February 2006
Literacy Tutoring Tip:
Cut Apart Comics (adapted from Activities for First Grade by Naomi Singer and Matthew Miller)
Materials:
Comics
Child scissors
Skills:
Reading Comprehension/Expressive Language/Story Sequencing
Activity:
No matter what the length, every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. As oral language develops, young children need to play with language, working to organize the order in which they tell or write a story. They also need to recognize sequence in the stories they read.
One way to build your student’s awareness of sequence is to share newspaper or bubble gum wrapper comics. Look at a three to five-frame comic sequence together. Ask your student to tell the story based upon the cartoons. Encourage your student to imagine what the characters are saying. Guide the process by saying, “What happened first?” Move on, when ready to, “What happened second?” “What happened next?” “What happened last?”. Then read the comic together.
Now try Cut Apart Comics. Choose a comic to cut apart. Challenge your student to arrange the comic in correct story sequence, telling the story while completing the task.
