Blackout Poetry- Collaborative creating narratives

Big Idea: Students will be given ripped out pages of an old book/ magazine.
They will then black out sentences to emphasize certain words only creating
poetic phrases. Everyone will then pass the page to their neighbour who will
continue to blackout elements they want to take out and emphasize others
through imagery, contrast and emphasis around text. After passing their page
5 times their blackout poetry will be complete and will be returned to the
initial artist/author who will then read their poem.
Materials:

Pages of old book/ newspaper/ magazine

Pencil crayons
Markers
Pen and ink
Black sharpie markers

Curriculum Expectations:
A2. The Elements and Principles of Design
A2.2. Apply elements and principles of design as well as art making
conventions to create art works that communicate ideas, information or
messages.
C2. Conventions and Techniques
C2.1 Demonstrate an understanding of a variety of techniques that artists
use to achieve specific effects

Minds On: (10 min)

Prompt: Can we create different messages and unique artwork from

others works?
Discussion on the original message and how different people can
interpret it differently.

Teachable Methods (55 min)

Intro: (10 min)

Show examples of blackout poetry and explain first step of activity, to

black out the words you see as unimportant and emphasize certain
words by circling or not blacking them out.
After about 5 minutes stop students and tell them they must pass their
paper to their neighbour, as you explain the rest of the activity
Prompt: is it hard to let others finish your interpretation and let go of
your work?

Body: 40

Continue passing the page until it has gone through at least 5 people
Pass page to original artist and have them each read the poem aloud.
Have student reflect on how it has changed from its original
interpretation and your initial interpretation. Students will reflect if
their poem was improved both visually and linguistically

Close:

Have students paste their blackout poem in their sketchbook and write
what they have learned from this activity. Clean up materials

(15 min)
Assessment and Evaluation:
This would be a formative assessment that would lead into a modern art/
surrealism unit that elaborates on automatic drawing and collaborative
artworks that de-emphasize the centrality of the artist.
Differentiation:

Students have a choice whether they just want to black things out or
create bolder lines, elements, etc around their words.
They also have a choice in the complexity of their images and color
schemes.