Memes for Learning

 Everybody loves a good meme! They are often clever and thought-provoking, sometimes accurate, but always eye-catching! We can capitalize on the love of memes with our kids by asking them to create their own! What's really cool is that this can be done with pretty much any age level and in any subject area! Here are some ideas I came up with just thinking about this blog post (see below for my examples of them as well):

• Language arts: create a meme that demonstrates the relationship between two characters in the story.
• Science: create a meme that reflects a fact about a weather phenomenon.
• Social studies: create a meme that reflects the action of a historical figure.
• Math: create a meme that explains a mathematical process.
• P.E.: create a meme encouraging physical fitness and health.
• Music: create a meme making a classical composer "cool."
• Art: create a meme that shows appreciation for an artist.

All it takes is an idea, access to a meme generator, and a little creativity! This can be a fun project because

• It encourages creative thought.
• It helps students learn to be thoughtful with their words (there's not a lot of space on a meme for words).
• It is a medium kids enjoy.
• It merges language with something visual, which can be a key to helping students' comprehension.
• It can be done pretty quickly -- this can be done in one class period.

A couple of considerations, though:

• Be sure your expectations are clear. Otherwise, you will surely end up with memes that don't involve much learning.
• Preview your meme generator! Some WILL offer images that are not appropriate for school! Avoid those. Some also charge fees. Skip those as well. (If all else fails, you can have kids create their memes using Google Drawings. I know a person who can help you with that -- her name is Renee 😁).
• Tell kids to be thoughtful. Unfortunately, some images that are popular with memes are also poking fun at people or exploiting stereotypes (examples: images of people of color, individuals who are overweight).
• Give kids an authentic audience. Memes are created to be shared, not just turned in. Once the memes have been turned in, share them with your class, on your class website, or on Twitter (always being mindful of keeping students' identities safe).

Here's a post from ISTE that talks in depth about using memes in the classroom.

Math

Social Studies

Language Arts

Art

Music

Science

P.E.