What a better way to end the school year than with comics!  Throughout the year my class had dabbled in drawing (some of my classroom Genius Projects dealt with drawing) and the ever dwindling comic library was always around as a reading option.  So as we finished out our last literary unit, Fantasy focused on: Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and Folk Tales, comics fit right in (Superheroes being American Myths).  Full Disclosure:  My colleagues had done this last year so I was building a little off of their initial work, although I offered help throughout the process, both this year and last year.

I decided my students would have two two options when creating a comic page: A Super Hero Origin, or the retelling of a Fairy Tale (a Fractured Fairy Tale).  So we started by defining the scope of the project and what was needed.  The students were instructed to first write their story.  Step two was to take that story and write the main plot points in chronological order.  Step three take these main plot points and determine how many panels (pictures) would be needed to tell the story.  Students were then given sticky notes and a large sheet of paper to arrange the panels.  I reminded students that a panel is a moment in time, the size of the panel is determined by the importance of the event or the amount of time it takes.  We then talked about the importance of pictures versus text.  If the reader cannot figure out what is going on in the picture you will need text in the form of narration, a speech bubble, or a thought bubble to help them know what is going on.  I had a student ask if they could just do a comic like Owly (Andy Runton’s wonderful textless comic), My reply was “It is a lot harder than you think” and after a quick attempt she decided that text wasn’t that bad after all.  The hard part was getting the class to understand that if the reader can figure it out from the picture you don’t need text.  A drawing of someone falling down a hole doesn’t need narration saying “she fell down a hole!”  The sticky notes helped them to plan out the sequence.  Once they had a plan I handed them a non-photo blue pencil and a Blue-Line Comic Book Page and then stopped myself after seeing a few attempts.  I then divided the pages into panels (9, 12, and 16) before handing them out.  This way the panels and gutters were already drawn and all the students had to do was to draw.  They combined panels when needed.  They started by defining the space needed for the text, going back to their original story for exact wording.  They would write this out in blue pencil and then draw the pictures needed underneath. When they finished the blue line, they would finish it in regular old pencil.  I then took the finished pages to the copier and copied them to remove the non-photo blue.  Throughout the project we took time to work on Pin-ups of our characters and to talk about the Comic Con which was our celebration at the end.

As for my example, it was done step by step in front of the students.  I used this as an example as they worked, I worked.  Having a little more experience this still gave me time to walk around and conference (education-speak for chat) with students.  As for the story, the other classes were focused on a fractured fairy tale with their super hero… For me that was a little complex for time we had, but I decided I would try it.  So “Mr. Gizmo” was born and a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood (based on a true story) was created.  I actually had an elderly relative who would just drag the open program off the screen (out of sight, out of mind) so when I would come over to visit I would reboot the computer closing all open instances of a program and amazingly enough the computer would work again.  I wish I had examples to show, but since time ran out so the kids didn’t get a chance to color them I don’t want to share unfinished student work.  I will say one story I liked (from a rather reluctant student) was retelling the three pigs in which they all live in a brick house, the wolf comes along tries to blown down the house, gets tired and goes home.  The pigs return to living with their mother.  Parents beware, kids these days obviously don’t think being independent is that important. 🙂

As for the Comic Con I divided my room into different areas and the class was allowed to wander around.  Those students that didn’t come in costume, had the chance to make one in the Cosplay Corner which was filled with large pieces of card stock, Sharpie markers, and Duck Tape.  I pulled out all the individual issues from my comic book library, along with some items I had picked up over the years at conventions and set up an Exhibit Hall.  They really liked going through the Heroclix I had and organizing them.  Other were interested in the original artwork I had brought in.  I played the 1940’s Superman cartoons in the “Screening Room.”  We had a gaming area, for students to play fairy tale based games by IELLO.  Finally, although I never made it there I had set up my Artist Alley booth in the Artist Alley area.  I was busy helping kids finish their comics and other year-end tasks.  It was fun, but it was chaos.  I’ve decided that I’ll keep the format, but divide the kids into groups and have them rotate through each area.

What else did I learn?  I’m going to start comics earlier and in a more structured way next year.  There is too much to teach dealing with the process to try to squish it into a short unit in the middle of testing, and getting all the end of the year stuff done.  I’d like to see drawing become a larger component in my class (since we don’t have an Art class).  Use some of the comics in the Unshelved Book Club as examples, although I have found that the jokes go over the kids heads since sarcasm is now a dirty word in the school environment.  I’ll probably only offer one choice for the project.  As I rework the project I’ll post resources for those interested.

 

 

Comics in the Classroom- The Adventures of Mr. Gizmo & the Classroom Comic Con
Posted on May 31, 2015 by Bruce
What a better way to end the school year than with comics!  Throughout the year my class had dabbled in drawing (some of my classroom Genius Projects dealt with drawing) and the ever dwindling comic library was always around as a reading option.  So as we finished out our last literary unit, Fantasy focused on: Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and Folk Tales, comics fit right in (Superheroes being American Myths).  Full Disclosure:  My colleagues had done this last year so I was building a little off of their initial work, although I offered help throughout the process, both this year and last year. I decided my students would have two two options when creating a comic page: A Super Hero Origin, or the retelling of a Fairy Tale (a Fractured Fairy Tale).  So we started by defining the scope of the project and what was needed.  The students were instructed to first write their story.  Step two was to take that story and write the main plot points in chronological order.  Step three take these main plot points and determine how many panels (pictures) would be needed to tell the story.  Students were then given sticky notes and a large sheet of paper to arrange the panels.  I reminded students that a panel is a moment in time, the size of the panel is determined by the importance of the event or the amount of time it takes.  We then talked about the importance of pictures versus text.  If the reader cannot figure out what is going on in the picture you will need text in the form of narration, a speech bubble, or a thought bubble to help them know what is going on.  I had a student ask if they could just do a comic like Owly (Andy Runton's wonderful textless comic), My reply was "It is a lot harder than you think" and after a quick attempt she decided that text wasn't that bad after all.  The hard part was getting the class to understand that if the reader can figure it out from the picture you don't need text.  A drawing of someone falling down a hole doesn't need narration saying "she fell down a hole!"  The sticky notes helped them to plan out the sequence.  Once they had a plan I handed them a non-photo blue pencil and a Blue-Line Comic Book Page and then stopped myself after seeing a few attempts.  I then divided the pages into panels (9, 12, and 16) before handing them out.  This way the panels and gutters were already drawn and all the students had to do was to draw.  They combined panels when needed.  They started by defining the space needed for the text, going back to their original story for exact wording.  They would write this out in blue pencil and then draw the pictures needed underneath. When they finished the blue line, they would finish it in regular old pencil.  I then took the finished pages to the copier and copied them to remove the non-photo blue.  Throughout the project we took time to work on Pin-ups of our characters and to talk about the Comic Con which was our celebration at the end. As for my example, it was done step by step in front of the students.  I used this as an example as they worked, I worked.  Having a little more experience this still gave me time to walk around and conference (education-speak for chat) with students.  As for the story, the other classes were focused on a fractured fairy tale with their super hero... For me that was a little complex for time we had, but I decided I would try it.  So "Mr. Gizmo" was born and a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood (based on a true story) was created.  I actually had an elderly relative who would just drag the open program off the screen (out of sight, out of mind) so when I would come over to visit I would reboot the computer closing all open instances of a program and amazingly enough the computer would work again.  I wish I had examples to show, but since time ran out so the kids didn't get a chance to color them I don't want to share unfinished student work.  I will say one story I liked (from a rather reluctant student) was retelling the three pigs in which they all live in a brick house, the wolf comes along tries to blown down the house, gets tired and goes home.  The pigs return to living with their mother.  Parents beware, kids these days obviously don't think being independent is that important. :) As for the Comic Con I divided my room into different areas and the class was allowed to wander around.  Those students that didn't come in costume, had the chance to make one in the Cosplay Corner which was filled with large pieces of card stock, Sharpie markers, and Duck Tape.  I pulled out all the individual issues from my comic book library, along with some items I had picked up over the years at conventions and set up an Exhibit Hall.  They really liked going through the Heroclix I had and organizing them.  Other were interested in the original artwork I had brought in.  I played the 1940's Superman cartoons in the "Screening Room."  We had a gaming area, for students to play fairy tale based games by IELLO.  Finally, although I never made it there I had set up my Artist Alley booth in the Artist Alley area.  I was busy helping kids finish their comics and other year-end tasks.  It was fun, but it was chaos.  I've decided that I'll keep the format, but divide the kids into groups and have them rotate through each area. What else did I learn?  I'm going to start comics earlier and in a more structured way next year.  There is too much to teach dealing with the process to try to squish it into a short unit in the middle of testing, and getting all the end of the year stuff done.  I'd like to see drawing become a larger component in my class (since we don't have an Art class).  Use some of the comics in the Unshelved Book Club as examples, although I have found that the jokes go over the kids heads since sarcasm is now a dirty word in the school environment.  I'll probably only offer one choice for the project.  As I rework the project I'll post resources for those interested.    

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