1. Preparation:
Prepare handouts with examples of calligrams or set up the equipment for a screen projection.

2. Introduction to the activity:
Welcome everyone to the workshop and explain its nature and purpose. If the participants don’t know each other yet, you may want toorganise a short icebreaker during which they have an opportunity to present themselves and get to know each other. Use for example a Polish counting-out rhyme, where the designated persons presents himself or herself.

What are calligrams?
The term calligram designate a visual poem in which the text of a the poem forms at the same time an image related to. It was invented by theFrench poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), whose portrait is shown on the left of the previous page. The poem reproduced to the rightof the previous page thus shows the images of a dove and of a water jet. By the way, the poet, although born in Rome, had Polish origins,since his mother was a member of the lesser Polish aristocracy of the Russian Empire and came from what is now Belarus. His full Polish namewas Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Aleksander Apolinary Kostrowicki, which he shortened for his pen name; the German Wilhelm became theFrench Guillaume.

However, it is not only poems that can be used to form images. Any kind of text, and even a single word, will do as long as they form a reccognisable shape that will enhance their meaning. Moreover, there are few constraints on the letters used, which can be slanted, stacked, curved or stretched to better fit the shape, just as in a puzzle. They can be of different sizes and in different styles, in the same colour or in a variety of colours. Words or letters can be handwritten or painted but it’s also possible to use ones that have been cut out from newspapers or magazines to create a collage.

3. Collecting words and phrases:
– Create widely popular calligrams of pets or domestic animals, such as of a cat, cow, dog or horse, because a rich vocabulary is attached to them and young heritage speakers are likely to be familiar with at least some of it.
– Create tandems or small teams of three to dress up vocabulary lists. For a cat calligram, for example, words might include those for different kinds of cats (kitten, tomcat, wild cats such as lynx or leopard, …) or races of cats (Siamese, Persian, Sphinx, …) , compound nouns (cat litter, cat ladder, …), a cat’s anatomical parts (paw, fur, whiskers, …) or its characteristics (independent, solitary, agile, …), verbs for the sounds cats produce (meow, purr, hiss, growl, …) or the way they behave (prowl, stalk, jump, crawl, stretch, doze, …), names of other animals, plants or objects that contain the word cat (cat shark, cat’s ear, cat’s cradle, cat stone, …), idioms (like herding cats, letting the cat out of the bag, fighting like cats and dogs, weak as a kitten, …) and sayings: ‘In the night all cats are grey.’ – ‘Curiosity killed the cat.’
– If participants are hesitant, provide some examples or hints in which direction to look for. Leave room for exchanges between all participants to promote peer learning.

4. Preparing the canvas and filling it with words:
– Ensure that all participants have a large sheet of paper, writing utensils (e.g. felt pens of different strengths, coloured pencils, water colours and a brush pen) and, if appropriate, a template with the shape of an animal in front of them.
– Ask them to lightly outline the shape of their chosen animal with a pencil; the line will be erased after the calligram will be completed.

A thick outline may also be a good choice if it fits the calligram better.
Black and white or colourful? It’s up to the artist.
You may want to make available a prepared canvas to younger children. Older participants are advised to reflect on the style in which they plan to execute the calligram: compact and detailed, bold and graffiti-like …, before starting to fill their calligram.
Excessive spacing and clutter should be avoided. The aim is to balance readability of the text and the artistic impact of the calligram.
The typographical choice should reflect theoverall mood of the image. For difficult parts, sketch the letters lightly with a pencil before creating a permanent version.
Don’t forget to indicate a time by which you expect the calligrams to be finished

5. Presenting and discussing the calligrams:
– Once the calligrams are finished, pin them to a wall or lay them out on a table and assemble the participants in front or around of them.
– Ask all or some of the participants to present their work. This includes explaining their aesthetic choice and the difficulties they have encountered, but also naming their favourite words and expressions.
– Ask participants to point out similarities and differences between the heritage language and the majority language – or, in a multilingual classroom, between the languages represented. Some expressions can be found across several language. ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, for example, has a Polish equivalent: ‘Ciekawość zabiła kota’, as has ‘In the night all cats are grey’ – ‘W nocy wszystkie koty są szare’. On the other hand, when animal sounds are imitated in human language, they often differ, at least in spelling: ‘meow, meow’ becomes ‘miau, miau’.