This has been a very exciting lesson for our fourth and fifth grade students - creating their own comic books! To inspire ideas, I created a Powerpoint highlighting vintage science fiction and action hero comics as well as familiar action hero stories. I gathered a collection of student-appropriate graphic novels in different genres such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Indiana Jones from the library. Then I read my son's comic book he wrote in elementary school so we could see what worked and what could be improved. Finally, we brainstormed ideas for their stories. I invited them to work with a partner which most were eager to do. The first two weeks, we focused on writing the story as well as learning the basics of comic book art (speaking and thought bubbles, changing the background colors in each panel, adding details and changing the background, perspective, zooming in, size and other drawing and coloring techniques). We explored the elements of a good story - how to introduce and develop the characters so that we identify with them and begin to care about them, setting up an adversary, creating action and events, how to draw out and develop the plot. With only an hour once a week it has been a slow process, but seeing the level of engagement in this lesson I believe it is well worth the time! Below are some pages from the finished comics. It was hard to send these home.
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First and second graders at Oxbow and Brooks just completed animal game cards for their "Guess the Animal" game. I laid out stacks of animal cards that included facts about an animal including its habitat, diet, characteristics, and classification. Each student drew and colored various animals in their habitat, glued them to a colorful paper and then wrote clues about their animal. The best part was finding a partner to play the game with! They delighted in quizzing one another. What a fun way to engage students suffering from summer fever! Each student left with a stack of cards to take home to play with their families at home. |
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March 2024
AuthorMy name is Mrs. Krupa and I'm an elementary art teacher at Oxbow Elementary. I'm a professional harpist turned art teacher of 20 years. I'll share art lessons and ideas on these pages, what works and doesn't. Enjoy! Categories
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