Summary

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Students will create a graphic novel using a story of their own creation. Students
will create the story using a plot map and character development sheet and visually design their characters. Once their novels are finished they will bind their graphic novel using tape. If a laminator is available, it is suggested to laminate the front and back cover of their book.

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objectives

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In this lesson students will...

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-  create their own graphic novel.

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-  create a plot map and develop their own characters.

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-  learn how to bind their own book.

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Tools & Materials

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- Manilla sketch paper
- White drawing paper
- Pencils
- Markers
- Staples
- Tape (Book binding or duct tape.)

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Vocabulary

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Graphic Novel -​ Novel told visually in comic strip form.

Panel​ - A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel
sequence of a comic strip or comic book. A panel consists of a single drawing
depicting a frozen moment.

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Plot - The main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.

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Exposition -  Literary device used to introduce background information about events, settings, characters, or other elements of a work to the audience or readers.

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Rising action - A series of relevant incidents that create suspense, interest, and tension in a narrative.

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Turning Point - The time when a situation starts to change for the better or worse.

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Falling action - The parts of a story after the climax and before the very end.

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Resolution - The end of the story when the conflict is resolved.

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Procedures

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Before starting, students will be shown examples of graphic novels. I brought in some of my own and provided some online resources. I touched on panels and speech bubbles specifically.

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1. Students will receive two worksheets that will help them create and organize their
graphic novels. One worksheet will be used to create the student’s characters. The next worksheet will be a plot map which students will use to design a story that has an exposition, turning point, and a resolution. 

2.  Students will then grab a piece of white drawing paper and use this to visually
create their characters. They will be drawn with pencil and then colored in with
colored pencils, markers, or crayons.

3. After designing the plot and the characters, students will create a rough draft in
the graphic novel style using panels on manilla sketch paper.

4. When students have completed rough draft they will use drawing paper to
draw their final draft.

5. The student will use markers to color their story. They will be instructed to use
the colors first before they outline their art in black marker.

6. When this is complete student will create a cover page for their story, this cover
must include the title.

7. When all of these steps are done student will be able to staple their cover and
story together and use duct tape as binding tape to create a clean bind.

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South Carolina Visual Arts Standards

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Standard 1: Student will demonstrate competence in the use of ideas, materials, techniques,
and processes in the creation of works of visual art.

VAH1-1.3 Communicate ideas through the effective use of a variety of materials,
techniques, and processes in works of visual art.

VAH1-1.4 Apply materials, techniques, and processes with skill, confidence, and
sensitivity sufficient to make his or her intentions observable in the artwork he or she
creates.