FACILITATOR'S GUIDE
EMOJI PROJECT OVERVIEW
The four-step build. For the full unit run sheet, see the unit guide at the top of this module.
⏱ 6 CLASS PERIODS🎯 MAKE: ONE ORIGINAL EMOJI📱 CANVA VIA CLASSLINK
WHAT STUDENTS ARE BUILDING
Each student designs one original emoji that communicates an idea no current emoji covers, then pitches it the way a real proposal would be pitched. They carry the same idea through all four steps, so a student who skips a step arrives at the next one with nothing to work from.
1 · DEFINE — DAY 12 · IDEATE — DAY 23 · PROTOTYPE — DAYS 3–44 · SHOWCASE — DAYS 5–6
OPTIONAL WHOLE-GROUP SLIDES
The student pages are the independent and absence route. If you prefer to teach from the front of the room, download the 37-slide Emoji Design Challenge deck · Make a Google copy. Use the History of Emoji deck first, then begin this deck when students move from studying emoji to designing one.
- Day 2, slides 1–13: launch, two distinct sketches, visual constraints, idea selection, pitch, and Combo demo.
- Day 3, slides 14–22: build order, small-size test, color, Union/Subtract/Intersect/Exclude, teacher model, and checkpoint.
- Day 4, slides 23–28: evidence-based critique, revision, PNG export, and showcase-slide preparation.
- Day 5, slides 29–33: presentation and reviewer roles, useful feedback, and gallery rotation.
- Day 6, slides 34–37: role switch, Unicode Council vote, reflection, and close.
MATERIALS + WHERE STUDENTS START
Canva through ClassLink — every student logged in and working before Day 1. This is the only tool the project needs.
Send students to the Emoji Hub page, not to the four step assignments. The Hub is their map for the whole project — it holds the links, the shapes-only rule and the order. Point them there once on Day 1 and they can run themselves from it.
TWO THINGS TO WATCH
💥 KEEP IDEATE WIDE
Day 2 is for quantity, not commitment. Students who lock onto their first sketch reach Prototype with one fragile idea and no fallback. Ask for a page of rough options before anyone picks, and hold the choosing until the end of the period.
💥 SHOWCASE IS A GALLERY WALK
Days 5–6 are peer feedback, not presentations to you. Half the class presents while the other half circulates and reviews, then they swap. Every student leaves having reviewed someone else's emoji — print the sheets before Day 5 or the walk stalls at the first station.
🖨 PRINT BEFORE DAY 5
One Peer Review Sheet per student — two pages, eight station boxes. Each box scores one emoji (1–4) and circles YES or NO on adding it to Unicode: Peer Review Sheet (PDF). Also in course Files under print materials.
The sheets are the ballots. Set out a ballot box; finished sheets go in. Tally the YES circles (scores break ties) and announce which emoji earn Unicode Approved status. No Google Form to copy or share.