4th Grade Crew // Can comic books be a final product? Short answer: Yes.
Every class has an identity. Some classes have an affinity toward sports, others toward books or video games. Some classes are even heavily interested in plants and gardening. In 4th grade at DAA, our Crew is special in so many ways and it would actually be a disservice to them to reduce them to one identity because their interests span a range of topics. However, for this purpose, two interests stand out: Animals and Art.
It was evident from the first few days of virtual school that we loved animals and we had an artistic predisposition. For example, when we gave presentations introducing ourselves, we had artists, collage-makers, dancers, a poet, a rapper, a video creator, and many more. Additionally, during one of our Morning Crews, we had an impromptu Animal Show & Tell because so many of our Crew members had pets they were proud to show off. So, given these interests, it was only natural to finish off the year with a project called Animal Defense Mechanism Comic Books.
In ELA, our module focused on how animals use their behaviors and bodies to defend themselves from predators. Our final product tasks 4th grade with writing and illustrating comic books about an animal of their choosing. Each student gets a chance to select an animal with their expert groups to study and research. We read books, browsed web pages, and watched videos on animals as we gathered our evidence during our research. Our digital or physical comic books would have their animal as the main character or ‘hero” and the animal’s predator as the “villain.” In Art, Mrs. Brott developed lessons that aligned with our comic book project and the students illustrated their comic book covers, characters, and villains that would go into the comic cells. This interdisciplinary approach combined with Mrs. Brott’s creativity made this a project the students are excited to work on!
I was blown away with the innovation that 4th grade exhibited. They looked at templates as suggestions. They brought their own ideas into this project and truly made it their own. Below are just some of the examples from our final product.
As you can see, they put their 100% effort into making sure their comic books are what they want them to be and how they want to demonstrate their knowledge of animal defense mechanisms. My plan for a standardized final product would’ve been mundane, at best. Their passion for learning helped guide my thinking and I learned so much from them. They taught me video games that I should be hip to. They taught me DAA’s Habits of Character and how to embody them. And they taught me how important it is for teachers to embrace the student identities of the classroom. Not every student is the same, which means not every classroom is the same. I strive to follow three rules to make their learning meaningful: (1) inquire about their interests, (2) listen to their ideas, and (3) maintain the rigor. It takes a little more work and time, but if done right, the reward is special.