Grade 5 - What is visual communication?

Central Idea:

A poster is a composition of different elements that are organized to communicate.

This is a Unit with a very specific purpose: to allow students to take ownership over one of the most anticipated events of the school year, the Grade 4 & 5 Production.

Previously, the poster was designed by the school's marketing team. The poster presents itself as the ideal opportunity for students to take action on something that impacts the entire school community as well as the study of the poster as a visual communication tool with specific communication codes and principles: balance, contrast, hierarchy, colour, typography and style. This Unit also serves as the beginning of the discussion of visual communication concepts in preparation for the PYP Exhibition that will take place later in the year.

As a way to bring a real-life problem to this Unit, the email sent by the marketing team is shared with the students, where the requirements of the poster, the dates and which musical is specified in the same way that a client would communicate with a graphic designer. From this moment on, students are seen as graphic designers and here comes the first moment of discussion:

- What is a graphic designer?

- What kind of work do they do?

- What knowledge and skills are needed?

- What tools are used?

After this discussion, the next step is to inquire into what a poster is, its purpose and what are the elements of poster design. To facilitate this discussion, students are guided on a gallery walk activity through different spaces of the school where they are challenged to observe posters of school productions made in previous years. The observations are recorded under the following points:

- What must a poster have?

- What skills will I use?

- What materials can I use?

- What will I need to learn?

After this initial moment of discussion, the investigation is guided towards the elements that shape the poster, objectively analyzing them. As it is a project whose purpose is to create a product, students are introduced to the concept of project methodology. The Unit is presented in several interconnected steps in a logical sequence. This moment is also important as a preparation for the PYP Exhibition as it allows students to experience the creation of a product as the result of several steps of study, review, setbacks, and advances until the final product reaches the client's hands.

It is important for students to apprehend the idea that one does not immediately jump to the execution of the poster without first gathering information and testing ideas. In this sense, students are presented with the necessary steps to make the poster:

1. Research:

- The elements of poster design

- The principles of graphic design composition

- Typography

- The visual imagery of the musical

2. Draft:

- The exploration of ideas

- How do you connect style and typography with the musical?

- How do you organize the elements of poster design?

- Peer feedback

- Teacher-student feedback

3. Final Poster:

- Scale-up drawing

- Testing and selecting colour schemes

- Voting and selection

4. Reflecting:

- What are the elements of a poster?

- What is the purpose of a poster?

- What makes a good poster?

- What makes your poster unique?

- How does your poster relate to the musical's theme?

- What is the role of colour in your poster?

- What techniques and materials did you choose to use?

- What was most challenging in this unit?

Due to the structured nature of this Unit, it is important that the Unit's plan is adjusted according to class observations. The discussion of design principles should be balanced with creative moments where students can establish connections about the concepts explored with the theme of the musical. Sharing videos, music, character descriptions, imagery, and symbology is essential to create a context for students to explore ideas and create sketches.

As the studies progress, students engage in a peer-feedback session where they receive and give feedback to their classmates. To facilitate this feedback session, students use a traffic light chart which lists a set of questions that specifically target the graphic elements of the poster.

After this session, students have the opportunity to review their ideas and later discuss them with the teacher in order to select the solution that best meets the requirements of the problem.

From this moment on, students enter the phase of making their final poster. On a larger paper, the students begin the final drawing. Here is a challenge that some students struggle with. Scale up their draft from an A4 to an A3 paper while keeping the proportions between the different elements is a challenge that requires some attention. To facilitate this scaling exercise, students are introduced to the grid drawing process where the draft is divided into four parts allowing students to focus ¼ at a time, thus easily maintaining the proportion of the drawing.

Before students apply colour, there is one more formal feedback moment where spell check and colour scheme choices are discussed. Students are encouraged to choose which colouring materials they prefer, but it is discussed the idea that each material offers different creative possibilities, and that sometimes the best solution is to combine different techniques.

Due to the great variety of solutions, it was agreed that not just one poster would be chosen, but multiple ones, in order to celebrate the talent of the students. The choice of posters is made in two rounds: first, students vote between classes in a rotating system. The students' vote is guided by a checklist that served as the basis for the peer-feedback carried out earlier. After this first round of voting by the students, the top 10 works are selected, and then the teachers select the 3 posters that will be printed and distributed throughout the school community.

The last moment of this Unit is a reflection that can be written or by recording a video where students present their poster and discuss their understanding of concepts such as: - What are the elements of a poster? - What is the purpose of a poster? - What makes a good poster? - What makes your poster unique? - How does your poster relate to the musical's theme? - What is the role of colour in your poster? - What techniques and materials did you choose to use? - What was most challenging in this Unit?