BEFORE YOU TEACH | TEST THE PORTABLE ROUTES
Google copies are convenient; Canvas files are the backup
- Lesson 2 worksheet: make a Google copy or use the Word download on the student page.
- Emoji Define form: make a Google copy or use the Word download on the student page.
- Default Canvas turn-in: students submit a shared Google link or upload the completed Word file.
If your district uses Google Assignments: you may edit either assignment, choose External Tool, select your district Google Assignments integration, attach your own copy, save, and test it in Student View. This setup belongs to the teacher's current Canvas course.
Optional Edpuzzle check
Students can watch The Universal Arts of Graphic Design directly in Canvas. If you want Edpuzzle questions or Live Mode, copy the public Edpuzzle lesson to My Content, reconnect this assignment through the Edpuzzle External Tool, and test it in Student View.
FACILITATOR'S GUIDE
GRAPHIC DESIGN WITH THE 1960s
Everything you need to run this unit.
⏱ ~13 CLASS PERIODS🎯 MAKE: ORIGINAL EMOJI + PORTFOLIO📱 CANVA VIA CLASSLINK · EDPUZZLE · XELLO
THE UNIT AT A GLANCE
| Module item | What happens | ~Time |
|---|---|---|
| GRAPHIC DESIGN FOUNDATIONS — run these in order; each one feeds the next | ||
| Lesson 1: Pop Art of the 60's | Unplugged. Pop-Art name tag on paper with markers, then a photo and a sentence-starter reflection. | 1 period |
| Lesson 2: Graphic Design with Canva | First Canva day. Two graphics from a word bank: one lines-only and one circles-only. Students add both PNGs to the Google or Word worksheet, reflect, then submit a link or file. | 1 period |
| EdPuzzle | The Universal Arts of Graphic Design | Video check on what graphic design actually is. The YouTube video is ready in Canvas; Edpuzzle questions or Live Mode are optional. | 20–30 min |
| Lesson 3: Paths, Shapes, and Colors | Pop-Art t-shirt in Canva: repeating background, text, border, extra shapes. Upload PNG. | 1 period |
| Lesson 4: Pictographs — Communicating through Shapes | Two pictographs using the six Gestalt principles. No words allowed in the design. | 1 period |
| Lesson 5: Advanced Shapes and Colors | Band logo using the Combo app (union, subtract, intersect, exclude) plus a gradient. This is the skill the emoji project runs on. | 1 period |
| EMOJI PROJECT — one six-day design-thinking cycle | ||
| Facilitator's Guide: Emoji Project Overview | Teacher page. The four-step build day by day, what to have ready, and the peer review sheet to print before Day 5. Students work from the Emoji Hub below, not from this page. | — |
| Emoji Hub | Student roadmap page. Open it together once, then send them back to it each day. | 10 min |
| Step 1: Define | Emoji history and the Unicode Consortium, then each student researches a gap and submits a concept for your approval. | Day 1 |
| Step 2: Ideate | Two thumbnail sketches, pick one, write the pitch sentence. You demo shapes-only building in Canva. | Day 2 |
| Step 3: Prototype | Build the emoji in Canva from shapes, use at least one Combo operation, export a transparent PNG, start the showcase slide. | Days 3–4 |
| Step 4: Showcase | Split gallery walk. Day 5 group A presents while group B scores as Unicode reviewers; day 6 they swap. Ends with the approval vote. | Days 5–6 |
| CAPSTONE | ||
| Portfolio Part 2: Graphic Design | Students add a Graphic Design section to the Xello portfolio they started in Week 0, upload their two best pieces, and write a reflection for each. | 1 period |
SLIDES
Optional. Every lesson here runs off the student pages without slides. Use these if you would rather teach live from the front of the room. They are in course Files under teacher materials > graphic design.
- Lesson 1 deck: Graphic Design L1 — Pop Art of the 60's (Lucero) · Make a Google copy
- Lesson 2 deck: Graphic Design L2 — Graphic Design with Canva (Lucero) · Make a Google copy, or the shorter 2026 live-teach revision · Make a Google copy.
- Lesson 3 deck: Paths, Shapes and Colors (Verizon VILS U1C2L2) · Make a Google copy
- Lesson 4 deck: Pictographs (Verizon VILS U1C2L3) · Make a Google copy, bilingual.
- Lesson 5: no deck in course Files.
- Emoji Step 1: Define deck: History of Emoji (Lucero) · Make a Google copy
- Emoji Step 4: Showcase deck: You Are the Unicode Consortium (Lucero) · Make a Google copy
- Emoji Design Challenge whole-group deck: download the PowerPoint · Make a Google copy. Use the History of Emoji deck for Step 1, then open this deck for Days 2 through 6. It teaches ideation, Canva Combo operations, small-size testing, revision, export, and both showcase rounds.
MATERIALS + PREP
- Lesson 1 only: paper, pencils, and markers, crayons or colored pencils. It is the one unplugged day — pull supplies the day before.
- Canva through ClassLink for every student, working, before Lesson 2.
- No Edpuzzle prep is required. Set up Edpuzzle only if you want to use the optional questions or Live Mode.
- Emoji project: the Define form, sketch worksheet, and showcase slide template are linked from the student pages. Test the Google copy links with your district account; the Define page also includes a Word backup. The peer review runs on paper: print the Peer Review Sheet (PDF linked in the Emoji Project guide, or in course Files under print materials).
- Showcase days: enough station space for half the class to present at once.
- Portfolio day: Xello logins confirmed.
WATCH-FORS
- Lesson 1 says “take a webcam photo,” but the assignment is set to file upload. Tell students to take the photo, save it, then click Start Assignment and upload the file. Otherwise you will get a line of students stuck at the submit screen.
- Do not skip Lesson 5. The Combo app is a prerequisite for the emoji prototype; students who miss it cannot meet the shapes-only rule.
- Hold the shapes-only rule from day one. No stickers, icons, templates or clipart in Canva. If you let it slide during Ideate you will not get it back during Prototype.
- Showcase is a two-day split, not one big day. Half present, half review, then swap. Print one Peer Review Sheet per student before day 5 (two pages, eight station boxes) and set out a ballot box — finished sheets go in it, and the YES/NO circles are the vote.
GRADING
Step 4: Showcase is the module’s Major grade, at 100 points — the finished emoji is what carries the unit. Lessons 1–5 are Minor grades at 5 points each (25 points total), each graded on the upload plus the reflection, which puts the module at 125 points. The EdPuzzle and Emoji Steps 1–3 are set to 0 points; they feed Step 4 rather than standing on their own. Portfolio Part 2 is a page, so it is not graded in Canvas; check it in Xello.