Expectations. About This Selection. Most students will be able to read and relate to the comic strips.

Transcription

1 Share a Laugh Instructional Focus IDENTIFYING POINT OF VIEW IN COMIC STRIPS Identifying point of view in a comic strip can help predict which audience will find humour in it. Instructional Approaches SHARED READING Transparency 49: Share a Laugh Share a Laugh, Student Book 4c, p. 76 INDEPENDENT READING Share a Laugh, Student Book 4c, p. 76 Expectations LANGUAGE Student Book 4c, pages Understanding Media O: Oral R: Reading W: Writing ML: Media Literacy O Identify and question the point of view in oral texts R Identify the point of view presented in a text and suggest alternative perspectives ML Identify the purpose and audience for a variety of media texts ML Identify whose point of view is presented in a media text and suggest a different point of view ML Produce media texts for specific purposes/audiences About This Selection Three comic strips offer humour that appeals to a range of audiences. Most students will be able to read and relate to the comic strips. ACCESSIBILITY Easy Average Challenging ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Ongoing Observation Students who understand will recognize that a comic strip can express different points of view understand that people often find humour in comic strips that reflect their own point of view Differentiated Instruction If students do not understand, use Reading Other Comic Strips (see Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support, p. 31) If students find this text difficult to read, use a shared reading approach, or choose an alternative selection from your school collection Assessment Demonstration Task, p. 33 Key Assessment Questions How did the author present different points of view? Who might find this comic strip funny? Why? How did identifying point of view help you to understand the media text? Assessment Tools BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet BLM 3: Small-Group Observation Tracking Sheet BLM 7: Strategy Rubric Strip Identifying Point of View in Comic Strips What Research Says about Point of View Readers need to understand that there can be more than one side to an argument and that no one side is necessarily correct. Reflecting on Your Practice How can I help students recognize how the point of view of the author will affect their responses to the characters? Share a Laugh 29

2 Shared Reading Transparency 49 Use Transparency 49: Share a Laugh and its related teacher notes in Transparencies for Shared Reading and Modelling to model how readers identify point of view in a comic strip text. Before BRAINSTORMING 1. Tell students they will be learning about comic strips. Ask: What is a comic strip? (a picture story; a story told with little cartoon characters; a way to tell funny stories) Where do you find comic strips? (newspapers; magazines) What is your favourite comic strip? What do you like about it? (funny; short; easy to read; same characters every time) 2. Brainstorm all the comic strips that students know or have seen. List the names of the strips on the board. When the list is done, have students vote on each comic strip in turn: Like it/don t like it. Keep a tally. 3. Choose one strip that was popular and one that was not. Have students discuss and explore the idea that their likes and dislikes are really determined by point of view. media Understanding Identifying Point of View in Comic Strips Notice how the comic strip presents the characters different points of view. What is the mom s point of view? What is the daughter s point of view? 76 Getting Along Vocabulary Share a Laugh Comic strips make people of all ages laugh. Some comic strips are funny to adults. Others are funny to kids, and some make everybody laugh. What makes a comic strip funny to one person and not another? Often, we laugh at comics that share our point of view. As you read this For Better or For Worse comic strip, think about point of view. last laugh something that turns out to be right when everyone expected the opposite notice pay attention to web page one document in a website Think about how the comic strip ends. Who has the last laugh in this strip? Strategy Tip: Use a dictionary to find the meaning of idioms Tell students that sometimes an expression cannot be understood from the ordinary meanings of its individual words. Point out that dictionaries usually explain these expressions. Read the sentence, Who has the last laugh in this comic strip? Have some students look up the word last and others look up laugh. Which entry has a meaning for last laugh? Offer a few more common idioms (turn over a new leaf, pull someone s leg, lend a hand) and ask students to find the meaning of each one. Let them decide which is the key word to look up. 30 Nelson Literacy 4 Teacher s Resource: Getting Along

3 During Read these two Zits comic strips. What ideas do you have about point of view in these strips? Do they make you laugh? Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman 77 Differentiated Instruction: Extra Support Reading Other Comic Strips Give students a few comic strips from a newspaper. Try to use strips that have close relevance to children s lives, such as Peanuts or Family Circus. Encourage partners to read the strips and share ideas about who would find them funny. What is the point of view in the comic strip? INTRODUCING THE TEXT 1. Give students time to preview Student Book pages 76 and 77. Have them tell a partner one thing they notice right away about the text. 2. Direct students attention to the introduction and read it aloud. Tell students they will learn how to identify point of view in a comic strip, and see how point of view could influence whether people find the comic strip funny. 3. Tell them that they will be reading a For Better or for Worse comic strip. Ask: Has anyone read this comic strip before? What do you know about it? (it s always about the same people in a family) READING AND DISCUSSING THE TEXT 1. Ask students to read the For Better or for Worse comic strip. Read them the annotation on the left side of the page Ask: How would you describe the mom? (worried; caring; fussing) How would you describe the daughter? (doesn t want to listen; thinks she knows it all; doesn t want to be embarrassed) 2. Read the second annotation. Ask: Who has the last laugh? (mother) Why? (daughter needed the umbrella; the other kids shared it) 3. Ask: Did the author show us different sides of the issue? Explain. (yes; we know the mother s and the daughter s points of view) What is the author s point of view in this comic strip? (mothers aren t always wrong; kids should listen to mothers sometimes) CONTINUED Share a Laugh 31

4 READING THE TEXT INDEPENDENTLY 1. Invite students to turn to page 77 and spend a few minutes previewing the text. 2. Read the introduction to students. Give them time to look at the comic strips and, in small groups, discuss the questions in the introduction. After These questions and activities give students the opportunity to share and consolidate their learning about identifying purpose and audience. You may use BLM 2: Oral Language Tracking Sheet and BLM 3: Small- Group Observation Tracking Sheet to track student progress through the unit. REFLECTING ON THE STRATEGY 1. Let students share their thinking about the comic strips. Reread the introduction on page 77. Ask: What ideas do you have about the point of view in these comic strips? (the mom is like my mom; I don t want to put on rain stuff or hats in the winter; the comic strips show me how the kids feel; in the Zits comics we really see the boy s point of view he doesn t want to be bugged or bored; the parents are nagging him and he doesn t like it; you can see the mom s point of view in the first one she s frustrated because he won t pick up his shoes) Do they make you laugh? (yes; I hate taking extra stuff for the weather; my brother bugs my parents too) What do the authors want us to believe? ( For Better or For Worse : the mom is always right! Kids don t listen to their parents; Zits : teenagers don t want to listen to parents) 2. Invite students to turn to their partner to discuss this question: Does identifying the point of view help you to predict who would like a comic strip, and who wouldn t? ORAL: DISCUSSING THE TEXT 1. In the For Better or For Worse comic strip, why did the mother want the daughter to take an umbrella? (it was raining hard; she might have to wait for the bus and get wet) 2. Why didn t the daughter want to take the umbrella? (she thought she would look silly) 3. How do you think the kids felt in the last picture? (glad she had an umbrella; wishing it would stop raining) 4. Do you think the daughter will tell her mom she used the umbrella? Explain. (no: she doesn t want to admit mom was right; no: she might say no one else had an umbrella; yes: to say thanks; yes: to tell her the other kids didn t have umbrellas and they shared hers) 5. Do you bring rain gear to school on rainy days? Share your answer and ideas with your partner. 6. How do you think the mom felt in Zits? (frustrated, angry) Would mothers find it a funny comic strip? Why? (yes, because it is familiar and they do it all the time; or no, because they get mad too) 7. Is the first Zits comic strip written from the point of view of the mother or the boy? (mother, because she is doing most of the talking; boy, because he s the main character and has the funny line; both, because you know how they both feel) 8. Whose point of view is being shown in the second Zits comic strip? (boy, because he s the one who is funny; we know how he feels) MEDIA LITERACY: CREATING A COMIC STRIP 1. Direct students to create a short comic strip consisting of two to four frames. Ask: How will you get an idea for your comic strip? (brainstorm; talk; think about a topic or event that is funny or exciting) How will you collect and organize your ideas? (put some ideas on paper; sketch what the comic strip might be like) Who is your audience going to be? (friends; other kids; my parents) What point of view will your comic strip present? 2. Explain that many of the steps of writing will apply to a comic strip too. 3. Encourage students to create a draft, with rough drawings, then discuss it with a peer to check whether the draft is clear or needs revising. 4. Remind them that they need to edit the comic strip before drawing their final versions. 5. Have them create a black-andwhite final version with clear printing. (An optional colour version could also be made.) 6. Duplicate the comic strips and publish a class comic book. 32 Nelson Literacy 4 Teacher s Resource: Getting Along

5 ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING Checking Progress Demonstration Task Have students look through the class comic book. Direct them to pick three of the comic strips completed by other students. Ask them to study the comic strips and identify the point of view of the writer. Have them decide who would find the comic strips funny. Why? Key Assessment Questions Students may respond to the Key Assessment Questions either in writing or orally in a conference. Ask: How did the author present different points of view? Who might find this comic strip funny? Why? How did identifying point of view help you to understand the media text? Record individual progress on BLM 7: Strategy Rubric Strip Identifying Point of View in Comic Strips. Next Steps Use a wide range of resources to give students further opportunities to practise the reading strategy of evaluating the author s point of view. Encourage students to continue to be aware of and read comic strips in the classroom and at home. Talk about comic strips that you enjoy. Say why you enjoy them. Have students talk about comic strips and tell why they like (or don t like) them. Strategy Rubric Strip: Identifying Point of View in Comic Strips A full-size version of this rubric, suitable for recording assessments, is provided on BLM 7. Criteria Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 identifies the different points of views expressed in a comic strip with some identifies whose point of view would allow them to find the comic strip humorous with some explains how identifying point of view in a media text helps the reader to understand how others will understand the media text with some Cross-Curricular Application applies the skills involved in identifying point of view in other areas of the curriculum with some Student Self-Assessment Encourage students to think back to their learning with Share a Laugh and reflect on their ability to evaluate point of view in a comic strip. Ask them to describe, while conferencing with you or a peer, how they might have used this strategy in other subject areas or in their daily lives. Then ask them to check off the appropriate box on BLM 4: Self-Assessment Checklist and Personal Goal Setting. Share a Laugh 33