Description:

Students create the American flag from a collage of faces and symbols representing their heritage and their diverse community.

Grade level: 8th grade

Detail, Ben Shahn, Bookshop: Hebrew Books, Holy Day Books
© Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
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• family photos (photocopies)
  
• glue sticks
  
• scissors
  
• magazines
  
• photographs
  
• large white roll of banner or craft paper, 36" x 54"
  
• 9" x 12" drawing paper
  
• gel medium
  
• paint brushes
  
• envelopes
  

Day 1
Students were placed in small groups of about 4 students. I passed out prepared sheets of 9" x 12" white paper to each group. See Preparation. Each sheet of paper had a part of the waving flag pattern drawn on it. Students received a brief introduction on the mosaic technique of collage. They looked at a poster of the mosaic Quilting Time that we had seen at Detroit Institute of Arts. See Resources. They tore bits of red, white or blue paper from the magazines. It was acceptable for students to use pieces that varied in shade as well as pieces that contained text, as this added visual interest to the finished product. These pieces were sorted by color in envelopes and collected with the group’s papers.

Day 2
Depending on which piece of the flag pattern they had, students glued the appropriate paper pieces from their envelope in the corresponding areas of their pattern (example, r=red, w=white, b=blue).

assembling flag (click the image for a larger version).

Day 3
Once all the 9" x 12" papers have been collaged, a large white paper was rolled out across one table. I referred to a master pattern of the project as a whole. As I called out the letters of the alphabet from the master pattern, the students came forward and placed their paper onto the larger white paper, eventually forming the flag of the United States of America. Once all papers had been laid in place the individual pieces were glued down. The excess paper was trimmed. The overall dimensions of the flag are 36" x 54", made of 18 9" x 12" squares.

adding family photos to flag (click the image for a larger version).

Day 4
Students were given copies of their photographs to use in the collage. Their original photographs were returned as well so they could take them home. I suggested to students that they might want to carefully tear the edges of the copied images so that they blend into the flag collage more effectively, and some did. Students collectively arranged their images on the flag until a harmonious composition was achieved.

students hold finished flag (click the image for a larger version).

Day 5
After the project was completed, gel medium was applied with paintbrushes to adhere any floating pieces and add a final protective covering.