Classroom comic kit · lesson 2 of 6
Retell a story in four panels: a comic strip lesson
Grades 2–4 · 40–45 minutes. Students retell a story read in class in four panels, choosing the moments that matter most and putting them in order: first, next, then, last.
Materials
- Print the 4-panel comic strip template, one each.
- A picture book or short story the class has just read
- The student planner, one each
- Pencils and crayons
Steps
- Reread the story's last page, then ask: if you had only four pictures to tell this whole story, which four would you pick?
- List the story's moments on the board as the class calls them out. Expect too many.
- Circle four together: the start, a problem, the biggest moment, how it ends. Explain that leaving things out is the hard part.
- Hand out the planner. Students sketch each moment fast, stick figures welcome, and write one line under each box.
- Partners swap planners and retell the story aloud from them. If a partner gets lost, a panel is missing.
- Students draw the final strip on the 4-panel template, adding a speech bubble or caption to each panel.
Quick check for understanding
Ask: could someone who never read the book follow your strip? Students point to the panel that shows the problem.
For every learner
More help: Give each student four sentence strips from the story to match to their boxes before they draw.
A stretch: Retell the same story in four panels from a different character's point of view.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3
Common Core English Language Arts codes; the wording is in your state's copy of the standards.
The two pages, as they print
A 4-panel retell
Grades 2–4 · 40–45 minutes · Peabody's classroom comic kit
Goal
Students retell a story read in class in four panels, choosing the moments that matter most and putting them in order: first, next, then, last.
Materials
- Print: the 4-panel comic strip template, one each
- A picture book or short story the class has just read
- The student planner, one each
- Pencils and crayons
Steps
- Reread the story's last page, then ask: if you had only four pictures to tell this whole story, which four would you pick?
- List the story's moments on the board as the class calls them out. Expect too many.
- Circle four together: the start, a problem, the biggest moment, how it ends. Explain that leaving things out is the hard part.
- Hand out the planner. Students sketch each moment fast, stick figures welcome, and write one line under each box.
- Partners swap planners and retell the story aloud from them. If a partner gets lost, a panel is missing.
- Students draw the final strip on the 4-panel template, adding a speech bubble or caption to each panel.
Quick check
Ask: could someone who never read the book follow your strip? Students point to the panel that shows the problem.
Every learner
More help: Give each student four sentence strips from the story to match to their boxes before they draw.
A stretch: Retell the same story in four panels from a different character's point of view.
Standards (Common Core codes)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3
My 4-panel retell planner
Sketch one moment in each box, then write one line under it.
Nothing is typed into this page and nothing is sent: the student sheet prints blank, to fill in by hand.
The other lessons
- The parts of a comic · Grades 2–5
- Sequencing: panels in order · Grades 2–5
- Sound words and onomatopoeia · Grades 2–5
- A comic book report · Grades 2–5
- Reading right to left (manga) · Grades 3–5
All six are on the classroom comic kit.