Category: Education

Last week I gave you a simple project for your class… take a scene from a book and make it into a comic.  this should have been maybe a page or two, but nothing too complex, just rewriting a scene.  How do you branch beyond that- here is another idea.  Next week you’ll get an even more open ended one, but again we are focusing on the basics, building a foundation.

The Comic “Book Review”.  This is another simple one page project, but it gets the students to start writing their own scripts.  A script is important as they branch into longer stories.  I have hunted down some trade paper backs that include the original script.  My current favorite for this is Code Monkey Save World.  While not completely all ages – the song isn’t for younger kids due to some language (PG- but will get giggles and irate parents in a younger classroom). I use the script by Greg Pak and a copy of the first page to show how the process works.  It’s pretty simple since the lyrics used for page one are just “Code Monkey get up, get coffee, Code Monkey go to job.”

It becomes much more as a comic…

and a script including the notes about changes (proving that writers do go through drafts).

So for Mentor Texts I bring up The Comic Critic and Unshelved’s Book Club both are web comics that are simple one page reviews of books and movies.  As with any internet resource some may not be appropriate for all classes, you know your community.  We can analyze how they provide limited information and persuade us one way or another.

As the students work on this they start to work a little more on drafts, scripts, page layout and character design.  Some will find that the author has given them no details about the main character, and setting while others have overwhelmed us with exacting details.  As a teacher this is where you guide them into searching out details and making a list.  If the author mentions a characters favorite color… write it down.  If they like baseball, make sure they wear a baseball cap, those kinds of things.  If the author doesn’t, then the student needs to fill in the details, and create the character.  Fortunately, in most cases students are reading realistic fiction so it’s pretty easy for them to draw someone.

The review is also a great chance for you, the teacher, to model what you want.  Pick a book that you have read aloud in class and use that as an example.  When I did this with my class I chose Funerals and Fly Fishing by Mary Bartek.   As a class we talked about the major plot points and what I shouldn’t tell people in my review/summary *spoilers*.  As I plotted and laid out the page I used it as an example of how to finish a panel.  I had enough panels that I could do it over and over again with multiple students. Like the first example last week, it will take longer than you think.

You can see in my example one- that it isn’t finished and two- that I used blue pencil. to draw with.  Why?  I’m pretty old school I draw my comics using non-photo blue pencil and then ink over that.  When I scan my work anything blue magically vanishes, all that’s left is the black line.  I use a Prismacolor Verithin pencil, but there are others out there.  When I did this project each student got a non-photo blue pencil and a piece of comic book paper (I chose the cheapest paper from Blueline Pro) but the kids thought they were cool drawing on real comic book pages.  When they were done, I scanned each page and then printed it out.  Each student had their original art and a black and white finished product that they could hand color if they wanted to.

So far we’ve focused mostly on using comics in Language Arts.  Next week I’m going to share a larger comic project that involves integrating Science.

So you’ve visited your local comic book shop and actually talked to a “Comic Book Guy.” You’ve started to buy comics, trade paper backs, for your classroom.  Now you’re trying to figure out how to integrate comics into your classroom.  It’s easier than you think.  You probably have been asked to have Reader’s and Writer’s Notebooks so add a drawing sketchbook to that and you’re ready to begin.

First of all don’t over think it… like so many things in education we spend a lot of time trying to get round pegs to fit into square holes.  To start most kids (unless they’ve been squashed) like to draw, or doodle.  If they say they can’t start with simple drawing lessons.  For years I’ve used Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad which has 180 lessons.  Is it a coincidence that we have 180 days in a school year?  Probably. I have used these lessons with every grade I have taught and amazingly enough they tend to be one of the things my students remember the most about my class.  One year I was asked to cover for the technology teacher… that class actually took over the daily lesson (thank you Elaine) they were third graders.  To me this is an addition to handwriting (which we don’t teach anymore).  Start accepting student illustrations of things.  A scene from a book, a science experiment… have them tell a story with their pictures.  When you meet with them, ask them to write down what is happening in the pictures, a caption if you like.  I had a special ed student one year who if I asked him to write I’d get nothing, if I asked him to draw, the page was amazing, then I could ask him to add text and I ended up with finished pieces that would rival my gifted kids.

So get your class is drawing every day. After a week or so of this talk to them now about the basic parts of a comic, the language of comics:

Gutter – the space between panels

Panel – a picture representing a moment in time

Speech Bubble – what a person says

Thought Bubble – what a person thinks

Special Effects – SHRAAKOOOOOOM!

Have them take their drawings to the next level using comic construction to tell about things they do in the classroom. A math problem? A class rule?

In the beginning these should be fairly simple. so as not to stop the fun of creating a comic.  Remind your class that simple scenes might not need much planning but as they get more complex you need to work a little harder.

Project #1-  A Scene from a Book/Story

Have your students take a story they are reading and adapt it to a comic.  I would have them find a scene that has either action or dialogue.  The first chapter introducing the characters and plot, are a little more difficult.  This should start off with just stick figures.  Keep it simple, they can always make it more complex later on.

Once the student has chosen the scene, make a copy of that so you can conference and make sure it includes everything.  You can look for storyboards from films to use as examples, since they are basically comics, although they may frustrate some kids thinking that they must produce something like that, which they may not have the drawing skill.  You know your students.

Teacher Tip:  This will take more time that you think so be flexible. Some students will love it, others will need a little convincing, but give them time… I wish I could tell you how long, but each class is different.

Once they have a quick draft plotting out the beats of the scene, then talk to them about details.  The setting and the characters will need some kind of detail so you can tell them apart.  Does it happen inside or outside?  Kids talking to adults?  A boy talking to a girl? Two girls talking?  What makes them look different?  Did the author give you enough detail or leave it to you?

This keeps you away from having the kids write a script (next week) until they have an idea as to how a comic is constructed.  They use the author’s script from a book they are reading.

This is a fairly easy project to grade on the comic end (you can always grade on spelling & grammar).  Take that copy of the scene and walk through it with the student.  If it is a faithful adaptation, smile and give it a good grade.  Remember the idea will always be to communicate.  If the student succeeded in doing that, then they deserve a  good grade.  For advanced students you can always shoe them Wally Wood’s 22 panels that always work as a way to vary dialogue panels.

So, there’s a start a simple scene, which could be taken into a moment in history, a science experiment… give your class illustration as a option when it comes to written projects.  If they can tell you what happened with pictures then you can move into having them describing things is words.

Fortunately, or unfortunately I’m moving classrooms so I’m having to reorganize and sadly clean out not only my stuff but also whatever the previous occupant of this classroom decided to leave… I’m sure it’s all really important, but c’mon… Mimeograph books?!?!

This ordeal has given me the perfect opportunity to take a look at what is in my current comic library, what holes I need to fill, and what, due to my grade level, I may want to keep at home.  I thought I’d share what my basic library contains, and what I’m going to add to it as time permits.  I teach third grade, I have taught all the way up to fifth and all the way down to first.

When I first started teaching I heard an author talk about his time as a graduate assistant in an introductory literature class.  While all the other classes had reading lists of the classics he had things like “The Princess Bride” (before the movie).  His reasoning was this- he was supposed to teach certain skills to help students tackle a text, any text.  If the student couldn’t understand what they were reading, how could you really master the skill?  You spent most of your time translating what the author meant or deciphering olde English.   I use comics and graphic novels in the same way.  If my goal is to get students to understand character traits then why not talk about the cousins in “Bone” then when we are reading a more challenging text, circle round to those traits we already mastered, “Isn’t this character like Phoney Bone?”.  Although when you get to the end Bone is definitely a deep story.

As you look at creating your classroom comic book library please understand your mileage may differ… you know your class, the families, and your community.  Make sure to read every book you put out there and be comfortable enough with the content in case someone throws a fit over it.  Not all comics are created equal.  Make sure to check out a Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids Comics and get on the Diamond Bookshelf mailing list to see what’s new.  Diamond is the major comics distributor for the the US so if they talk about it, your local comic shop can get it.  Also check out Reading with Pictures and join their community to see what else people suggest for your specific grade level.

If you are using reading programs like Accelerated Reader check to see what quizzes are available for various titles.  It’s always a nice check to see if the kids are actually reading.

Series:

Bone by Jeff Smith I started with the Scholastic editions when they first came out and soon realized that my students could not wait until the next book came out.  I passed along my complete Bone (in one 1300 volume) to a few students and finally had to buy another copy.  The students enjoyed carrying around this massive tome and didn’t mine that it wasn’t in color.

Amelia Rules by Jimmy Gownley I started off with these as individual issues and then picked up the trades.  Life as a kid with a strong female character dealing with issues that kids can relate to.

The Dreamland Chronicles by Christian Scott Sava When I first started looking at webcomics I stumbled upon this one.  The story of a guy who returns to “Dreamland” where kids go when they sleep in order to save the realm and help his friends. Currently available in print (seven volumes) but on hiatus as the creator works on a film.

Tiny Titans by Art Balthazar and Franco Yes, it’s mainstream, but Tiny Titans, now back in print as a monthly title is just fun.  Each issue has small individual stories that tie together using characters from the DC Universe.  The artwork is a joy and a great inspiration for kids.

Leave it to Chance by James Robinson & Paul Smith (Sadly out of print) this is the story of the mystic protector of Devil’s Echo.  Chance Falconer wants to follow in her father’s footsteps, but he won’t allow it so being a “strong female character” she goes ahead and does it anyway.  The first arc (Shaman’s Rain) can be a little hard for the kids to get into initially, but once they do they are hooked.  

Mouse Guard by David Petersen “Mice with Swords”  Fantasy Tale about the mice who keep order in the realm.  Beautifully illustrated, David Petersen is available on Ustream to watch his process.  better for upper elementary, I’ve had former students hunt me down to get the most recent story.  Mouse Guard is the story, Legends of the Guard is an anthology in which other creators tell a tale from the same universe.

Owly by Andy Runton  Wordless comics great for younger audiences tells the story of Owly, Wormy and their friends in the forest.  What I like about it is by being wordless you can have kids of any age, tell you the story.

Individual Graphic Novel Titles:

Smile by Raina Telgemeier Bio-comic that kids can get into, when I brought this into my 4th grade class it vanished for weeks being passed from kid to kid until almost the whole class had read it.

Monthly Comics I’ll be Adding:

New Comic Book Day is Wednesday so teach your class some patience by picking up individual issues that they have to wait and remember what was going on.

Tiny Titans – back after a hiatus, this playful kids version of the DC Universe has multiple short stories that are tied together by a central theme each issue.

Scribblenauts Unmasked – When DC released a version of Scribblenauts (a great video game you should check out players are confronted with a puzzle that they must solve by creating things using a magic notepad.  You write “hammer” and a hammer appears) a companion/extension comic was created in which the characters from Scribblenauts help save the DC Universe.

Princess Ugg – I’m always a little leery suggesting a comic when only one issue is out but I lie this premise and the idea of a strong female character.  This comic is telling the story of a barabarian princess heading off to princess school… and hijinks ensue.

Herobear and the Kid – one of my favorites that took forever to get the issues out… Drawn in “rough animation” style so kids who draw can see the underlying work it tells the story of Tyler who moves into his grandfather’s house upon his grandfather’s death.  He has the typical problems of a kid in a new school plus all his grandfather gave him was a broken pocket watch and s stuffed bear… a stuffed bear that happens to turn into Herobear!  It is back after a long hiatus and is being published in 5 issue arcs so hopefully it won’t require you to wait a year between issues.

Trade or Graphic Novel Titles I’ll be Adding to my third grade classroom:

Drama & Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Amulet (Series) by Kazu Kibuishi

Lunch Lady (Series)

Squish (Series)

Baby Mouse (Series)

You’ll notice I have left off a lot of mainstream DC & Marvel titles.  Basically, these tend to talk down to kids, and are in many cases not very good for the kids- which is why so many adults think of comics as the candy of books.  There are some great stories out there, but in my journey through comic book shops, most things produced by major publishers are junk food.  Your mileage may vary… check out a few titles and see what you think.  The first trade for the second volume of Ultimate Spider-Man – introducing Mile Morales) is very well done and and really engaging to upper elementary/middle school kids.  There are hundreds of titles out there and I know I’m missing some great ones, so please feel free to share your suggestions in the comments.

 Buyer Beware

When I was a first starting out I used to go by the rule that if it was approved by the Comics Code Authority that meant the comic was basically similar in content to what the kids would see on prime time television.  The Code was established as a watchdog agency censoring the content of comics so they were appropriate after a number of hearings dealing with some of the horror comics in the 50’s.  There are books written on the subject, so I’m just giving you a very brief overview.  The code went away pretty recently and comic publishers now rate comics as Mature, Teen, or Everyone – All Ages kind of like what they do with video games.  They are self regulated, so a Teen comic may be OK for your elementary classroom, you need to decide.  You know your students, families and community better than anyone else.

I just remember when a friend handed me a long box (around 200 comics) as a donation for my school.  I started handing them out to teachers seeing that they all were approved by the code… a few days later I was called into the principal’s office- she had a stack of comics and I found out that the comic code had failed me… It seems that Batman & Detective Comics were a little more mature- the surveillance scene in a strip club was tastefully done, but inappropriate. So make sure, like anything else you put in your classroom you have read it and approve of the content.

So go out talk to the folks at your local comic shop and read some comics!

Next time: Ideas for Integrating Comics into your Classroom.

As many of you know my day job is teaching elementary school which is why there tends to be no mature stuff in this comic, we might use fancy vocabulary, but for the most part it’s kid friendly.  I actually get a little upset when a creator takes a perfectly good all ages story and ruins it by putting in one word (just to be cool? just because they can? just to show everyone that they are edgy and “mature”?). I’ve already commented on publishers being clueless (Action Cat #2 came out this week- funny, the majority of the ads were all ages- hopefully they will reprint issue #1 in the same manner so I can put it in my classroom).  Once a week I’m going to discuss comics in the classroom and how other teachers can use these powerful tools to engage students and enhance learning.  Just remember “With Great Power comes great responsibility.”

Some of this comes from the panel I was part of at Indy PopCon with Jim McClain (Solution Squad) and other pieces come from years of using comics with kids and seeing how other teachers have embraced comics.

Vocabulary:

Comic Strip – Basically a joke or gag told in a specific number of panels

Comic Book – A book which tells a story using the medium of comics (panels, balloons, etc.)

Trade Paperback – A bound edition containing a number of comics, usually a complete story arc.

Graphic Novel – A bound edition usually containing one story.  At the elementary level what most people consider Graphic Novels aren’t appropriate as the content is too mature.

In my Classroom:  Even though it is reading, I tend to not allow my students to read comic strips in class.  I prefer comic books and trade paperbacks since they build on each other and tell a complete story.  I tell my students that while it is reading, there is more I can teach them through a comic book. If they want to check out and read books with comic strips at home, during their “free time” that’s fine, but during class time no comic strips (I also discourage joke books, and some other “fluff” books).

Some overall basic resources to start with…

• A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics – I have purchased three copies of this and only have one left!  This is a great resource for comics sorted by age.  It also includes If you liked this recommendations so what do you get that kid who loved Bone to keep them reading?
• Search the Web for good webcomics – Sadly some of the best stuff for kids is being produced independently so you need to check out the web and See what’s available.  I tend to have my students reading The Dreamland Chronicles or Little Guardians (both of which are available in print also) . unfortunately not many of the comics online are in long form so they tend to be just strips. Also web creators aren’t always timely about updating their comics (like me).  So kids tend to have to wait (and wait, and wait)
• Your Local Comic Book Shop-  I know it’s scary in there, and not all shops are created equal, but there is no harm in asking.  Some shops will donate or at least give schools a discount.  The more we, as educators, talk to comic shops the bigger and better their all ages sections will be.
• Raising a Reader from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
• Reading With Pictures – an online community and creator of “The Graphic Textbook” which is now going by “Reading With Pictures- Comics that Make Kids Smarter” and should be available in August -as a Kickstarter supporter I better get my copies before they are for sale to the general public (just sayin’)
• Teaching with Comics and Illustrated Novels
• I’ve started to put together a resource website for the teachers at my school about comics, it is a work in progress so keep that in mind (and it has a strong focus on STEM).

I know there are a lot more and I’ll keep adding to the list as I post more, but I’d like to keep these short,  Next week when we look at some specific titles that should be in your classroom comics library!