Give Them Something to Talk About with ComicLife! (Entry 5)

I am doing research with my fourth grade students in the media center. The standards I will focus on are:
Grade: 4
Description: ELA4R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational texts.

Critical Component: For informational texts, the student reads and comprehends in order to develop understanding and expertise and produces evidence of reading that:

a. Locates facts that answer the reader’s questions.

b. Identifies and uses knowledge of common textual features (e.g., paragraphs, topic sentences, concluding sentences, glossary).

c. Identifies and uses knowledge of common graphic features (e.g., charts, maps, diagrams, illustrations).

d. Identifies and uses knowledge of common organizational structures (e.g., chronological order, cause and effect).

e. Distinguishes cause from effect in context.

f. Summarizes main ideas and supporting details.

g. Makes perceptive and well-developed connections.

h. Distinguishes fact from opinion or fiction.

Description: ELA4W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres.

Critical Component: The student produces informational writing (e.g., report, procedures, correspondence) that:

a. Engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a speaker’s voice, and otherwise developing reader interest.

c. Creates an organizing structure appropriate to a specific purpose, audience, and context.

d. Includes appropriate facts and details.

e. Excludes extraneous details and inappropriate information.

g. Draws from more than one source of information such as speakers, books, newspapers, and online materials.

We have been discussing graphic novels, and ComicLife is the tool I want them to use to put their research into project form. I have shown them some examples, and the technology specialist in my school has even used ComicLife in the foyer on the big screen television to encourage students to vote for who they want to kiss the pig during fall festival time. So they know all about the program itself. I have shown them several graphic novels, like Baby Mouse Queen of the World series, The Pigeon books (Mo Willems), Captain Underpants, and explained that even the Magic School Bus books are graphic novels, that provide us facts in an entertaining way.

I explained to them that we were going to do some research on Native Americans, and I had them come up with some general topics they felt needed to be addressed for the project. They decided on these areas:

1. Name of tribe, area they are from
2. Foods they ate and how they got it
3. What their shelters looked like and materials used to make them
4. Other interesting facts (1-2)

I gave each of them a data collection sheet (the instructional tool/organizer) lined, with this information listed on it, and a book from a series on Native Americans that was sure to answer these questions as well as access to the computer and encyclopedias, and set them on their way to finding the answers. Once this was done I retrieved their data collection sheets, and will give them back to them next week to be used during the creation of their ComicLife presentation. We are a Mac county so this program is on my machines.

I will have to keep it simple to make sure they get finished with the project before leaving me. I have limited time with each group so I am requiring that they provide me with a photo of themselves and one dialogue bubble to introduce them to their audience as a cover, and one page with a clip or photo representing their tribe and at least four dialogue bubbles to address the prompts we came up with earlier. I will keep an example for this class. I have permission from one child's mother to use his photo and presentation. I will admit that this child is probably going to go above and beyond on this task. He normally does. His mother is a teacher in the building, and he will definitely spend the extra time on his project. He has already read about three of the books on the native tribes, taken AR quizzes and gathered his data for his project tribe.

Their excitement is contagious! I truly hope this project goes as well for the next portion as it has so far.