Visible Connections: Working With Text and Images

Subject: ELA (English Language Arts)

Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

Topic: Making connections between written text and a visual presentation of a story

Grade Level: 4

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description: Students will make connections between fictional texts by creating a visual presentation.

Know Before You Start: This is a great way to check for understanding of a story or drama. Select a current piece of fictional text being read in class to use for this activity.

Hook:

  • Read and discuss the example comic.
    • How does the comic depict key elements of this familiar story?
    • What characters or details from the story are not illustrated in the comic?
  • Ask students if they’ve ever watched a movie of a book they’ve read.
    • Did they like the movie or book better? Why?  
  • Discuss with students how visual presentations of a story or drama can help readers better understand the events and characters within the fictional text.

Activity:

  • Have students think about the characters and main events in the current fictional text being read in class. 

  • Ask students to create a comic of at least three panels that demonstrates the students’ understanding of the specific descriptions and key events in the fictional text.

Closure:

  • Share your students' comics in a slideshow or Gallery Walk. 

  • Ask students to discuss how each comic demonstrates a specific representation of the events, characters, and meaning of the text.

Differentiation:

  • Allow students to work with a peer model. 

  • Provide sentence frames for students during closure discussion.

  • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
  • Enrichment Activity: Have students write a detailed description of how their representation demonstrates events, characters, or meaning of the text.

Resources:

  • Comic to print or display: Comic.

Suggested Story Starters: