For my capstone project I am having my K-3 students create word clouds. We will be using the word clouds to decorate the art room, which looks very boring right now because of the lack of color and art! Here is the schedule for my project:

Week 1 (this past week): I introduced imagechef, the website we would use to make the word clouds. I picked this site in particular because it allows the students to pick what shape they want the cloud to be: heart, 4 leaf clover, block, stars, paw print, or butterfly. I demonstrated how to pick the the shape, then type words in the text box provided. At any time in the process, students can press the "preview" button to see what their cloud looks like. Next, students pick the text color and background color. I showed them how some colors (i.e. red and pink) blend together and how they can choose different shades to make the words stand out more. Finally, students press the "save" button and title their cloud with their first initial and last name (i.e. C. Gibbs). Each class created a sample cloud about art together, and we titled it with their teachers' names so we knew that it was the group project.

Their goal this week was to draft their own clouds on paper: draw the shape you want, add the words, write down the colors you want. I encouraged students to draw multiple drafts so they could see different options and pick their favorite to create on the website next week.

Week 2: Next week, I will have students create their clouds on the imagechef website. I will review the process I introduced last time if needed. Once all the clouds are on the website, I will save them to class folders on my computer and print them.

Week 3: Decoration week! Most of the class time will be spent hanging the word clouds all over the art room. I will try to encourage students to hang their clouds in the hallway as well to help decorate the rest of the school. Even if we don't decorate the hallway, the whole school is still the audience. Every student and teacher in the school comes into the art room at least once every week. Everyone will see the colorful, creative clouds. I am excited to share pictures!

Depending on how long it takes students to create their clouds during week 2, and how long it takes me to print, we may be able to decorate during week 2 as well. I know my week 3 is finals week at the university, so even if I can't share a picture of the decorated art room, I will at least share pictures of students at work and examples of student projects.

So far, the students have been absolutely thrilled about the word clouds! I have never seen them get so excited about an art project. They are accustomed to little or no technology in the art room, so this project is very engaging for them. Many students expressed interest in using the website at home. I hope this project will encourage art at home and in the community, not just in school. This project will also transform the art room. Right now it looks like a storage closet with tables in the middle. There is almost no evidence of student creativity. I think this project will change that. I think the students will become much more invested in the art room and in their own creativity.