creative writing children’s book / graphic novel

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3/3/14 JOURNAL PROMPT #26

“Pick a card, any card!” The magician held the deck out

Cautiously, a member of the audience began to pull a card…

CONNOTATION

The emotional association of a word.

Look at the connotation of:

Chore

Task

Duty

Favor

Let’s read Dr. Suess

CHARACTER WORKSHEET

Use this worksheet to create a main character for your children’s book

Bring your favorite children’s book to school on Tuesday.

3/4/13 JOURNAL PROMPT #27

I came home and noticed the door was slightly open …

DENOTATION

The literal dictionary definition of a word.

CHILDREN’S BOOK REVIEW

3/6/14 JOURNAL PROMPT #28

You suddenly find yourself on a strange planet…

COUPLET

A pair of rhyming lines usually of the same verse and meter

YOU HAVE A POP QUIZ – IT IS REALLY HARD SO YOU MAY USE YOUR NOTES!

SUPERHEROES

Panels

A panel is an individual frame, or single drawing, in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or comic book.

It is the smaller box on a page in which the images are drawn. A panel consists of one drawing that depicts a single moment in time.

Speech Bubbles

Graphic used to assign ownership of dialogue.

Speech bubbles are used to tell your readers what each character in your comic strip is saying and feeling.

There are lots of different ways in which speech-bubbles can be drawn.

Scream Bubbles: indicate a character is screaming or shouting. They have jagged edges.

Coloured Bubbles: conveys the emotion that goes with the speech, such as red for anger.

Icicle Bubbles: have jagged icicles hanging from the bottom representing cold hostility. Similarly the speech bubbles of monsters may have an outline that suggests dripping blood or slime.

Thought Bubbles

Graphic used to show internal thoughts of a character.

Usually cloud shaped and connected to owner by a series of smaller bubbles.

Onomatopoeia

A word that imitates the sound that it is describing.

Famously used in comics as a pictorial representation of a sound effect.

Captions

Narrative device used to convey information that cannot be communicated by speech.

Usually takes the form of a small rectangular box situated in a corner of the panel.

Panel FramesBorder or edges of a panel. Usually rectangular in shape, but cloud shaped can indicate a dream/flashback and one with a jagged edge can indicate anger/shock.

Take a few minutes to think about the qualities that you think a hero has (i.e. bravery) and write them down. Then think of any types of people you think could be described as heroes (i.e. soldiers).

Brain-storming

What do someone’s heroes tell us about them?

Everyone has personal values. The idea of a hero is a very personal thing – it says a lot about what someone believes is important and what their values are.

What is a superpower? Being really good at Math?

Flying?

X-ray vision?

Where do superpowers come from in stories? Magic

Technology

Radiation/Atomic mutation

Do superpowers actually exist in real-life? Psychic powers?

Magicians?

What kind of themes do superheroes have when it comes to their names/powers/image?

Spiderman

Batman

Animal theme.

• Hero’s name – e.g. Batman

• Secret Identity – e.g. Clarke Kent

• Superpowers – e.g. Shape-shifting

• Quote – e.g. Hulk smash!

• Weaknesses – e.g. Kyrptonite

• Secret Origin – e.g. Death of family

• Personality – e.g. Moody

• HQ – e.g. Batcave

What is evil?

What kind of things do evil people do in real life?

What kind of things do evil people do in fiction?

Can you name some famous evil people – from both reality and fiction?

What do they do that is so bad?

Why do people become super villains in films/ TV shows/ comic books?

The plot is the story being told in your comic strip.

When you create your own comic strip it will be best to use a traditional superhero plot.

3/7/14 Journal #29:

“I thought it was just going to be a typical Friday morning…but I was wrong. This morning I woke up and discovered that I had a new power – the power of…”

DICTION

The author’s choice of words

BRAINSTORMING DAY

Today you need to commit to writing a children’s book or comic book and have the brainstorming worksheets completed.

Reminder: Journal #5 due Monday, 3/10