Illustrated Story Beginnings

With a round of individual storytelling under their belts, students got a chance to team up, combine their talents, and tell a much more detailed tale. But before we got down to business today, Mr. Matthew treated us to a rousing, Mad-lib-altered rendition of “Old McDonald Had A Farm” recast as “American McDonald Had a Guy.” And that “guy” made the sound “AHHHHHHHHHHHH, AHHHHHHHHHH….” Evidently, American McDonald’s guy was in pain.

The students’ tables were already covered with fresh sheets of white paper, and the task on hand was somewhat similar to the task we covered on Monday: storytelling through illustration. This time, however, students at each table worked together to create a single story, illustrate it with colored pencils and give a brief written summary. The possibilities, as always, were endless. We only asked that students somehow answer the following questions in the process of illustrating and writing down their tale: where and when is the story happening? Who is in the story? What happens in the story?

One table told the story of a day at the beach: a bunch of boys and girls decided to go to the seaside recently for an afternoon of sun and surf. But low and behold, peaceful surfing soon turned to tragedy as several sharks attacked, biting the legs of those enjoying the waves. Asked if a soundtrack accompanied their story, the students shook their heads “no,” but the presence of the “Jaws” theme was unmistakable. Fortunately, a lifeguard was on hand to warn of the danger and help treat the casualties. It was unclear whether or not the lifeguard looked like David Hasselhof.

One table over, the buildings of Springfield, Illinois were ablaze. Somebody had eliminated all of the fire extinguishers in the town. The situation looked dire: Homer, sitting idly by and eating a hamburger, had no idea what to do, and Maggie sucked on her pacifier while aloofly observing the chaos. Fortunately, Bart came to the rescue: flying down main street in an old, beat-up Ford equipped with fire-extinguishing equipment, he put out the fires and saved the day. The jury is still out as to whether Bart was the one who stole the fire extinguishers in the first place.