It was a sunny afternoon and the class was buzzing with excitement. I, miss Piedrahita, stood at the front of the room, holding a special surprise for my students.“Class,” I began, smiling at their eager faces, “since our year end trip is coming up, I thought we could do something, creative and fun to capture it.” 

The students lean forward, curious about what this mysterious project might be.

“We’re going to make comic strips” I announced. 

The room filled with excited whispers. 

“But not just any comic strips,” I continued “you’ll be creating your own story about how you think our end of the year trip will be! Use your imagination. Will it be an adventure? Will something unexpected happen? This is your chance to be both an artist and a storyteller!”

The children’s eyes lit up, thrilled with the idea of something different. They loved how creative and personal the project was, combining art, and writing in a fun way. I could see their wheels turning already!

As I explained the task, I reminded the class that comic strips are more than just drawings. “Will be exploring dialogue today,” I said. “ Think about what your characters will say. How will they express excitement, surprise, or even a little nervousness about the trip?” 

I showed them examples of how comic strip dialogue is written inside of speech bubbles, emphasizing how important it is to match their words with the characters, feelings and actions.

As they worked, I couldn’t help but feel proud. These comic strips were more than just fun drawings. They were a reflection of how much each student had grown. At the beginning of the year, many of them struggled to express their ideas in writing. But now, as I compare their work to the writing samples from earlier in the term, the progress was clear. Their dialogue was richer, their sentences, more complex, and their stories more imaginative.