Lesson Plan #:AELP-ARA0005
Author: Meryl B. Menon
School, or Affiliation: Pech Place, Orange, Connecticut Date: 1994

Subject(s):

• Arts/Visual Arts

Objective:

To learn art-related skills of drawing and sequencing drawings by creating comic strips.

Grade Level(s): 4, 5, 6

Materials:

• One or multiple computers; printer
• Software: graphics and word processing
• Examples of formats of humor, such as riddles, puns, limericks, cartoons, jokes, and comic strips

Time Required: 5 class periods

Activities and Procedures:

• Discuss the general subject of humor through topics such as what makes people laugh, the different types of humor, its cultural dimension, and why and when laughing is beneficial.
• Examine with the students several verbal and visual examples of contemporary humor to see why they are popular.
• Have the students plan their comic strips on paper.
• Have them then use the graphics and word processing software to prepare their final products. If computers are limited, have the students not working at the computer complete other assignments related to humor, such as writing original jokes or riddles, drawing cartoons, sketching inventions in the style of Rube Goldberg, or preparing reports on amusing books.

Follow-up/Extensions:

Combine the comic strips and other works of art, copy them, compile them in books, and distribute the comic books to other classes in the school. Bind and place one copy in the library.