Sean Willis

3/21/16
Professor Rybakova
The Book Thief (10th Grade)
Rationale:
Todays lesson will be centered on creating a comic strip
depicting a scene from Markus Zusaks novel The Book Thief. Students
have just finished the book, so they will be able to use any scene from
the novel that they choose so long as it correlates with the activity.
The Book Thief is a coming-of-age novel about a young girl living in
Nazi Germany. We have read this book at this time (March), because it
is longer and a little bit more complicated than the novels we have
already read, so I wanted the students to have time to adjust to a
novel of this size. This book also deals with themes of suffering,
friendship, and poverty, which all can be relatable topics for fifteen to
sixteen year olds. Todays activity will be to choose a theme from the
book, and in groups create a comic strip of a scene where that theme
is prominent (appendix A). This activity will fulfill the below Florida
Standards for grades nine and ten. By taking the text and reshaping it
to show a theme they are practicing presenting information in a
different way that is still logical and appropriate to the task. Since we
have just finished the book, this mini-activity will set the stage for our
summative assessment project.
Florida Standards:
LAFS.910.RL.1.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and
analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including
how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide
an objective summary of the text.
LAFS.910.SL.2.4 Present information, findings, and supporting
evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow
the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance,
and style are appropriate to purpose, task, and audience

Objectives:
Students will be able to (SWBAT)
1. Identify themes in The Book Thief
2. Apply those themes to recreate a comic book style text about the
novel
Materials:
Class copies of Markus Zusaks The Book Thief.
Projector
Computer
Activity instructions (appendix A)
Playing cards (21 total, 5 of each suit, except spades which will
have six)
Extra colored pencils/markers
Anticipatory Set:
As the students walk into the classroom they should be handed a
playing card. They should also be instructed to sit down and begin
writing down any themes or significant scenes they remember from
their reading of The Book Thief. (Warm-up activity may be written on
the board if needed).
Procedure:
Time
1 minute

Student is doing
Getting a playing
card, doing warm-up
activity.

1 minutes

Getting into groups

based on the suit of
their card

2 minutes

Listening to the
teacher present the
comic strip activity.

Teacher is doing
Distributing playing
cards, presenting
warm-up activity (see
anticipatory set).
Telling the students to
get into groups based
on their card suits.
(Diamonds with
diamonds, clubs with
clubs and so on).
Groups should be
directed to different
corners of the
classroom before
commencing their
work.
Presenting comic strip
activity on the
projector (appendix

10 minutes

Creating their comic

strip as a group.

A).
Keeping students
focused, answering
questions, handing
out extra supplies (if
needed),checking on
student projects.

Summary/Closure:
After students are done, they should return any extra supplies
that they used back to the teacher. Students can work on their
projects up until the bell rings, and they will be due at the start of class
tomorrow.
Assessment:
Informal: Participation on group project
Formal: Comic Strip Project
o Graded based rubric (appendix C)(15 points)
o This allows students to own the text and manipulate it in
their own way while also being conscious of the original
text itself
Homework:
Complete comic strip for tomorrow.
Accommodations/Adaptations:
For our two LEP students (Xavier and Nadia), our activity today
will provide some visual aids to assist their understanding of the
activity. If they need help, their student groups should provide some
support, however additional assistance may be needed.
Students with ADD/ADHD (Christopher) may be switched into a
different group if he acts out, and may require some extra attention.
For our student with anxiety (Cecilia), do not force her to answer
questions if she does not want to. If she is having issues working with
her group, she may be switched into a group with her friend Sophia.
For our student with Aspergers (Jared) it is important to provide
clear transitions so that he knows exactly what the class is doing at all
times. Also, having an agenda written on the board helps Jared be
familiar with the days schedule.

Plan B:
If the class has trouble coming up with themes for the activity,
ask them about how characters interact with one another, or try to
think of a scene that they found moving or progressed the plot first,
then try to come up with a theme based on that event. If there are any
technical difficulties, simply read the activity instructions off of
appendix A.

Appendix A

Comic Strip Activity

In groups, create a comic strip
depicting a scene from The Book Thief
that promotes a theme or idea that is
prominent within the novel. The comic
strip must be at least four panels, and
include at least five speech/thought
bubbles and at least one caption as
well as colored illustrations (all panels)
and some sort of background in at
least 2 panels.
(Choose a theme from The Book Thief and make a comic strip of a
scene showing that theme)

(Appendix B)

RUBRIC: Comic Strip activity

Minimum criterion (4 panels, 5
speech/thought bubbles, one
caption, colored, 2 backgrounds)
Effort
Theme/overall creativity
Total

_________/8
__________/2
__________/5
__________/15