A Laugh From Old Mrs. Wilson

Features of graphic novels

Essential Question 

The big question of this issue of Storyworks 2 is: What makes something funny?

• Reading and discussing “A Laugh From Old Mrs. Wilson” along with the other funny/humor-themed texts in the magazine (the nonfiction article, “What is Dav Pilkey’s Superpower?,” the paired texts, “What’s in a Joke?/How to Tell a Joke,” and the poem, “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes”) should give kids insight into what makes certain things funny.
• Through the above genres, students will discuss: Why do we like to laugh? Why do different people find different things funny? How do jokes work?
• This story also stands on its own. It’s not only fun, but it also gives kids great experience reading and thinking about graphic novels as a literary form. 

Choose a Video (We have two!) (10 minutes)

• You have two choices for a video with this story.

1. “The Big Question: What Makes Something Funny?”  (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)

• Before your students watch, ask them to think about this: “What makes something funny?”
• Watch the video.
• After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

2. “What’s in a Comic?”

• Our second video teaches kids about the features of a comic.
• Before watching, tell kids to look out for four features they might find in a comic.
• After watching, ask for kids’ help to fill out a list of comic features on chart paper. The features mentioned in the video are: panels, speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and onomatopoeia.
• Tell kids to look for those features in the mini graphic novel. They can fill in our “Comic Features Hunt” skills sheet after reading. 

Set a Purpose for Reading (5 minutes)

• Open your magazines to “A Laugh From Old Mrs. Wilson.” Ask kids: What kind of story is this? (a comic or a mini graphic novel)
• Next, read the Think and Read prompt on page 13: “As you read, think about the ways different people find different things to be funny.” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read.

• Kids can read this story individually, in small groups, or as a class.
• As they read, ask kids to note when the boys think something is funny but Mrs. Wilson does not.

Extend the Story With an Activity (20 minutes) 

• Kids can “finish” the story with the “What Happens Next?” printable. They’ll fill in the voice bubbles for the characters and create their own comic panel.
• This activity works in the skill of making inferences.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

• Pass out the quiz to assess comprehension of the article.
• We also offer a lower-level quiz.
• Both quizzes are now available in multiple choice and written-answer formats. 

ELA Focus: Comic Features Hunt (10 minutes) 

• Pass out the Comic Features Hunt skills sheet.
• Kids can use the mini graphic novel to fill it out and learn about the different features of comics/ graphic novels. 

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Pairable Texts “What is Dav Pilkey’s Superpower?” (pages 6-11), “What’s in a Joke?/ How to Tell a Joke” (pages 18-21), and “My Teacher Calls Me Sweetie Cakes” (page 32)

• These texts ask questions similar to those posed in the mini graphic novel. What makes something funny? How can different people find different things humorous?
• Kids can compare the humor in the texts using our “Funny Chart” printable. How are the texts alike and how are they different? 

Parts of Speech: A Silly Day at School (15 minutes)

The Silly Day at School printable is a Mad Libs-style fill-in-the-blank activity. Kids can practice being funny and learn parts of speech! 

NEW! Special Lesson for Independent Learning While Remote (30-40 minutes) 

• We created a brand-new resource to make it easy for your students to do an independent remote lesson with the mini graphic novel.
• Look in your Resources section for the “Slide Lesson.” It’s a self-contained group of slides that walk your students through the Mini Graphic Novel.
• This easy-to-use group of Google Slides walks your students through watching the video “What Makes Something Funny?” and then answering a question about it, reading the story independently, answering three questions after reading, and then doing our “What Happens Next?” inference page.
• It’s a simple way to take the resources we have already created and put them in one place so you don’t have to create anything new!