If you enjoy appsmashing, the process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a project, AND using the PicCollage app, then read on to learn about 5 creative lesson ideas you can carry out with students.
Make Posters Come Alive
First up is one of my favorite appsmash activities, making posters come alive and TALK. This can easily be accomplished by having students create any sort of poster or collage in PicCollage and saving it to the camera roll. Once the poster or collage has been created, save it to the camera roll and pull it into an app that students can record their voice (either by drawing a mouth or inserting an avatar). Some of my go-to FREE apps for this include:
The digital citizenship tattoo poster example below was created using the built in clipping tool that you can read how to use HERE and the built in image search.
FaceTalker was used to create this example because it doesn’t have a recording time limit😉
Collage Mind-Maps
Mind-mapping is an excellent way for students to show their thinking in an organized fashion. Have students use PicCollage to create several collages about subtopics of a main topic. Save them to the camera roll and pull into a mind-mapping app like Popplet. Upload the collages to the bubbles to create a visual mind-map. Here are two examples:
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| Genres of Books |
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| 3D Shapes |
Create Academic Scrapbooks
A fun and meaningful way to wrap up ANY unit would be to have your students create a collage or poster all about the different topics learned in a given unit and turn it into an academic scrapbook. Once each collage/poster has been completed, students can add it to a “page” in Google Slides, PowerPoint, Book Creator, etc.. This makes an excellent study tool for students to refer to! Here is an example of a Google Slides collection all about Ancient Egypt:
One may ask why we would use PicCollage and Google Slides when something similar could be accomplished just by using Google Slides alone. For one, if you only have access to iPads, I believe it is ten times easier to create in PicCollage than in the Google Slides app. The Slides app does not have an image search like it does when you use the web version on a computer. It takes two quick taps on PicCollage for students to access an image search. Two, students can draw on and label the actual images to insert into their creation. Three, the clipping tool comes in handy to cut out parts of a picture. Four, all of the colorful backgrounds are just plain C😎😎L. Above all, PicCollage is just a FUN and easy to use app. If you choose to use PowerPoint or Book Creator instead of the Google Slides app, students have the option to add a voice recording to each slide!
Create Animated GIFS
This appsmash for making animated GIFs can be adapted for a variety of activities and learning levels! I blogged last month about making New Year’s Resolution animated GIFS and Animated Acrostic Poems using the PicCollage and Lumyer apps. I think it would be fun to have your students set goals for the marking period or year and turn them into a GIF:
Your students can add their GIFs to a Padlet wall, upload to SeeSaw, add to a Google Slides presentation and so much more! Here is an example of a Padlet wall with GIFs (send the link home to parents and/or publish on your class blog/website!):
To read more about how you can carry out this lesson as well as an alternative to using the Lumyer app, click HERE.
Presentations/Alternative Assessments
Have students use PicCollage and Shadow Puppet EDU to make a presentation or to serve as an alternative assessment for any unit you are studying. They can design their slide(s) in PicCollage and then pull them into Shadow Puppet EDU. Shadow Puppet Edu audio records and also shows where the user taps on the screen. This is great for explanations! Check out this example of the process of a Butterfly Life Cycle and then a description of angles found in images taken on a photo hunt.
As you can see, PicCollage is such a versatile app that can be used for a variety of academic topics! How have YOU used PicCollage in the classroom?
Julie Smith is an elementary Instructional Technology Consultant from Saline, Michigan. She works with teachers and students in PreK-5th grade. Julie is the author of the blog, The Techie Teacher and is a PicCollage Ambassador. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest.