HOW TO…
Hey teachers! Here are 5 basic design considerations as you plan your next comics unit at any grade level…
Special thanks to Georgia Civics for sponsoring last week’s teacher training session!
NOTES:
SUBJECTS & STANDARDS:
- What standards are you looking to address with this comics project? (E.G. Georgia Studies / Grade 8 >>)
- What are your students’ interests? (What topics would they like some creative license to explore…?)
- What will these projects demonstrate: First encounters w/ materials? Exploration of topics? Expertise?
FORMATS:
- How much TIME do we have? (1 class / 1 week / multi-week projects)
- What MATERIALS are readily available? (paper & pen? color? digital artwork?)
- How will we SHARE/DISTRIBUTE our final products? (display? self-publishing? online?)
For more format ideas, see:
SOURCE MATERIALS:
- How will students access & engage w/ source materials?
- Primary Sources
- Secondary Sources
- Students & Community
(Consider text, visuals, audio, multimedia)
For more about SOURCES, see:
Hospital Cat 1: Finding F.A.S.T. in a Primary Source Text
These simple visual tools & marks will help primary source texts COME TO LIFE on your comics page!
WORKFLOW:
👈A visual example for 8-page mini projects.
For a visual SAMPLE, see:
PROJECT SEQUENCE 📖🔧 8p Mini-Comics
A FLEXIBLE MAP for creating your next mini-comics project, step by step!
VISUAL TIMELINE:
I like to frame a clear timeline for P*I.E. tasks (ABOVE👆) — I post it visibly in the classroom, & refer to it with each work session. Artists can work flexibly, but they always know whether they’re on target or need to pick up the pace!
NOTE: Some artists may prefer to work NOT in the page order given here. In that case, this timeline allows them to swap out pages between days — For example, when drawing from the BIOGRAPHY TEMPLATE, we might start DAY 1 by drawing pages 4-5 (“main events”), & then work on p.2-3 and p.6-7 on succeeding days. SEE DEMO>
Should we use RUBRICS? Rubrics can help some groups manage their workflow… However, for some artists they just add another layer of paperwork! (If that’s the case, I post the visual timeline above👆 & guide our workflow from that.) Below are 2 model rubrics I’ve used…
Organized by STRUCTURE:
Organized by TIMELINE:
FINAL PRODUCTS
How do you want to share & document your work?
- Single copies? (gallery, desktop, conferences, &c.)
- Multiple copies? (to classmates, school library, other classes, Comic Con, &c.)
- Community display?
ALSO SEE:
Curriculum Connections
Sample projects from Marek’s work in various fields of study… ✍
Comics Project Outlines
Focused mini-projects to kickstart comics creation in your classroom…
Comics Workshop Handbook 📖✍
Basic comics-making materials PLUS top-secret tips, teacher guides, activities, & more… (This…
Discover more from http://www.MarekBennett.com
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