Assignment 3-Comics, Cartoons, and Graphic Novels
The Great Depression
by Tonia Clark and Jimmy Vinson
Reflection
Title of Comic:
The Great Depression
Target Audience:
This cartoon was created for 5th grade Social Studies students.
Instructional Design Process:
To develop this assignment, my partner and I began by locating the Georgia Performance Standards Social Studies Frameworks for 5th grade. We selected Unit#6 – Ups and Downs: World War I, the Jazz Age, & the Great Depression” framework. We researched the unit topics and decided to use the ARCS Model of Instructional Design. Therefore, it was important for the cartoon to capture the attention of the students, have relevance to their experiences, provide confidence, and satisfaction of newly acquired information.
The Lesson We Are Trying to Teach:
For the cartoon, we decided to teach a lesson about the Great Depression using the following standard: SS5H5: The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans.
How Project Can Be Used For Teaching/Supporting Classroom Lesson
Cartoon, comics, and graphic novels are excellent for teachers to simultaneously address various learning styles and abilities of students. This project in particular, could be used to introduce vocabulary and circumstances surrounding the Great Depression and the New Deal. Even if some students are already familiar with some of the content of cartoon, it may pique there interest to learn more through further research. Another benefit would be for students to create their own cartoons individually or with groups to strengthen peer relationships.
Principles and Elements of Visual/Media Literacy
To integrate visual literacy skills for this assignment, the elements of size/scale and color as well as the principles of focal point and unity were employed. As learners view the comic, they are drawn to the color and size of the headings/objects and use the “Learn to Look” technique to understand their significance in each frame. This enhances the visual literacy and analytical skills of students. The characters in comic are seen as the focal point and depict unity within the frames.
Mayer’s Multimedia Principles
This assignment included Mayer’s principles of multimedia, spatial, and individual differences. Words and pictures appear together on the screen and are in close proximity enabling the student to retain and organize information. The visual images also help students with various learning styles and abilities to enhance cognitive and comprehension skills.
Definition of Comics, Cartoons, and Graphic Novels
Comics, cartoons, and graphic novels are outstanding resources to educate today’s students. They are rich with visual images and text which appeal to all types of learners enhancing reading and visual literacy skills. Comics, cartoons, and graphic novels in general all use sketches and drawings to tell an adventurous story about events and people. However, there are a few distinct characteristics of each media.
Comics or comic strips include drawings that are humorous, funny, and sometimes adventurous. The drawings are printed horizontally and include dialogue in balloons within the frames. Cartoons are usually found in newspapers and symbolize popular interest through some form of action using satires or caricatures. Finally, graphic novels are designed the same as comics however, they are much longer in length than a comic book.
Challenges
I was presented with a few challenges in completing this project and was my first time creating a cartoon. I was amazed at the available resources to create cartoons. It was a bit overwhelming deciding on the application tool to use and my partner and I decided on ToonDoo. The next step was determining the length of the comic strip and content in each frame. Creating a storyboard made this process much easier and minimized frustration. Learning the functions of the tool was another challenge and became less difficult the longer I worked on project. Overall, this assignment was a great learning experience and I look forward to exploring more application tools to create cartoons.
The Great Depression
Target Audience:
This cartoon was created for 5th grade Social Studies students.
Instructional Design Process:
To develop this assignment, my partner and I began by locating the Georgia Performance Standards Social Studies Frameworks for 5th grade. We selected Unit#6 – Ups and Downs: World War I, the Jazz Age, & the Great Depression” framework. We researched the unit topics and decided to use the ARCS Model of Instructional Design. Therefore, it was important for the cartoon to capture the attention of the students, have relevance to their experiences, provide confidence, and satisfaction of newly acquired information.
The Lesson We Are Trying to Teach:
For the cartoon, we decided to teach a lesson about the Great Depression using the following standard: SS5H5: The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans.
How Project Can Be Used For Teaching/Supporting Classroom Lesson
Cartoon, comics, and graphic novels are excellent for teachers to simultaneously address various learning styles and abilities of students. This project in particular, could be used to introduce vocabulary and circumstances surrounding the Great Depression and the New Deal. Even if some students are already familiar with some of the content of cartoon, it may pique there interest to learn more through further research. Another benefit would be for students to create their own cartoons individually or with groups to strengthen peer relationships.
Principles and Elements of Visual/Media Literacy
To integrate visual literacy skills for this assignment, the elements of size/scale and color as well as the principles of focal point and unity were employed. As learners view the comic, they are drawn to the color and size of the headings/objects and use the “Learn to Look” technique to understand their significance in each frame. This enhances the visual literacy and analytical skills of students. The characters in comic are seen as the focal point and depict unity within the frames.
Mayer’s Multimedia Principles
This assignment included Mayer’s principles of multimedia, spatial, and individual differences. Words and pictures appear together on the screen and are in close proximity enabling the student to retain and organize information. The visual images also help students with various learning styles and abilities to enhance cognitive and comprehension skills.
Definition of Comics, Cartoons, and Graphic Novels
Comics, cartoons, and graphic novels are outstanding resources to educate today’s students. They are rich with visual images and text which appeal to all types of learners enhancing reading and visual literacy skills. Comics, cartoons, and graphic novels in general all use sketches and drawings to tell an adventurous story about events and people. However, there are a few distinct characteristics of each media.
Comics or comic strips include drawings that are humorous, funny, and sometimes adventurous. The drawings are printed horizontally and include dialogue in balloons within the frames. Cartoons are usually found in newspapers and symbolize popular interest through some form of action using satires or caricatures. Finally, graphic novels are designed the same as comics however, they are much longer in length than a comic book.
Challenges
I was presented with a few challenges in completing this project and was my first time creating a cartoon. I was amazed at the available resources to create cartoons. It was a bit overwhelming deciding on the application tool to use and my partner and I decided on ToonDoo. The next step was determining the length of the comic strip and content in each frame. Creating a storyboard made this process much easier and minimized frustration. Learning the functions of the tool was another challenge and became less difficult the longer I worked on project. Overall, this assignment was a great learning experience and I look forward to exploring more application tools to create cartoons.