Tear It Up!

Book Recommendation

Perfect Square

Michael Hall

TIP: Once you have read this book, share square pieces of paper with your students and brainstorm different ideas of what they could do to the paper to change them.

  • How can you use tools or your hands to change the shape?
  • How can you rearrange the shapes to create a story?
  • What new shapes do you notice in the pieces? Rearrange them and look for new shapes.

Either glue down the shapes or put them in an envelope so they can be rearranged again and again.

See how Jeffrey Gibson uses layering of shapes here!

How can a single piece of paper inspire an artwork or a story? In this story, a perfect square goes through multiple transformations to create different shapes, images, and a place!

Prompting Questions:

  • What other things could you do to change the shape of the square?
  • How can a new thing come from changing an old thing?
  • Describe a time you did this!

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