About the lesson
In this lesson, we continued to expand on the brainstorming and storytelling techniques from the previous lessons. Students created a storyboard, and were evaluated on the inclusion of a character, setting, and working in sequential order. Storytelling is an essential way to communicate and share personal experiences and creativity. Students were provided a prompt to use as a starting point as we pushed them to think about how to use their imagination and expand upon the prompt with their own unique style and personality.
Essential Understandings
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
1. After a short Introduction on storyboards, students will be able to connect with each other at table groups and share ideas that involve a story by demonstrating their ability to discuss together, follow classroom etiquette, and utilize brainstorming techniques.
2.. After brainstorming about a couple possible stories, students will be able to create a drawing for each part of the story in a sequential order, shown by a successful structure utilizing character and setting to configure a storyboard that represents their own interpretation of the prompt or own idea.
3. Sharing their artwork, students will be able to reflect on their piece with each other; by presenting their piece to their table group, discussing their illustrations and creative decisions.
Skills
To start the creative process, the teachers introduced the concept of storyboards and demonstrated with real world examples. This provided an immediate hook, and a sense of relevance which connected them to other stories they like or have seen recently. Through expansion on the first lesson, and techniques they have learned, the students expanded on the prompt and created new ideas of their own. These ideas followed a format that addressed sequential order, and the inclusion of a character and setting.
The Prompt:
After teachers shared the project guidelines and the prompt, students brainstormed with different characters and inspirations. They reflected on the lesson about book covers, the new examples of storyboards, and applied their previous learning to the current project’s prompt.
Through this process the students created illustrations and a story that embodied their unique personalities while abiding by the lesson's evaluated standards.
- Artists/designers use art to tell stories, memories, and experiences.
- Artists/designers use critical thinking and organizational techniques to create artwork.
- Artists/designers express and explore their own creative identity through art.
- Artists/designers formulate new ideas through the process that enhance their artwork.
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
1. After a short Introduction on storyboards, students will be able to connect with each other at table groups and share ideas that involve a story by demonstrating their ability to discuss together, follow classroom etiquette, and utilize brainstorming techniques.
2.. After brainstorming about a couple possible stories, students will be able to create a drawing for each part of the story in a sequential order, shown by a successful structure utilizing character and setting to configure a storyboard that represents their own interpretation of the prompt or own idea.
3. Sharing their artwork, students will be able to reflect on their piece with each other; by presenting their piece to their table group, discussing their illustrations and creative decisions.
Skills
- Critical thinking and organizational techniques
- Storyboard techniques
- Creative problem solving
- Expansion of ideas from a prompt
- Establishing a sense of comfort with the studio, materials, staff, and peers
- Drawing Techniques
- Critique Etiquette
To start the creative process, the teachers introduced the concept of storyboards and demonstrated with real world examples. This provided an immediate hook, and a sense of relevance which connected them to other stories they like or have seen recently. Through expansion on the first lesson, and techniques they have learned, the students expanded on the prompt and created new ideas of their own. These ideas followed a format that addressed sequential order, and the inclusion of a character and setting.
The Prompt:
- You put your Halloween candy in a secret hiding place… but when you come back later to eat some, it is gone! What happened to your candy?!?
After teachers shared the project guidelines and the prompt, students brainstormed with different characters and inspirations. They reflected on the lesson about book covers, the new examples of storyboards, and applied their previous learning to the current project’s prompt.
Through this process the students created illustrations and a story that embodied their unique personalities while abiding by the lesson's evaluated standards.
As we walked around the classroom, it was great to see the amount of excitement this topic or prompt brought. Many students discussed what happened before opening their sketchbook. Some started with specific characters and some started with a familiar setting that they took from their memory to the paper. In the storyboard above, this student highlighted the plot through emotion and line. When we asked, "who is connected to the stolen candy in your story?" The students replies, "my sibling took my candy and I took it back in the end." Emotion in the face and movement of line helps communicate what is going on in the storyboard.
Another aspect that we found common was drawing their own room as the setting. It began with characters in a simple room showing a window which tells the student wanted to communicate a specific place. Beginning to transfer thoughts from the brain to drawing it on paper started to show through this project. Progression in each drawing is a way for students to tell stories, they showcased that through enthusiasm.
Some students suggested possible different ways of viewing the story. In this case, a student worked through a birds eye perspective to tell the story instead of being inside the room. We asked, "why did you decide to draw it from this view?" He said, "So that everyone can see everything in the room." Again, rooms where a common setting, but it highlights the way this specific student used an idea learned or seen outside of this lesson. Students can learn by observing, seeing, connecting, which was guided by the book and comic examples.
Some students began the process of writing before drawing, or used writing as a way to further communicate what the characters are saying or what is going on in the story. A student had a large paragraph of writing and sat, thinking about how she could transfer words into a picture that fully connects the two. Students created storyboards completely visual or a combination. It was very fun to walk around, listening to every unique story unfold as fingers point to specific moments in their drawing. In this case, this student forgot what she wrote, but could recall from the picture. She said, "I don't remember what I wrote, but that is okay, I will just tell you the story with my drawings!" It was awesome to see flexibility in imagination and the way that she explained the story.
From start to finish, we encouraged them to begin thinking and planning for a beginning, middle and end. Although most just started with one, a transition into, "what is next?" helped students expand their ideas more. A lot of personal aspects, like family, pets, and homes, were seen as most memorable and familiar.
The use of color in this example was evident and important to talk about because she wanted this story to be real. She included her pink shirt and purple pants that she was wearing on Friday, in class. Her observations on color was an important part of her storytelling because by doing that, it became personal to her and a unique story.