Teaching Innovation
Rosa Parks Comic Strip Journal
May 6, 2025 Lesson
The May 6 lesson is innovative because it transforms a traditional text analysis into a creative, hands-on activity where students fold paper to create a four-panel comic strip. They illustrate and summarize key events from Rosa Parks’ biography using dates and transition words, reinforcing their understanding of chronological nonfiction structure. This student-centered approach blends literacy, history, and visual storytelling, making it especially effective for ESL learners and diverse learning styles.
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Sample Student Work
Varied Levels of student work
Exemplary
This student included clear, colorful drawings that align with the key events of Rosa Parks’ biography. The dates are accurate and presented chronologically (e.g., December 1, 1955; February 1956; December 21, 1956). Each panel includes a written description that directly explains what’s happening in the drawing. The work demonstrates deep understanding, creativity, and effort, with thoughtful visual detail that matches the captions. This meets all criteria at the highest level.
Advanced
This comic strip shows strong understanding of the events and chronology of Rosa Parks’ story. The illustrations are clear, and the captions include relevant dates and events. While not as detailed or polished as the exemplary work, the student successfully presents the biography in sequence with some creativity. There is minor simplification in language and drawing but all major requirements are fulfilled effectively.
Proficient
This student meets the basic expectations: the comic strip includes correct dates, generally matches key events, and follows chronological order. The drawings are simple, and the captions are brief but accurate. Some transitions between events may feel abrupt, and the visuals lack some clarity. However, the student shows understanding of the task and covers the essential content.
Needs Improvement
This example shows minimal effort and understanding. The drawings are vague and lack necessary detail to reflect Rosa Parks’ biography clearly. Dates are missing or incorrect, and captions do not provide enough context for each event. Chronology and connection to the reading are hard to follow. Student needs more support in comprehending and completing multi-step assignments.
Teaching Development
Certificates
Teaching Assosiation
Community Service Project
The community service project focused on educating the school community about safety during earthquakes and tsunamis. Motivated by a recent tsunami alert in the area, the initiative aimed to raise awareness and help students feel more prepared in the event of a natural disaster. The project began with the creation of pre- and post-surveys using Google Forms to assess students’ initial knowledge and measure what they learned. A key part of the project was a live outdoor presentation by a guest speaker with expertise in emergency preparedness, who spoke about what to do before, during, and after an earthquake or tsunami. Students listened attentively and engaged with the material, asking questions and reflecting on their own experiences. As a whole, the project was both informative and empowering. It connected students to real-world emergency knowledge in a way that felt personal and urgent. The activity highlighted the importance of communication, collaboration, and community awareness. It was meaningful to contribute something that could potentially save lives and to know that even a school-based initiative can have a lasting impact.