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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

The comic book show and tell

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=921

A lesson plan for grades 9–10 English Language Arts

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Although the major focus of this writing experience is on revision, students engage in conversation and activities to get them thinking about their choices as writers and how they can best get their mental images out of their head, onto the page. After the teacher reviews ways that writers make their works interesting, descriptive, and detailed, students discuss a comic book that the entire class read for homework. Then, using an online resource, students identify the various people involved in comic book production and the parts of a comic book. The teacher provides several examples of comic book layouts and techniques and explores parts of a comic book script. Once students understand the difference between comic books and comic strips, they write their own comic book scripts using a general prompt. In the second session, students illustrate another student’s text, drawing a script as close to form as possible. When the writers receive their illustrated work back, they evaluate how clear, descriptive, and detailed their scripts were based on how well the artists’ visions matched the initial vision. As a homework assignment, students revise their scripts for clarity, detail, and description. Readwritethink provides several helpful web resources that explain techniques for planning, creating, and evaluating comic books.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 9

  • Goal 1: The learner will express reflections and reactions to print and non-print text and personal experiences.
    • Objective 1.01: Narrate personal experiences that offer an audience:
      • scenes and incidents located effectively in time and place.
      • vivid impressions of being in a setting and a sense of engagement in the events occurring.
      • appreciation for the significance of the account.
      • a sense of the narrator's personal voice.
  • Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
    • Objective 5.01: Read and analyze various literary works by:
      • using effective reading strategies for preparation, engagement, reflection.
      • recognizing and analyzing the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction (e.g., myths, legends, short stories, novels), non-fiction (e.g., essays, biographies, autobiographies, historical documents), poetry (e.g., epics, sonnets, lyric poetry, ballads) and drama (e.g., tragedy, comedy).
      • interpreting literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, dialogue, diction, and imagery.
      • understanding the importance of tone, mood, diction, and style.
      • explaining and interpreting archetypal characters, themes, settings.
      • explaining how point of view is developed and its effect on literary texts.
      • determining a character's traits from his/her actions, speech, appearance, or what others say about him or her.
      • explaining how the writer creates character, setting, motif, theme, and other elements.
      • making thematic connections among literary texts and media and contemporary issues.
      • understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.
      • producing creative responses that follow the conventions of a specific genre and using appropriate literary devices for that genre.

Grade 10

  • Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of selected world literature through interpretation and analysis.
    • Objective 5.01: Read and analyze selected works of world literature by:
      • using effective strategies for preparation, engagement, and reflection.
      • building on prior knowledge of the characteristics of literary genres, including fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry, and exploring how those characteristics apply to literature of world cultures.
      • analyzing literary devices such as allusion, symbolism, figurative language, flashback, dramatic irony, situational irony, and imagery and explaining their effect on the work of world literature.
      • analyzing the importance of tone and mood.
      • analyzing archetypal characters, themes, and settings in world literature.
      • making comparisons and connections between historical and contemporary issues.
      • understanding the importance of cultural and historical impact on literary texts.