Activities
Activity one: Students will participate in character development. The students will receive and read a brief summary describing the Greek gods that are the subject of our graphic narratives. Students will discuss the character traits of the Greek God that they are selecting. The students will draw symbols that are related to those traits. Students will create a character, either literal or abstract, that will represent their God throughout their graphic story. Students will create a brainstorm bubble that includes facts and traits that they learn about the character. The characters may also be designed based on each student’s interpretation or artistic creation. Characters may be as abstract as a lightning bolt representing Zeus, or as detailed as drawing of him as man.
Activity two: Students will view a film on the animation and creation of the Disney film Hercules. Students will view and discuss how the animators work on storyboards to create the sequence of events that are to take place in the film. Students will participate in an activity where they have to put illustrated pictures in sequential order to tell a story. The students will work in teams of three, to create a storyboard that retells a story of one of the twelve labors of Hercules. Students will critique each team's story board and participate in a classroom discussion related to how planning and drawing the events in sequential order, or failure to use sequential order can impact their work. The student will explore how the pottery was used as panels to tell the stories of Hercules. Students will decide what type of panel system they want to use as the platform for their images.
Activity three: The student will work of pencil drawing of their characters and the events that take place in myths. The students will work on completing a minimum of six panels that tell the story from beginning to end. This activity will take more than one class session. I believe a reasonable amount of time is four to five class sessions. The students will use black sharpie markers to outline and trace their pencil drawings. The fourth and fifth sessions should focus on setting, background, and detailed elements that will enhance the visual understanding of what is going on in each panel. Students have the choice of adding color or creating black and white images.
Activity four: During session five students are to participate in self-assessment and class critiques where they analyze their own work and that of a partner. Students will answer the following essential questions:
- Does the imagery created effectively depict the events of the story you are telling?
- Does the writing mirror what is illustrated?
- How does the art capture the character and the sequence of events?
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