Create Community Resource Flyers on Canva!

Note: This lesson plan is for an intermediate-high ESL class but can be altered for any level.

Discussion: Community resources

Group students into small groups. They will ask each other any questions on the list plus a follow-up question that will prompt a free-form discussion. Once that discussion is over, another student will begin the next discussion.  Here's an example of how that discussion might look:

 

 

Students will research a local community resource, collect important information, and create a digital flyer to include in a class community resource guide.

Ask your students to help you to make a list of common community resources. You can start the list with a couple of examples, like libraries and hospitals.

Once the list is finished, ask students to choose one of the resources to research as a whole class example.

Flyer project, Part 1:

Project your computer on the screen. Google the chosen community resource and your school's zip code, like 'animal shelters 90017'. Find a resource in the area that has a website. Click on the link.

Ask the students to help you to note some important information that you can include on the community flyer. Make sure that they include basic information, like the name of the organization, the address, phone number, email (if relevant), and website address. Also, ask them to help you to identify any services that you think that the students in class might be interested in. They don't need to list all of the services. Finally, ask them if there is any other information on the website, like rules or upcoming events, that they think should be included on the flyer.

Once you have collected all of the information, have the students do their own research. Consider allowing them to choose to work alone or in small groups.

Flyer project, Part 2:

After the students have finished collecting information on their chosen resource, have them help you to create a digital flyer for the resource that you researched as a whole class. (Note: You can download this basic how-to document which guides you through the basic steps, including how students can sign in to Canva and use the design tools.)

Your students can decide the design, text, images, etc. which you can then show how to add those elements to the Canva flyer.

Once the flyer is complete, show students how to share it or download it. (Note: You can decide how the students will compile the flyers into a class resource guide, whether that be by linking the flyers to an LMS discussion page, emailing or texting the links to you which you can then post on a sharable Google doc, uploading all the flyers to a sharable cloud storage page, etc.)

Once the whole-class flyer is complete, let the students work on their own flyers, whether they work alone or in groups.

Flyer project, Part 1: See instructions above.

Flyer project, Part 2: See instructions above.

A great way to evaluate the flyers is by having the students ask other students questions about their flyers. When the questions are more general, that usually indicates a lack of information on the flyer, like "What's the phone number?"  If students want to update their flyers, that's okay. The links to the flyers won't change.

Another option would be to create a checklist of basic information (the name of the organization, the address, phone number, email (if relevant), website address, services offered, etc.) and have students verify each other's information. They can visit the resource's website and evaluate whether the information on their classmates' flyers are accurate.

Students can practice their speaking and listening skills by calling (or visiting) one (or more) of the resources and asking an employee of the organization to confirm information on the flyer. For example, "Do you spay and neuter dogs and cats?" "Are you open to 5 pm on Thursdays?"

To expand this activity, students can make flyers for yard sales, church events, birthday parties, or any other personal events that will be happening in the near future.