Janet McCormick

Lesson Title: Fly Guy Comic

Materials: Fly Guy comic book beginning and
ending picture frames for comic. Brainstorming
Idea worksheet, storyboard frames for image
brainstorming, 11x17 page with beginning/ending
pictures and 4 blank middle frames. Crayons,
markers
Procedures:

Oct 14-22, 2013.

Grade: 1
Objective: Create a comic book strip of a
familiar character. Brainstorm, draw, first,
second, next, last. Larger writing project.
Approximate time: 70 -85 min
1. This project will take 5 days to complete and
will include:
1 day of learning about speech bubbles.

Day 1:
1. Use the comic-life application (on the
MacBook air loaner) and do a real-time
modeling of what word bubbles are and how
to use them. Use a picture of the class to
model.

2 days of brainstorming story ideas and

drawing pictures

2. Have students tell you a word bubble

message and create a master photo with all of
the word bubbles on it. As each group does
the rotation the photo will be full of quotes.
(This word bubble picture will be displayed when
the comics are displayed on the wall outside)

SOLs: English

Day 2:
1. Look at the Fly Guy Comic worksheet and
show students the beginning and ending
pictures.
2. You know how this comic starts and ends, but
what happens in the middle?
Tell students that THEY are going to decide
what is going on and need to make up the rest
of the story using pictures and word bubbles.
3. Take a look at the beginning and end pictures
and brainstorm some ideas of what could
happen in the middle on the Brainstorming
Idea Sheet. (Students need to create 4 middle
frames at a minimum)
4. Students can either draw or write on Day 2,
but need to begin writing by the third day.

2 days of refining ideas and pictures and

enlarging comic to poster size.

1.7 The student will use semantic clues and syntax to expand
vocabulary when reading.
a) Use words, phrases, and sentences.
b) Use titles and pictures.
c) Use information in the story to read words.
d) Use knowledge of sentence structure.
e) Use knowledge of story structure.
f) Reread and self-correct.
1.13 The student will write to communicate ideas for a variety
of purposes.
a) Generate ideas.
b) Focus on one topic.
c) Revise by adding descriptive words when writing about
people, places, things, and events.
d) Use complete sentences in final copies.
e) Begin each sentence with a capital letter and use ending
punctuation in final copies.
f) Use correct spelling for commonly used sight words and
phonetically regular words in final copies.
g) Share writing with others.

Janet McCormick
Day 3:
1. Students need to continue to brainstorm and
have their ideas written down by the end of
the day.
2. Students need to also continue to draw and
make decisions of what happens first,
second, next, last etc.
Day 4:
1. Students need to make their pictures and
words larger, give them the 11x17 blank
page with beginning and ending pictures
and cartoon square bubbles to fill in.
Day 5:
Have students finish up their comic strips and
read them to a neighbor that has also finished.
Hang them up in the hallway.
Differentiation:
If a student had difficulty with the length of a
lesson like this, he/she could list out ideas of
what could happen in the comic in the middle
(no sentences required) and only complete
Day 2 and 3 of the lesson.
Next, they could transfer their ideas/pictures to
their journal. Only 2 middle frames would be
required.
My goal is to have the student at least be able
to tell you what happened in the middle by
words, pictures, or verbally.

Janet McCormick

Fly Guy Brainstorming Idea sheet

(Oct 15/16)

First:

Second:

Next:

Last:

Janet McCormick

First

Second

Next

Last