Elementary

The Essential Questions
How can we use digital tools to manipulate text and create images?

Objective
Students will demonstrate creativity and innovation by placing text strategically on a digital canvas to form recognizable animals.

Materials
computers or tablets with text-editing software such as Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or digital drawing apps; examples of text art (including the book Artyping by Julius Nelson)

Procedures
1. Define text art and explain how letters and symbols can be arranged to form images.
2. Show examples of text art throughout history, from typewriters to modern computers. Share examples from the book Artyping (1939) by Julius Nelson.
3. Demonstrate how to use various fonts, font sizes, colors, and arrangements, such as layering and rotating letters, on the app of your choice.
4. Instruct students to create their own text art animals. If time permits, students can use other digital tools to create a background environment.

Assessment
Ask students to describe their animal and their process of creating it.

Jessie Grubb is a digital art teacher at Fairview Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana.