Trioramas - Teaching Tip Tuesday

Today's Teaching Tip Tuesday Tip is: Trioramas

How's that for a tongue twister?

If you look at the picture below and squint, you will see that my shelf is lined with trioramas.

or you can click on the photo and the image will become bigger and then you won't have to squint as much

This was during Open House in 2007.  As a side note, I ALWAYS cover my open shelving during Open House to prevent little siblings from pulling books and manipulatives off of the shelves.

I highly suggest that.  It also serves as extra display space for more creative works of art. :)

Anyhow, back on topic...

Trioramas are great little projects and can be used as an extension in most subject areas.

They are very easy to create: 

1. Take a 12X18 piece of construction paper (in your desired background color...I usually go with blue for sky) and cut it down to 12x12.

2. Fold the 12x12 paper in half two times and then unfold it to form an X crease on the paper.

3. Start at any corner and cut along the crease until you reach the center.  Stop there!

4. At the split, fold one triangle under the other to make a 3D Triorama.

I realize that might sound confusing.  Just grab a pair of scissors and a piece of paper and try it.  You'll be amazed at how simple it is.

The photos in this post are from the Open House that I did a Wizard of Oz theme.  We had read the book in class and were in the process of putting on the play.  There assignment was to write about their role in the play and to create a triorama as a visual.  They used construction paper and paper-pieced most of the components.  The key to making them look so awesome is to have them outline everything in black Sharpie.

I heart outlining in Sharpie.  It makes everything look super amazing.

I much prefer them to the old showbox diorama for 2 reasons. 1. They can be folded flat which makes storing them until display time very easy. 2. They are all uniform which makes for a nicer display.  If you've been reading along for awhile now, you realize that my obsession with organization would prevent me from looking at mismatched shoeboxes without breaking into hives.

Below is a list of ideas for other triorama projects.  Leave a comment letting me know what you would use them for.  I love new ideas!

 Other trioramas I've created include: significant scene from a book, animal habitats, Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indian homes (I attached two together to create a scene for each), my community (each student made part of our town) and a math project where the students needed to design a house within a budget.

creative classroom ideas, literature extension, project-based learning