Today, my students printed their “word assignment.” This project is easily one of their favorite assignments. I gave it to them as homework over Fall break and out of fourty-some students, only two failed to bring in their letters. (that’s a record for Fall break homework!) I love when students get super excited about an assignment!


I wanted to share this assignment with you, not only because the end product is really cool, (or “like a boss” as my students currently say…) but it’s a fun project to do as a couple or a family on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon!


Here’s the assignment:


1. Decide on a word. Some words that my students use include: Home, Love, Hope, Joy, last names, first names, Grace, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! (actually, I’ve never had anyone successfully accomplish that last word, but it’s an awesome idea!)


2. Take pictures of objects that look like the letters in your words.
a. I always tell my students to take multiple pictures of each letter with different objects. When it’s time to put all of the letters together, it’s good to have choices in case some letters look better in combination with other letters.
b. Keep in mind composition, lighting, background, clarity and contrast. Just an FYI, if some of your letters are taken in shade and some in direct sunlight, they will not look like they belong together. Try to keep your lighting consistent.


3. Upload your photos to your computer.


4. If you have Photoshop, go ahead and open the program. If you do not have Photoshop, google “free photo editing software” to choose your favorite program. When my students need to edit their pictures at home, many of them use a free program called Picnik.


5. Edit each of your photos so that all of your letters have the same coloring. You can make them all black and white, sepia, colorful and contrasted etc.


6. If you’re working in Photoshop, here’s how to combine your letters to make a word:
a. Go to: File New
i. My students make their canvas size: (Width-30 inches) (Height-5 inches)
ii. Now that you have a long white canvas, go back to your first letter.
iii. Use the selection tool to select the entire photo. Make sure all of your layers in the layer pallet are also selected.
iv. Click on the arrow move tool and drag your first photo to the blank canvas. It will most likely appear humungous on your canvas. With the arrow tool still selected, check the box at the top of your tool bar that says “show transform controls”. While pressing shift, grab the corners of your photo and drag your photo down to its proper size on the canvas. Press enter to set your photo before you move on to your next step.
v. Repeat step 4 with your other photos.
vi. After you space your pictures on your canvas, you may have extra white space. Just crop it out using your crop tool.
vii. Save it as a JPEG and print!


7. If you decide to work in Picnik (which is a lot easier for the casual photographer…) all you have to do is:
a. Upload your photos
b. Edit your photos with their pre-made filters
c. Press the collage tab at the top….and drag your photos in.
d. Save and print! Easy as pie!


These collages make great Christmas and birthday gifts, especially if you find an awesome frame for your word! AND it’s fun to do this project with other people! You can easily make a fun “word search photo party!”


Enjoy and have fun!!!