Hopefully by now you all have seen a copy of “Ideas That Fly,” the compendium of covers, themes, inside pages, and more from schools around the country. This beautiful book comes out once a year and then an additional soft cover addendum follows behind. Schools love using them as a resource in the classroom and encourage the students to look through the books for new ideas.

The yearbook adviser at Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino, however, turned it into a full lesson for her yearbook staff. Here were the steps:

1. Everyone received a copy of  “Ideas that Fly.” She explained what was in there.

2. The students picked out a spread they liked, read about the school, their theme, and any other pertinent information that was listed. Then the student listed things they liked about that spread. Why did they pick it? What ideas or inspiration can we get from the spread? What artistic elements were used? How did the graphics contribute to the theme?

3.  There was enough time for 8-9 different students to share their choices and answers in front of the whole class.

This lesson hit at just the right time. They finished their first deadline and are about to start designing their next set of spreads. Hopefully they will go into deadline #2 with more ideas and ready to challenge themselves.