book report alternative: comic strips and cartoon...

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Traci GardnerBlacksburg,Virginia

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/book-report-alternative-comic-195.html

Lesson Plan

Book Report Alternative: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares

Grades 6 – 8

Lesson Plan Type Standard Lesson

Estimated Time Two 50-minute sessions

Lesson Author

Publisher

Preview

OVERVIEW

Students examine graphic novels and comic books and discuss the important components of thegenre, such as captions, dialogue, and images. They then use an online tool to create a six-panelcomic highlighting six key scenes in a book they have read. By creating comic strips or cartoonsquares featuring characters in books, students are encouraged to think analytically about thecharacters, events, and themes they've explored in ways that expand their critical thinking byfocusing on crystallizing the significant points of the book in a few short scenes.

FEATURED RESOURCES

Comic Creator: This online tool allows students to easily create and print comic strips.

Comic Strip Planning Sheet: Use this worksheet for students to plan their comic strips before usingthe online tool.

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

This activity invites the student to think symbolically. The students choose key scenes for theircharacters and books, find landscapes and props that fit the scenes, and compose related dialogue.These student representations of the books, with their multifaceted texts using symbols, images,texts, and metaphor, succeed in the classroom because they provide a snapshot of the students'comprehension of the ideas in the texts. As Vokoun describes, the alternative to a traditional bookreport "allows students to create something unique and show their understanding of what they read."

Further Reading

Book Report Alternative: Comic Strips and Cartoon Squares - ... http://www.readwritethink.org/resources/resource-print.html?id=195

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3.

11.

12.

McCloud, Scott. 1993. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperCollins.

Vokoun, Michael J. "Alternative Book Reports" English Journal 94.4 (March 2005): 117-119.

Standards

NCTE/IRA NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciatetexts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers,their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, andtheir understanding of textual features (e.g., sound–letter correspondence, sentence structure,context, graphics).

Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety ofliteracy communities.

Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., forlearning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Resources & Preparation

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

Graphic novels and comic book versions of well-known books for inspiration and comparison(optional)

STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose

Comic CreatorThe Comic Creator invites students to compose their own comic strips for avariety of contexts (prewriting, pre- and postreading activities, response toliterature, and so on).

PRINTOUTS

Comic Strip Planning Sheet

Comic Strip Rubric

WEBSITES

Integrative Art: American Comic Strips

Scott McCloud

PREPARATION

Before this lesson, students will read a book independently, in literature circles, or as a whole


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class.

Ask students to bring copies of the book that will be the focus of their comic strips to class forreference.

Make copies or overheads of the planning sheet and the rubric.

Practice the steps for using the Comic Creator with your computers.

Visit the Website of Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics, forbackground on the genre, inspirations, and sample comics. Additional information can also befound at Integrative Art: American Comic Strips from Pennsylvania State University.

Instructional Plan

STUDENT OBJECTIVES

Students will

identify appropriate landscapes, characters, and props that relate to the events and characters inthe books they've read.

interact with classmates to give and receive feedback.

explore how audience, purpose, and medium shape their writing.

SESSION 1

Introduce the writing activity, sharing the planning sheet, rubric, and sample graphic novels andcomic books.

Share the example graphic novels and comic books with students and explain the assignment,pointing out each of the parts that are included.

i.

Lead students through discussion of the key elements for each part. Sample discussionquestions can include the following:

What are the important characteristics of a caption? What do the words in the captions tellyou about the scene depicted?

What kind of landscape makes sense for the scene?

What props can you associate with the scene?

ii.

1.


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How kind of dialogue bubble makes sense for the interaction?

What connects one scene to the next in the comic strip?

Once you're satisfied that students understand the assignment, demonstrate the Comic Creatorstudent interactive and discuss its relationship to the Comic Strip Planning Sheet. Be sure to cyclethrough the options for characters and dialogue bubbles to show students the range of optionsavailable.

2.

Have students begin work with the Comic Strip Planning Sheet to plan their book reports.Students can work individually or in groups on this project.

3.

Encourage students to interact with one another, to share and receive feedback on their plans forcomic strips. Since these comics will be shared in the class as well as in the library, hearing thefeedback and comments of other students helps writers refine their work for their audience.

4.

Students can continue working on the project for homework if desired.5.

SESSION 2

Remind students of the goals and elements included in this project. Answer any questionsstudents have.

1.

To make comic strips, have your students follow these basic steps, referring to their planningsheet as they work in the Comic Creator:

For the comic title, name the scene (or scenes) that will be depicted.i.

For the comic subtitle, name the book where the scene is found.ii.

Include your name or the names of the members of your group as the authors of this comicstrip.

iii.

Choose the six-frame comic strip. (Alternately, have students choose the one-frame cartoonsquare and focus their work on an important scene in the book).

iv.

In each of the six frames of the comic strip show a significant event from the book.v.

Under each picture or cartoon, write a caption that provides additional detail on the scene.vi.

Print at least three copies of your finished comic strip.vii.

2.

While students work, again encourage them to interact with one another, to share and receive3.


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feedback on their plans for comic strips.

After the comic strips are printed out, students can decorate them with markers or otherclassroom supplies.

4.

As students finish, ask them to turn in two copies of the comic strip (one for you and one for thelibrarian-the third copy is for the students to keep).

5.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT/REFLECTIONS

For more formal assessment, use the Comic Strip Rubric which is tied to the elements included in theplanning sheet.

On the other hand, nothing is as useful as the feedback that they'll receive by sharing their comicstrips with their peers. Informal feedback from students who read the comics and search out therelated book are excellent feedback for students.

Related Resources

LESSON PLANS

Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson

Book Report Alternative: Characters for Hire! Studying Character in DramaIn this alternative to the traditional book report, students respond to a play they have read bycreating a resume for one of its characters.


Book Report Alternative: The Elements of FictionStudents identify the elements of fiction in a book they have read and share summaries of them bywriting and illustrating their own mini-book.


Book Report Alternative: Character and Author Business CardsStudents respond to a book they have read by thinking symbolically to create a business card for oneof the characters.


Book Report Alternative: Summary, Symbol, and Analysis in BookmarksStudents make bookmarks on computers and share their ideas with other readers at their school,while practicing summarizing, recognizing symbols, and writing reviews—all for an authenticaudience.


Book Report Alternative: Hooking a Reader with a Book CoverStudents select a book to read based only on its cover art. After reading the book, they use an


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interactive tool to create a new cover for it.


Book Report Alternative: Creating a New Book CoverStudents explore book covers of a variety of books then create a new cover for a book they haveread.

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan

Book Report Alternative: Writing Resumes for Characters in Historical FictionStudents write resumes for historical fiction characters. They first explore help wanted ads to seewhat employers want, and then draft resumes for the characters they’ve chosen.


Book Report Alternative: Creating a Childhood for a CharacterStudents explore familiar literary characters, usually first encountered as adults, but whosechildhood stories are only told later. Students then create childhoods for adult characters from booksof their choice.


Book Report Alternative: A Character’s Letter to the EditorStudents write a persuasive letter to the editor of a newspaper from a selected fictional character’sperspective, focusing on a specific issue or situation explored in the novel.


Book Report Alternative: Creating Careers for CharactersStudents select a job listing for a character in a book they have read, then create a resume andapplication letter for that character.

Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan

Book Report Alternative: Examining Story Elements Using Story Map Comic StripsComic frames are traditionally used to illustrate a story in a short, concise format. In this lesson,students use a six-paneled comic strip frame to create a story map, summarizing a book or story thatthey've read. Each panel retells a particular detail or explains a literary element (such as setting orcharacter) from the story.

STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing & Publishing Prose

Comic CreatorThe Comic Creator invites students to compose their own comic strips for a variety of contexts(prewriting, pre- and postreading activities, response to literature, and so on).

PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY


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Lisa Fink, RWTStaffJanuary 19, 2010

KaitlynJanuary 16, 2010

© 2010 IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved.Legal | International Reading Association | National Council of Teachers of English

Grades 8 – 12 | Professional Library | Journal

Fifty Alternatives to the Book ReportOffers 50 diverse suggestions intended to offer students new ways to think about a piece ofliterature, new directions to explore, and ways to respond with greater depth to the books theyread.

Grades 8 – 12 | Professional Library | Journal

How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature: One Teacher's PerspectiveIn this article, Versaci details the many merits of using comics and graphic novels in the classroom,suggests how they can be integrated into historical and social issues units, and recommends severaltitles.

Comments

Published Comments

We are very glad that you found this resource, and others to be helpful. Ifyou are interested in sharing lesson plan or teaching ideas with the site,please fill out our Contribute form: http://www.readwritethink.org/util/contribute-to-rwt.html.

Hi, I'm Kaitlyn. I've experienced a lot with my class using this website tohelp me help them write they're book reports and share them with theclass. Atleast I now know where to look when my class is doing bookreports! This strategy helped me a lot in the 2009 - 2010 school year.Thanks very much for your help.


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book report alternative: comic strips and cartoon...

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