Drawing cartoons is a great way to encourage young writers and illustrators.

• 1.

  Study the styles of distinguished cartoonists. Examine the relationships among illustration style, character development, and story line.

• 2.

  Imagine a story about a dreamer, inventor, or explorer. Where might they go? What might they do? Imagine a scary, silly, or serious situation. List the scenes to help plan how many cartoon frames are needed to tell the story.

• 3.

  With a ruler and Crayola® Colored Pencils, measure and draw a cardboard or oak tag cartoon frame template. Make a square or rectangle shape in a cartoon-like size. Cut out the center of the frame with Crayola Scissors.

• 4.

  On construction paper, trace around the template as many times as needed with colored pencils. If desired, leave space between frames to draw dialogue lines.

• 5.

  Sketch the story characters and background with light lines. Write dialogue and draw balloons around the words.

• 6.

  Complete the figures and background with Crayola Fine Tip and Washable Markers. Outline words and dialogue balloons.

Standards

• LA: Read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the grade level text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
• LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
• LA: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
• MATH: Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm; kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents in a two column table.
• MATH: Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

Adaptations

• Encourage students to collaborate in creating a class adventure strip, adding a new frames each school day so that each student in the class has an opportunity to participate in making the strip. Students select a bulletin board in the classroom to use for posting each day's frame. Frames should be dated and signed by the classroom cartoonist.
• Students work in teams of two. One student creates the illustration frame. The second member of the team writes the dialogue balloon. Display the completed illustration in the classroom for viewing.
• Organize student cartoons into a booklet format. Students design a cover, title page, sketch borders on pages, and adjust margins or cartoon sizes to fit to the designated format. Display the booklet in the classroom for all to view.