Classroom comic kit · lesson 1 of 6
The parts of a comic: a lesson for grades 2–5
Grades 2–5 · 30–40 minutes. Students name six parts of a comic page (panel, gutter, speech bubble, thought bubble, caption and sound word) and say what each one does for a reader.
Materials
- Print the bubble cut-outs template, one each.
- Print the 4-panel comic strip template, one each.
- A comic or graphic novel from the class library, one page shown large
- The student sheet, one each
- Pencils, scissors and glue sticks
Steps
- Show one comic page large. Ask: how do you know where to look first? Take three answers.
- Point to a panel and name it: one moment in the story, in a box. Then the gutter: the gap where the reader imagines what happened in between.
- Name speech and thought bubbles. Ask how you can tell them apart (a tail to a mouth, or little circles to a head).
- Name the caption, the narrator's box, and the sound word, a noise drawn as letters. Find one of each on the page together.
- Hand out the student sheet. Students write the right word from the box beside each number.
- Pairs check each other's sheets and fix one mistake together.
- Each student fills one cut-out bubble and glues it onto a blank strip panel, then says which part it is.
Quick check for understanding
Hold up a page and point at a part; students show its number on their fingers (1 panel, 2 gutter, 3 speech bubble, 4 thought bubble, 5 caption, 6 sound word).
For every learner
More help: Give the word box with a tiny picture next to each word, and do the first two numbers together.
A stretch: Find a comic page that breaks a rule (a panel with no border, a bubble crossing two panels) and explain why the artist did it.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.6
Common Core English Language Arts codes; the wording is in your state's copy of the standards.
The two pages, as they print
The parts of a comic
Grades 2–5 · 30–40 minutes · Peabody's classroom comic kit
Goal
Students name six parts of a comic page (panel, gutter, speech bubble, thought bubble, caption and sound word) and say what each one does for a reader.
Materials
- Print: the bubble cut-outs template, one each
- Print: the 4-panel comic strip template, one each
- A comic or graphic novel from the class library, one page shown large
- The student sheet, one each
- Pencils, scissors and glue sticks
Steps
- Show one comic page large. Ask: how do you know where to look first? Take three answers.
- Point to a panel and name it: one moment in the story, in a box. Then the gutter: the gap where the reader imagines what happened in between.
- Name speech and thought bubbles. Ask how you can tell them apart (a tail to a mouth, or little circles to a head).
- Name the caption, the narrator's box, and the sound word, a noise drawn as letters. Find one of each on the page together.
- Hand out the student sheet. Students write the right word from the box beside each number.
- Pairs check each other's sheets and fix one mistake together.
- Each student fills one cut-out bubble and glues it onto a blank strip panel, then says which part it is.
Quick check
Hold up a page and point at a part; students show its number on their fingers (1 panel, 2 gutter, 3 speech bubble, 4 thought bubble, 5 caption, 6 sound word).
Every learner
More help: Give the word box with a tiny picture next to each word, and do the first two numbers together.
A stretch: Find a comic page that breaks a rule (a panel with no border, a bubble crossing two panels) and explain why the artist did it.
Standards (Common Core codes)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 · CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.6
The parts of a comic
Write the right word from the box beside each number.
Now draw one panel of your own, with a speech bubble and a sound word.
Nothing is typed into this page and nothing is sent: the student sheet prints blank, to fill in by hand.
The other lessons
- A 4-panel retell · Grades 2–4
- 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.