At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, my students began a giant doodle poster group activity in the back of my classroom. Since I teach United States geography, I chose a U.S. themed design. The students loved it. It took us the entire first semester to finish coloring the doodle poster, but it was worth it. It turned into a great early finisher activity, and it gave students the opportunity to work collaboratively. After we finished the first one, we needed a new poster. The new poster arrived just before COVID-19 hit, and our school transitioned to remote learning. I cut the second poster into pieces and mailed each student a piece turning the collaborative activity into a distance learning assignment. Students colored their pieces and mailed them back to me in a pre-stamped envelope I provided.

The doodle poster group activity had more than one benefit. In the classroom, the students had to take turns. They needed to match how they wanted to color a section with portions that were already filled. They were allowed to color the poster any way they wanted, but we agreed that we needed to coordinate with designs that had been started by a classmate.

When the second poster turned into a distance learning assignment, the students had to work within the timeline I set. If they did not finish and mail the piece back to my house, the poster would not be complete. One person could prevent the whole group from finishing the task. As a group, we made decisions in a Zoom class about how to color each piece. We decided you could leave some white space, but in order for the reassembled poster to look finished, all key elements on each piece needed to be colored. A few students did not add very much new color, and people commented.

Doodle Poster Tips

• I searched Amazon for “giant doodle posters” and found many options. I wanted U.S. map posters to supplement my curriculum, and I ordered THIS ONE first. My second poster was by a company named OMY. I really liked these DEBBIE LYNN, INC posters, but they were too large for my wall space.
• Measure the space where you will hang your doodle poster. I could not go much bigger than 32″ x 24″.
• I used Command strips LIKE THESE to hang butcher paper on the wall and then attached the poster over the background paper. It kept markers from bleeding through to the wall and made the coloring surface a little smoother.
• Set up guidelines with your students. We made decisions about time limits at the poster if other students were waiting to color. We agreed on color choices based on completed sections that were in the vicinity of where someone might be coloring. For the most part, students self-monitored the poster.

It is fun to compare the two different posters between the in-class version and the remote learning version. I also liked the fact that the poster became an activity that kids were independently finishing at home but still maintaining a connection with the group. Another favorite class activity I considering adapting for distance learning is this AUTHOR LETTER activity. We ran out of time, so I will have to save it for next year’s class. Hopefully, we will be completing it in person!