2. I needed to inventory the colors we had left and try to limit the color palette to just those choices. This took tons of trial and error to find a combination that still produced an image that resembled the original.
3. I uploaded the photo to blockposters.com. I chose a format that would be two sheets wide. This meant that one sheet would print the same width as my plate (32 bricks). I trimmed each piece to 32 bricks in length as well. I stapled the trimmed sheets to a piece of cardboard and labeled it so students could understand which tile in the overall design they were working on.
HINT: This can go fast if everyone helps. If they start guessing instead of counting, this will take ---forever---because they will have to redo and fix their mistakes.