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> Hi, I'm just finishing up student teaching and have two weeks
> to go and
> wonder if any of you have really wonderful plans you like to
> use at the end
> of school when the kids are getting a tiny bit restless? I'm
> teaching sixth
> graders and one 7/8 grade class. I'd appreciate any
> suggestions or input.
> Thanks. Genie Holt, Tucson
I found that they absolutely love jokes, even stupid knock knock
jokes!! They actually laugh at them. So I give them each a joke
and a lesson on comic strip art and throw in discussion on
careers in cartoon drawing. I ask them to look at the joke and
decide on how many rectangles it will take to illustrate it.
Then I ask them to design the first rectangle like an actual
cartoon with a title and their name in it. Then they are to make
up their cartoons. They have problems with the writing of their
dialogue and I point out that most cartoonists write them in
horizontal not diagonal ways. Then they surround them with the
bubble later. Not bubble first then try to squeeze the words
into them. Make them use rulers to draw the rectangles and leave
margins around each rectangle and they may not copy any cartoon
characters. Also I have them prepare by drawing 10 sets of eyes,
ears, noses, head shapes, hair, eye brows, mouths, etc. and use
these to create characters. They love this so much that they
stay in for recess. It will take at least two hours if not
three or four if they use colored pencils.