Assignment #2 Graphic Novel Lesson

Andre Bastian Ibarguengoitia

EDUC 301
October 5, 2023

Lesson Plan
Subject Area: Art Education, Visual arts

Cycle and Grade Level: Cycle 2, Grade 3

Subject specific competency (ies) related to the lesson and its key features:
To appreciate works of art, traditional artistic objects, media images, personal
productions, and those of classmates.

Key Features:
• To make connections between what he/she has felt and examined
• To examine a work of art, traditional artistic object, media images, personal
or media visual arts production for elements of content
• To share his/her appreciation experience

Why this competency applies, students are asked to evaluate and appreciate the
features of the graphic novel. They are not asked to create a complex artwork simply
to understand the medium of graphic novel.

Cross-curricular competency (ies):

To use information and communications technologies

Key Features:
• To evaluate his/her use of information and communications technologies. To
recognize his/her successes and difficulties. To identify the limitations of the
technology employed in a given situation. To identify ways to improve
his/her use of ICT.
• To master the information and communications technologies. To be familiar
with the purposes, concepts, vocabulary, procedures, and techniques of ICT.
To recognize familiar concepts in a new context. To explore new functions of
software programs and operating systems.

Why this competency applies, students are asked to create their own short graphic novel
using an ICT (Pixton.com). Through the lesson students will also become familiar with
the vocabulary needed to operate the functions of the ICT (Pixton).

Essential Knowledges:
“Freehand drawing (felt pen, chalk, pastel, charcoal)”
- Students are asked to sketch out representations of the components of a Visual
Novel. Example: “Sketch what a speech bubble looks like”
“Some gestures will also be performed virtually with the aid of a computer”
- Students are asked to use Pixton, which allows them to perform gestures with the
aid of a computer.
Language of Visual Arts
“Rounded shapes, angular shapes”
- Speech and shout bubbles are “rounded” and “angular” shapes, students need to
know how to describe them.
“Enumeration, juxtaposition”
- Both are used in visual storytelling, especially juxtaposition.
“Symmetry and asymmetry”
- Many visual novels use elements of symmetry and asymmetry, examples are seen
in character placement and even panel positioning.
“Perspective with overlapping”
- A sizable portion of creating comics in Pixton is using overlapping.

Progression of Learning:

“B, Language of Visual Arts

1 Shape
a. Names rounded or angular shapes
b. Identifies rounded or angular shapes”
- Students both learn and then recognize the difference between rounded and
angular shapes in the rounded speech bubbles and the angular shout bubbles.
“8 Spatial Organization
a. Names ways of organizing elements in space: enumeration, juxtaposition,
repetition and alternance
b. Identifies ways of organizing elements in space, including superimposition,
symmetry, and asymmetry
9 Spatial representation
a. Identifies ways of representing elements in space: perspective with
overlapping”
- These are all knowledges and skills students will practice when they are
introduced to using the Pixton comic maker tool.

“C, To organize the elements that he/she has chosen, depending on the message
(Cycles Two and Three) and the intended viewer
2 Language of visual arts.
a. Uses the following ways of organizing space based on the intended viewers:
enumeration, juxtaposition, repetition and alternance
 b. Uses the following ways of organizing space based on the visual message and
intended viewers: superimposition, symmetry, and asymmetry
c. Uses the following way of representing space based on the visual message
and intended viewers: perspective with overlapping”
- This goes with the learnings above as now instead of remembering or
knowing the techniques they are actively practicing them in the Pixton Comic
maker tool.

Objectives: What will the students be able to do at the end of the lesson

Students will be introduced to graphic novels.

- Lesson Introduction and Lesson activity 1. Here students learn what the lesson
will be about and will become familiar with graphic novels.
Students will be introduced to the components of graphic novels. (Pannels, Bubbles)
- Lesson activity 2, (a, b, i-vii). Students now learn the components of graphic
novels in this part of the lesson as they are taught by the teacher.
Students will analyze and recall information from the story.
- Lesson worksheet (figure 1) Questions 1-6. These questions make students recall
information (Q: 1,2,3,6) and analyze (Q:4,5) certain concepts of the story.
Students will demonstrate they are familiar with the components of graphic novels.
- Lesson worksheet (figure 1) Question 7. This question should demonstrate
whether students are familiar with the components both visually and in writing.
Students will draft and create a new story using Pixton.
- Lesson worksheet (figure1) Question 8. In this question the draft is done with a
sketch and the new story is done with Pixton.

Resources: What resource will you and your students use? (include technologies
here)

• Visual Novel – Good Night, Planet – a toon book by Liniers

• Quebec QEP resources; Progression of Learning, Program and Cross
Curricular Program.
• Comic maker app: Pixton.com
• Computer/iPad
• Comic elements sketch worksheet: Figure 1
• Teacher's example of a comic: Figure 2
• Educ 301 session 4, part 1&2 slideshow – used for the definition of elements
of graphic novels in Lesson Activity part 2, c., i.-vii.

Procedure:

1. Introduction: Reading the story.

If class size permits, students will gather with the teacher for a story read from a book. At
this point, the teacher will introduce the Graphic novel Good Night, Planet. The teacher
will ask if students are familiar with graphic novels and for them to mention elements
pertaining to them. This is to gauge how knowledgeable the students are on the topic. The
teacher will then begin the lesson activities by reading the graphic novel to and with the
students.

2. Lesson Activities: What instructional/learning activities will be implemented to

meet learning objectives? Step by step sequential procedure:

1. The lesson will begin with the teacher reading the graphic novel: Good Night,
Planet, to and with the students. This reading is meant so the students get a good
grasp of the story and characters.
2. Once the first reading is done the teacher will go back through the novel and talk
about the elements of graphic novels. The teacher will answer any questions the
students have and explain the elements, like panels or bubbles, by showing
examples.
- Examples of what a teacher may say include:
a. Explain gutters and panels by showing how gutters separate panels. The
teacher would also show the different variations possible in the size of
panels. This can be done directly or indirectly by asking the students:
What do you notice about the size of these panels? Why are there many
panels on this page but few on this page? This should work to get the
students thinking about how elements like panels affect the reading of a
visual novel.
b. The teacher should make sure to cover all elements of graphic novels.
These include:
i. Setting – when and where a story takes place, simple as inside a
house, or day and night.
ii. Characters - The people, animals, or things that drive the story
forward. (Planet the plush, Elliot the dog)
iii. Captions, extra information given only to the reader.
iv. Speech bubbles, shout bubbles, whisper bubbles, and thought
bubbles. Their shapes give clues as to how characters are saying or
thinking something. Speech bubbles are rounded, and Shout
bubbles are angular to show action or emotion. Mention also how
the size and colour of text in bubbles also affects the emotion
displayed.
v. Onomatopoeias, words spelled like how they sound; Boom, Zap,
whoosh. These words act like sound effects or as extra
information.
vi. The subject, the subject is what a specific panel is about. Students
often confuse this with the theme which is what the entire story’s
ideas are about.
 vii. Teachers should mention sequence also, when there are many
panels on a page it might be confusing for students to figure out
the order. Typically, panels are read starting from the top, going
across from right to left. Then moving on to the next row going left
to right again and repeating until the bottom right of the page is
met.
3. The teacher will then hand students the following work sheet (Figure 1)
a. The teacher should use the worksheet to gauge whether students have grasped the
concepts gone over in the reading. The teacher should make sure students have
grasped the concepts as this will help them later when they create their own story.
4. After students finish the worksheet the teacher should show an example of their own
alternate ending/beginning to the story. (Figure 2) At this point the teacher should also
answer any questions the students have or go over any major concepts the students miss.
5. Let the students create their own short graphic novels using Pixton.

Figure 1:

Graphic Novels
1. In a few words, what is the difference between a graphic novel and a book?
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2. What was the setting of the graphic novel you read together in class?
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3. What are all the main characters' names?
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4. Which character was your favorite from the story, why?

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5. Is the “Biggest Cookie Ever” actually a cookie? What is it?
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6. How does the story end?
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7. In the spaces bellow sketch out what the item from the graphic novel looks like:

Speech Bubble Shout Bubble

Thought Bubble Whisper Bubble

Pannels & Gutters Caption

Onomatopoeia
8. Your Turn:

After you finish it's your turn to practice making a graphic novel. Go to this website:
https://www.pixton.com/comics and create a different starting or ending to the story
Good Night, Planet.
Make a quick sketch of what your new story will be below.
Make sure to draw the panels, add speech bubbles and add captions as you need them!
Figure 2 – Teacher's example

Reflection
I was pleasantly surprised by the number of things I could do in Pixton. I was quite
worried that I would not be able to even create a comic as my graphic novel features
mostly non-human characters. I also found that the limitations of the app, not being
able to scale or having a limited number of backgrounds, pushed me to be a little
more creative. For example, in one of the backgrounds with the full moon the
ground has grave markers on it, I ended up covering them with pumpkins to fit the
theme. For Elliots dog bed I simply put a towel on the floor, and it works to send the
same message. So, while these limitations can be frustrating, I have no doubts that
students would find ways around them. This could also be a positive because it
encourages the creativity of said students. If I had to design an actual graphic novel
lesson, I would lean into physical drawing, however, if I were to use a digital tool, I
would choose Pixton with my students.