
The old fashioned cut and paste version has more steps, but is totally doable. If I can do it, trust me, you can too! Just note that you’ll be using two uncolored pages to make your Agamograph. I only colored mine in beforehand because I thought it would make the photos prettier and easy to see.
The old fashioned cut and paste version has more steps, but is totally doable. If I can do it, trust me, you can too! Just note that you’ll be using two uncolored pages to make your Agamograph. I only colored mine in beforehand because I thought it would make the photos prettier and easy to see.
Here’s how you
do it:
1.
Cut each of your two images into strips from top to bottom. I would
suggest making the strips anywhere from 1 to 2 inches wide. The wider the
strips, the easier the craft, so keep that in mind when choosing your width for
your students.
Glue your strips onto a larger piece of paper, alternating the two images as
you go. Keep track of your two pictures and make sure to glue them in the
correct order, otherwise your Agamograph won’t work!
2. Scan or photocopy your spliced pictures as one image. If your scanner or photocopier cannot accommodate larger papers (mine doesn’t), you can take a photo of your Agamograph. I took these photos with my phone. It’s not fancy, but it works.
3. Scale your Agamograph image down to 8.5 by 11 if necessary. Mine was a funny size and yours probably will be too. I converted my photo to a JPEG and inserted it into PowerPoint with the slide size set to “Letter Paper.” You could also do it in Word or whatever you’re comfortable with. There are probably easier ways to do it (please share your techniques in the comments. I would love to learn new techniques), but I can confirm that my way does work.
4. Print it out to save as your master copy. Make as many copies as you need for your class and save that master copy for next year!
2. Scan or photocopy your spliced pictures as one image. If your scanner or photocopier cannot accommodate larger papers (mine doesn’t), you can take a photo of your Agamograph. I took these photos with my phone. It’s not fancy, but it works.
3. Scale your Agamograph image down to 8.5 by 11 if necessary. Mine was a funny size and yours probably will be too. I converted my photo to a JPEG and inserted it into PowerPoint with the slide size set to “Letter Paper.” You could also do it in Word or whatever you’re comfortable with. There are probably easier ways to do it (please share your techniques in the comments. I would love to learn new techniques), but I can confirm that my way does work.
4. Print it out to save as your master copy. Make as many copies as you need for your class and save that master copy for next year!
If you love the idea of creating Agamographs but the idea of
splicing images sounds like too much work, fear not. I’ve already
done the work for you. And my Agamographs are digital so they’ll look way neater than something made with iPhone photos and photocopied images (just
saying). All you have to do is print them out and hand them out to your
students.
Awesome bulletin board, check.
Awesome bulletin board, check.
I have a few different Agamograph resources available in my TPT store. Because my first set was so popular,
I am creating more to keep up with the demand! I just uploaded a brand new Space Unit that includes 11 Agamographs to compliment the rest of the
activities in the set. And then I uploaded a Life Cycles Agamograph set in the same week! Lots of caffeine was involved.
My first Agamograph set reins as my
all-time best seller so I’m working on a second set to provide my followers
with some fresh new ones! If you’re interested in Agamographs but aren’t sure
about it, you can download my Fall FREEBIE and
see if you like it. I’m also currently working on a second set of seasonal Agamographs so keep your eyes open for that one, coming soon!
Here's my Agamograph FREEBIE:
Here's my Agamograph FREEBIE:
All of my Agamograph sets include guidelines for the teacher
in addition to instructions and pictures for every Agamograph. So far, everyone
I know has loved doing Agamographs with their class. If you end up buying a set
or making your own, I would love to hear how it went!
Visit my blog at https://teachingexceptionalthinkers.com/ for more fun teaching ideas!
by Christy from Exceptional Thinkers
0 comments