Lesson 3 – Creating an Infographic


Lesson 3 – Creating an Infographic

Materials

 

Steps in the Lesson

*** Students should have completed HO 3.1-3.4 to prepare and brainstorm for info-graphics. Let students know they can evolve their ideas from their brainstorming activities as they work but that there should still be thought and meaning behind each color, text, image, font, etc.

  1. Have students go to easel.ly

  1. Direct them to click on register. They will need to enter their email address and password to create a login.

  2. Once students are able to login have them click on start fresh.

Let students know there are two ways they can cretate their info-graphic : one is they can use one of the templates provided in the Vheme’s section or they can create their own from scratch.

  1. Directions for students who want to use a VHEME (if you can project this and have students follow along with you as you model)

  2. Click on the Vhemes icon on the top left right

  3. Scroll through the vhemes- if you click on the vheme you can see an enlarged version of it. Chose the first Vheme to demonstrate to students how to use it. Drag the vheme onto the canvas to begin.

  4. Next show students how to edit text: double click on the text that says breakfast and a text box should pop up. You can delete where it says breakfast and enter demo- when you are done typing click the screen next to the demo box- if you hit enter it will move the text up- experiment with both and show the students what happens. When the text box is up you can enlrage or shrink it. You should notice on the top that there is a row that shows you can make the text bold, italic, underlined, change the opacity, color, and font/font size.

  5. Next show students how to change the the size and position of the object. Single click on the circle. You will see a box come up around the circle and the mouse will turn into two arrows crossing. To move the circle you can use the mouse to drag it to the left or right or whatever position you like. To enlarge the object you can click on the small boxes on the large outer blue boxes and drag them out and in to change the size. You can also adjust the opacity of the image.

  6. Next click on objects: there are a variety of objects students can add to the canvass. If you hover the mouse over the left side where it says choose category a list of categories will show. To place an object on the canvas click and drag the item to where you  would like it. Some of the objects will allow you to change the color and others will not. If you see the color box pop up under the text box it is an indicator you can change the color. If you click on the blue man it will show you you can change the color.

  7. Click on shapes- the same process as objects can be used

  8. Click on text- you can drag text boxes

  9. Upload – students can upload images from the desktop but they will first need to download it to the desktop.

  10. Students can also add piecharts

  11. If you want to get rid of an object click on the object and you will see a little trash icon pop up on the top left under the Vhemes icon. Click the trash icon and it will delete the object.

  12. Finally- students can change the background by clicking on backgrounds. They can look through the available backgrounds and drag the one they like onto the canvass.

  13. If you need help with alignment of the objects you can click on the grid and it will show a grid which can help with aligning objects.

Directions for students who want to create their own from scratch

  1. Choose a background and drag it onto the canvas

  2. Chose objects to represent your story and drag them onto the canvass

  3. If you would like to connect objects you can use the shapes to connect them. For example: drag two men down onto the canvas and have them about an inch from each other. Next drag a line down between the two men and adjust it so they are connecting.

  4. Drag text boxes down to where you would like the text to be- you can put text boxes inside the objects or outside.

Students Can download the info-graphic as a PDF and email them to you on the due date.

Tips

  • It is a good idea to save your project often. Save is on the top left next to home.

  • Take your time to really make this look nice. The more you have prepped about your strategy before hand- the easier this part will be.

  • Move slow and be patient.

Assessment and/or Extension Ideas

Lesson 3

  • Have students present theirs to the class and each student give s grade.

  • Have students try the info-graphic protocol on it to see if they were able to get the four points across the way they wanted to.

  • Have students circulate their info-graphics on facebook or instagram as a civic outreach project depending on the topic.

  • Use this as a choice activity for students to demonstrate content knowledge in a summative assessment.

  • Use as a modification on an essay assignment for students with IEP’s or who tend to demonstrate a great ability to demonstrate knowledge learned through a visual medium.