Running head: CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

Character Education Comic Book Unit

John J. Alvarez

New Jersey City University

EDTC661

Professor Frances Patton

CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

Unit Plan

Unit Goals:

Students will create a multimedia comic book using Power Point

Grade Level:

This is geared toward 6th/7th grade but could easily be adapted for higher or lower grades

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

Familiarize themselves with super hero comic books

Use the handouts to understand how to write a script

Create an original super hero

Understand the strong character attributes that make a superhero a hero

Write a script for the story

Design a storyboard of how the story will flow

Understand the terms of fair use and copyrighted material

Understand how to use Power Point

Create a multimedia comic book with pictures, words, sounds and animations

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.6-8.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships

between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3.A

Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters;

organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

AASL Standards:

1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.

1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.

1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.

1.3.1 Respect copyright/ intellectual property rights of creators and producers.

CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

Unit Overview

Part 1: Plan Students will develop a storyline and start to plot out how it will evolve.

Part 2: Research and Storyboard Students will start to sketch images, plan boxes and word bubbles and look for images, audio, and sound effects on the internet and in clip art folders.

Part 3: Create Using their story boards, students will create a multimedia comic book in Power Point.

Part 4: Share Students will present their comic books to the class.

Part 1: Plan

Objective: Students will develop a storyline and start to plot out how it will evolve.

Duration: 90 minutes

Materials: comic books, pencils, paper, handouts 1 and 2

Management: The students will start out as a whole group and break off into smaller groups to discuss

ideas and plan.

Introduction: Both the Language Arts (LA) teacher and the School Library Media Specialist (SLMS) will

give the introduction for this part in tandem. The LA teacher will focus on what will happen while writing

the story and the SLMS will talk about later parts of the lesson and the technology involved.

After the basic introduction is covered the instructors will review comic books and get the students to

understand how a comic book differs from a book or illustrated story. Samples of a story like Treasure

Island could be used showing a novel, illustrated version, and a graphic novel to compare and contrast

the differences in presentation and narrative style. (20 minutes)

Lesson: The LA teacher will be the lead on the writing aspect of the lesson and the SLMS will keep

students focused on how their stories will develop once the digital aspect of the lesson begins.

Start brainstorming with the students and move towards each student creating an original super hero.

Have them come up with a back story, think about what kind of powers they have, how they use them,

even funny stories about learning to use those powers. Students should develop a beginning, an arch,

and finally a conclusion to the story but the story should exhibit why this Super Hero is of strong

CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

character. Does the hero stop bullies? Does the hero fight fires? Does the hero rescue people in danger?

Qualities exhibited should be something the students look to emulate. This story can be an origin of the

character, a showdown with a nemesis, or any other related story showing their good character. (60

minutes)

Students will review each other’s scripts and look for errors. (10 minutes)

Part 2: Research and Storyboard

Objective: The students will start to sketch images, plan boxes and word bubbles, and look for images,

audio, and sound effects.

Duration: 45 minutes (this will be a double block – Part 2 will be the first half and Part 3 the second half)

Materials: Pencils, paper, computers, internet, comic books, handout 3

Management: The students will largely be working independently by this time.

Introduction: (LA) A quick overview of the way comic books are laid out (large boxes for dramatic

scenes, use of talk vs. thought bubbles, etc.) and (SLMS) a review of copyrighted vs. fair use material. (10

minutes)

Lesson: Students will begin to turn their scripts into sketches deciding how each page should look, what

sound effects could work, and whether voices will be recorded. (35 minutes)

Part 3: Create

Objective: Using their story boards, students create a multimedia comic book in Power Point.

Duration: 45 minutes

Materials: Storyboards, paper, pencil, markers, colored pencils, computers, scanner, voice recorder

Management: Students should all be working independently unless they run into a technological issue

and need to consult with classmates.

Introduction: (SLMS) Students will learn how to make slides in Power Point as well as adding sound

effects, images, animation, etc. (15 minutes)

Lesson: The SLMS will be the lead on the technology part of the lesson and the LA teacher will work with

students on making the stories transition from paper to digital story.

Students will design a Power Point presentation telling their story. Each slide may have more than one

comic box but the presentation should have no more than 3 slides plus a cover slide. (30 minutes)

CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

Part 4: Share

Objective: Students will present their comic books to the class.

Duration: 90 minutes* (double block)

Materials: computers

Management: Students will independently present their comic books to the class.

Introduction: n/a

Lesson: Each student will have 5 minutes to present and field questions or comments (90 minutes)

*Note: this part may take more or less time depending on the size of the class

Assessment

Formative

Part 1 - Script flows correctly – Students will review each other’s scripts

Part 2 - Storyboards show a grasp of how a story should flow, how it translates into a comic and

how a comic should be laid out (large boxes for dramatic scenes, use of talk vs. thought bubbles,

etc.)

Summative

Students show a grasp of the technology and create a Power Point presentation with 3 slides

and a cover; it includes sound effects, images, animation, etc. A rubric will be used to score the

projects.

Examples (1 cover and 1 slide)

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48840218/Horsasaurus.pptx

This example my son created. He’s a little older than the age range but I wanted to see what a child

could do. He drew the image, downloaded sounds, prepared slides, and created a story in about 30

minutes. Students will have done the prep work in previous classes.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48840218/the%20frog.pptx

This is an example I mocked up. I kept it simple; even the frog’s head you can see was just a crop job in

Power Point. All images are clip art from the internet.

CHARACTER EDUCATION COMIC BOOK UNIT

Resources

I have included the three resources used below.

Handout 1 (Page 1) Scripting Handout

Sample Comic Script and Visual Interpretation from Cedric the Dragon Slayer. (n.d).

readwritethink.org. Retrieved from

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson921/SampleScript.pdf

Handout 2 (Page 2-3) Sample Script

Comic Book Scripting Techniques. (n.d). readwritethink.org. Retrieved from

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson921/ScriptingHandout.pdf

Handout 3 (Page 4-5) Comic Panels and Comic Layout

Comic Panels and Comic Layout. (n.d). creativecomicart.com. Retrieved from

http://www.creativecomicart.com/comic-panels--layout.html

Comic Book Scripting Techniques Dialogue Indicate the text that characters in the comic say by writing the character's name followed by a colon then writing what they should say.

Example John: I need my super powers!

Directions on Drawings Place directions to the artist about the scene and characters in parentheses or brackets.

Example [John, dressed in street clothes and surrounded by passers-by, should be waving his fist in the air, his pointer finger extended as he exclaims with a look of excitement and urgency]

John: I need my super powers! Directions on Story Layout Indicate what should go on each page and panel in the script by labeling the action with page and panel numbers.

Example Page 1 Panel 3 John: I need my super powers!

Narratory Blocks Label narratory blocks and follow the label with a colon. Next, enclose details on where the narratory block should be placed in brackets. Follow the bracket with the text that the block should contain.

Example Narratory block: [In lower left corner] Meanwhile, across town....

Complete Example Passage

Page 1

Panel 3

[A closed, rectangular panel that runs the width of the page. John, dressed in street clothes and surrounded by passers-by, should be waving his fist in the air, his pointer finger extended as he exclaims with a look of excitement]

John: I need my super powers!

Narratory block: [In lower left corner] Meanwhile, across town...

Sample Comic Script and Visual Interpretation from Cedric the Dragon Slayer

Sample script for Cedric the Dragon Slayer created by Eric Goff. Scripted by James Bucky Carter with page and panel layout, followed by artist Eric Oakland’s visual interpretation. Both used with

Page 4 Panel 1

Old Lady screams: There it is! There it is! I knew it! It’s the At Last Dragon! Slay it, Dragon-Slayer!

Panel 2 (The dragon flies around and then settles in front of Cedric, sitting like a dog.)

Cedric then: HAHAHA! Ma’am, this is just a common floater dragon. They’re all over this part of the countryside. They’re harmless, like dogs.

Broad: Oh no, that there’s the meanest, orneriest dragon they make!! He’s done eaten my precious little Perty, I knows it, and come to think of it, I got a cow missin’ too!!

Panel 3 Cedric then: But he’s only 3 feet tall! He couldn’t possibly eat a cow.

(The dragon spits the chicken out at Cedric)

Cedric then: And look at this; it’s not even a chicken. It’s a feather cap. He was probably just roosting in your roof for a while and . . . .

Panel 4 Tyber now: And the then old broad says, “If you was your daddy, boy, that

dragon would be on my dinner table by now! You shame the family name, you yellow coward—well, I couldn’t have her bad-mouth my buddy, you know.”

Panel 5 Tyber now: I’d been just standing there listening to her yak, but I was not

gonna let her cuss my buddy, no way, uh-uh!

Panel 6 (Tyber grabs the bartender’s lips. Cedric and Tyber both smile at how comical the keeper looks, maybe crossing his eyes to see both of Tyber’s massive fingers on his mouth)

Tyber now: So I just leaned down there and grabbed her lips shut like this see . . . .

Panel 7 Cedric narrates: Now that did happen. The witch started to flail and mumble

out muffled screams that probably could have been heard in the next village over. Better Tyber than me . . . .

permission from the above-mentioned and from Outcast Studios (http://www.outcaststudios.com).

Sample Comic Script and Visual Interpretation from Cedric the Dragon Slayer

Sample script for Cedric the Dragon Slayer created by Eric Goff. Scripted by James Bucky Carter with page and panel layout, followed by artist Eric Oakland’s visual interpretation. Both used with

permission from the above-mentioned and from Outcast Studios (http://www.outcaststudios.com).

Comic Panels and Comic Layout When interested in drawing comic art, usually people go for comics in panels. Now, the comic panels is considered to be a

single frame in a multiple-panel sequence you find in stories in comic books or comic strips, or if the single panel contains the

whole thing like in newspapers, then the panel is the story (or usually joke) itself, and is called a "single panel comic". When

talking about panels in comic strips, these comic panels are distributed within the pages of the book, and will be the house for

your drawing and storyline. People who are just beginning to make comic strips usually overlook the basic considerations that

every comic book artist should be able to make. Fact is it's not all about the drawing. You should also consider comic

paneling,comic layout, and the storyline of course. The art of good comic paneling is one of the fundamental skills every comic

book artist cannot live without.

First up, panel sizes depend on the importance of the scene you are trying to create. For

example, the dramatic scene after a drastic action scene is given a big frame, while small

scenes with a one-man thinking dialogue can get a smaller frame. Margins are also

important when making comic panels, for one should be able to distinguish one frame from

the other, and not look at it as one big frame, which would be confusing. Single lines are

okay when you want to try to connect the two panels in some way, but you have to make

sure that it is clear that those are two separate pieces. Usually, spaces are put in between

panels to signify that they are different, but in sequence. Some people also are used to

shading the next panel of the story so one can clearly distinguish that the panel is not one

with the last, but is continuous.

Comic layout is just as important as the storyline. It assures the smooth transition of panels

without mixing up the readers mind. There are a few guidelines to these as well to ensure

that the reader will definitely be reading on until the last page.

Bubble Placing

When doing layout for comics, speech bubble placing is very important. First, you have to consider its size, and how much

information or conversation you are willing to cram into that bubble. Big speech bubbles are unavoidable, but you have to make

sure that they do not fill most of the panel wherein you are drawing, for even if the story line is important, you wouldn't want

your comic to seem like a book. Don't make too large bubbles because it might get in the way of your drawing. A good idea

would be to break up the bubbles into two separate panels, that way they wouldn't take too much space, and your characters

(and readers) can breathe. People break up bubbles for a lot of reasons. Aside from breaking up really long conversation pieces,

they also do it to signify a break, or a pause, in the character's "voice". For comics have no audio involved, the reader should

feel that the characters can speak, and this involves them taking a breath. Therefore, people sometimes put bubbles in another

part of the panel, to signify that the thought was said after the first. Be careful with this placing that it will not confuse the

reader of the sequence of the conversation.

That brings us to another thing to address when it comes to comic book layout. I'm talking about the compositional flow and

dialogue sequencing, which is placing the right bubbles at the right measure of space to indicate the flow of the conversation.

Different kinds of comics require different sequencing, for example, I understand that anime comics are read differently from

other kinds of comics, so it's a basic need to know what kind of comic you are making, and how readers actually read that

comic. If you are an English reader, it is just natural to read from top left to bottom right, so it is essential to place the speech

bubbles in a way that the reader gets the flow of the conversation easily, which would be top left to bottom right. Once they

have established that, you should now be consistent all throughout the story, to avoid confusion and mix-ups. This is to ensure

that the reader gets the gist of the comic even without dialogue, because the eyes are already drawn to the direction of the story

flow.

http://www.creativecomicart.com/comic-panels--layout.html