Graphic Novels - Introduction activities and terminology lessons for ANY Unit

Want to teach a graphic novels but don't know where to start? Want to do a comic, manga or graphic novel unit but feel lost? These lessons, activities and unit plan is what I have been using for 5+ years in my classroom!

I have taught graphic novels 5+ years, and these activities and lesson ideas are what I use with my students! You don't have to know everything about graphic novels; you and your students can learn together!

Don't know where to start with Graphic Novels?!

Let me do all the work for you! I first studied graphic novels in an upper-level English course during undergrad. I've also taken some art & design coursework which has helped me immensely! If you're like me, you may feel totally OVERWHELMED with all the varying "lingo" out there. When I started planning my unit, I found there was WAY more information out there, without one clear consensus "go to" list of terms. I synthesized most of the information & research out there and created the resources you see here.

Introduction to Graphic Novels - Slide Show Presentation & Handout: How are graphic novels different from comic books? Are graphic novels worthy of being studied in the classroom? This 39 slide presentation and accompanying handout will introduce graphic novels by covering some history, controversy and place in literature & genres. The slideshow and handout are EDITABLE so you can personalize, edit and delete to fit your students needs. The lesson and handout is designed to be completed during one class.

The slide show is designed to be interactive with 4 Think/Pair/Share discussion breaks. The handout includes room for students to take notes and brainstorm for the "Think" component of Think/Pair/Share. Included is also room to record important definitions and write a short personal response at the end of the lesson.

Resources Included: PDF with "Force Copy" Google Slides Link

1. What are Graphic Novels and how are they Valuable? Slide Show - 39 Slides
2. Follow Along Student handout - 2 Pages

Introductory Mini Project Resource: This resource is for you if you want students to quickly teach themselves the graphic novel lingo in a short single class mini assignment. Students will need to use technology/their phones. The checklist skips a lot of the technical graphic novel terminology and focuses on character/figure body language & facial expression.

1. Assignment Handout with prompt & checklist - Editable in PowerPoint
2. 30 Pages of Graphic Novel Examples - for students to analyze
3. American Spelling Graphic Novel Terms - (2 versions with & without media codes)
4. Canadian & British Spelling Graphic Novel Terms - (2 versions with & without media codes)
5. Scaffolded Student Reflection Templates - Editable PowerPoint & PDF

Terms Graphic Organizer Resource: This resource is for when you want students to have a detailed 5 page resource with detailed graphic novel/design terminology.

1. 5 Page Terms & Vocabulary Hand out - Editable in Google Slides
2. 60 Page Editable Google Presentation to supplement the handout
3. PDF with Resource Links to share with students if you want them to do their own research web quest style.

Visual Text Analysis Worksheet Resource: This is resource is intended for those who just want to do a mini lesson on analyzing a panel or page of a graphic novel. The terminology is straight forward and does not require lots of front loading of information - it can be quickly explained as you are introducing it.

1. Visual Analysis Worksheet Lined - PDF Editable in Adobe
2. Visual Analysis Worksheet Unlined -- PDF Editable in Adobe
3. Graphic Novel Terms Checklist - PDF Editable in Adobe
4. Complete Visual Text Analysis Instructions - PDF Editable in Adobe
5. Visual Text Analysis - Fill in Template - PDF Editable in Adobe

One Pager Resource - This resource is meant to be used through your whole student of a graphic novel. The one pager provides space for students to summarize pages, explore themes AND it includes the same visual text analysis worksheet as above. This one pager also includes editable checklists, and rubrics.

1. Graphic Novel One Pager - editable in Adobe
2. Visual Analysis Guide - A visual handout for students
3. Single Point Rubric - Editable in PowerPoint
4. Traditional Rubric - Editable in PowerPoint
5. Student Reflection Pages - 3 different templates with sentence stems
6. Final Student Hand in Checklist - Editable in PowerPoint

Graphic Novel Poster Set & Bulletin Board Display - Promote critical and visual literacy by displaying these Graphic Novel Terminology posters in your school classroom or library! Expose kids to the "science" and art of graphic novels by introducing unfamiliar vocabulary and terms.

I've used these posters in my classroom to reinforce the terms as I've studied graphic novels with my class. These posters have also been used in our school library are part of a little graphic novel display.

1. "Graphic Novels" Bulletin Board Letters
2. "Graphic Novel Terms" Bulletin Board Letters
3. "Graphic Novel Terminology" Bulletin Board Letters
4. "Getting To Know Graphic Novels"
5. Caption Boxes
6. Panels
7. Frames
8. Speech Balloons
9. Gutters
10. Figures
11. Graphically Enhanced Text

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⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️ Printing Hacks & FYI ⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️

• Google Docs to PowerPoint - Convert any Google Slide into PowerPoint: Go File ➔ Download ➔ Microsoft PowerPoint (.pptx)
• Editable Resources: for resources editable in PowerPoint or Google™ Slides - make your edits and then save as a PDF before printing. IF the resource you saved as a PDF prints wonky, then save as a PNG/JPEG file and convert it into a PDF.
• Printing PDFs - Make sure to download the file to your computer first, then print from your PDF reader. DO NOT print directly from the browser. 
• Paper Size Issues - In the printer dialogue box make sure the scale is set to "fit to page".
• Print Quality - I advise printing this resource on a large commercial printer rather than from a personal home printer. The small details & lines turn out more crisp & clear when printed directly from the file. They have a tendency to get blurry & misaligned when photocopied.

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✋ I've got you covered for Graphic Novels - Check out my modern, EDITABLE, no-prep lessons!

• Graphic Novel Analysis
• Graphic Novel Analysis Activity
• Graphic Novel Page Analysis
• Graphic Novel Unit Activities
• Graphic Novel Vocabulary Posters
• Graphic Novels Color Design Activity
• Graphic Novels Terminology
• Introducing Graphic Novel Terms Activity
• Introducing Graphic Novels Side Deck Lesson

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✍ carley@visualthinkingclassroom.com