Below I have included a copy of the written lesson plan that I teach in the video.
If you are interested in the complete unit, you can find it here:
The Graphic Narrative unit is currently free on Teachable, and there is a unit on Narrative Writing for upper elementary students also available.
Graphic Narrative Lesson 1 Intro and Prewrite
Virginia Standards of Learning:
- 1.12a Identify audience and purpose.
- 1.12b Use prewriting activities to generate ideas.
Objective: Students will understand what a graphic narrative is and become familiar with the components of writing that are included when composing a graphic narrative.
- Stack of graphic novels
- Prewriting Template
- Go over the structure and components of a personal narrative:
- Beginning, Middle, End
- Tell students that today we are going to think of ideas for our graphic narrative story.
- Remind students where writers get ideas:
- Things that happen to them
- People they know
- Places they don’t want to forget
- Tell the writers that lots of graphic novels are written about adventures that people have.
- Tell Ss that we can turn anything that happens into an adventure.
- An adventure can be:
- A fun day at recess
- A hike with the family
- A search for a missing item
- A chase with a favorite pet
- A game with a friend
- Model thinking of a time you had and turning it into an adventure:
- Ex. I’m going to think of a regular day and turn one part of it into an adventure.
- Once, I was going for a walk with my granddaughter, CK . We came upon a goose family in the middle of the trail. The dad goose was guarding his babies, but we had to get by and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt!
- So, I closed my eyes and whispered “Super Cici”, turning myself into a grandma who could fly!
- I picked up my granddaughter, and we soared up and over the geese, and then came back down on the other side.
- Once we landed, I whispered, “Normal Cici”, and I turned back into a regular grandma. CK and I said goodbye to the geese and kept on walking.
- Tell students that writers try to make a list of ideas before they start writing. Then they look long and hard at the list and choose the idea that means the most to them, or that they know the most about.
Please let me know if you find this video and lesson helpful, and/or if you are interested in seeing more like it.
This has been a test of the allkidscanwrite network! :)