Capstone Project Proposal

Name of student: Annie Lai Date: May 17, 2023

Teacher: Ms. Browne Block: B

The Capstone strand I have chosen is Project Strand

Proposed title for my Project Proposal: (write the proposed title for your Capstone Project in one clear

sentence):

Drawing a kid’s picture book that can teach them and change their perspective on their cultural
identities.

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that
connects with a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that you
cannot just google an answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How does a picture book help the emotional development of children through a story about
admitting one’s cultural identity?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you are
choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry connect to
your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I choose this inquiry question because I have been interested in drawing and creating since I was
little. When I was in elementary school, I went to an art studio and learned different kinds of
drawing techniques for over 5 years. I didn’t continue going there after I graduated from elementary
school. Now, because of the art studio class that I am taking in school, I would like to give myself
one more chance which could be a challenge for me to recapture the way I used to draw. Though I
am not quite good at storytelling, I can use colours, shapes, and easy language to show my
message through the book which is also connected to the post-secondary program that I am going
– psychology. Drawing a book is not just about a single story, it shows feeling, emotions, relations,
and something not just by reading it.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this area of

inquiry?

The background knowledge that I had was that I took art studio as an extra-curricular class for over
5 years in the past. I still have the foundation skills of various types of drawing techniques that can
help me present the work more easily in the way I want it to be. I have also practiced creative
 writing and writing stories a few times at school. As a sensitive and insightful person, it takes me a
lot of time to make decisions when I create but accurately to the point that I want to reach.

Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections
does this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

My intended career area is psychology or design media arts. Though I chose psychology as the
post-secondary school program to go to, I know that sometimes we don’t just stick with one path.
There is always more possibility than what we do in schools. For this capstone project, I will bring
back the passion that I had for drawing in the past and create something I haven’t done before.
Though I don’t have much knowledge of psychology, I take this project as an introduction to the
future program that I am going to take. This is very different from the psychology program at the
university, but the small details, such as the perspectives of myself and the audience, are
something I will take some time to think about. For example, I want to express empathy through the
book, and I will need to find ways to present it right while I am writing and drawing. Even if it might
just be a small part, it is always good to start thinking about how psychology can be effective in
different areas.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core
competencies will be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections. (Must
include reference to ALL 6 Core competencies).

The subject area will be straightforward to fine arts since I will be drawing the picture book myself,
as well as creative writing because I will be writing the story too. I will choose the medium to draw
and practice a little before I start making drafts. The writing style will be considered as well because
it is a children’s book. This project will be connected to all 6 core competencies including:
Personal Awareness and Responsibilities
- I will be self-regulated and self-determined in which I make my own plan and know the
consequences of my choices.
Social Responsibilities
- I do value cultural diversity and I will create a book that is going to talk about one’s identity.
Critical Thinking
- For this project, I have done research to make sure I can create a reliable product. The final
product would be my conclusion to the research that I have done.
Creative Thinking
- I am creating a book that is based on my own ideas which would be developed into a
meaningful work.
Communication
- I would talk to my friends about my ideas and exchange knowledge with them to draw a
conclusion. I take their suggestion seriously and consider them to be in the project.
Personal and Cultural Identity
- The book that I would be creating is a story about cultural identity.
Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present
your project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed. You
may use a combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or o Website
PPT o imovie presentation
o Physical portfolio o YouTube channel

I will use PPT to present my project to show the full process and the result, along with descriptions
and some photo or video evidence that I will take when I work on the project. In the PPT, I will
explain the steps of how I start sketching the book and coming up with a storyline, how I put
everything together to form a product, as well as some challenges that I have during the process
and how I solve them. The slides of the PPT will mostly be picture based. I will also provide
physical drafts and sketches of the drawing on the picture book. I am still thinking about whether I
should print the final product as a physical book or scan through the drawings and put them
together as an e-book.

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what will
you research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced at the end
of this project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your proposal.
To start the project, I will need to research children’s literature, picture books, cultural identity, the
possible ways of children’s understanding at certain ages, and how to write and draw a children’s
book. Because I haven’t touched children’s books for a long time, I will need recaps of how they are
created as knowledgeable and purposeful books. For this project, I should be careful about the
book's key messages, themes, and the knowledge I want to give out. It is not a hard topic to think
about, but it can be complicated, and sensitive. I will need to make sure I have deep research
before I start creating the storyboard.

Cultural identity is a broad topic to talk about. When I first started the project, I wanted to talk about
respecting different cultures through empathy, but I was having problems when I created the
storyboard. As I was creating the storyboard, I realized that I was going off the topic, then I moved
on to focus on knowing and accepting one’s own identity/ identities as the theme. It is a topic that I
want to talk about more because I want to refer to my own story.

After researching and having a key message/ theme, I will need to start creating the storyboard
which includes rough drawings and short scripts for 18 pages. I might have multiple drafts for some
pages just to see which works better and make the book more rounded. When creating each page,
I not only need to focus single point of one page but look at how all the pages would come
together, and I think this is the purpose of creating my storyboard. It is always easier to write a
storyline, but it would be harder to make spreads for the story. At this point, I will still need to
continue researching and finding inspiration to guide me through the brainstorming and creating
process while gathering the information and the storyboard.

Once I am ready to move on to create the final product, I should have everything ready by then and
have all the material I need, such as the medium for drawing and s sketching book. When creating
the book, I need to make sure I can fully focus on it, so the work quality is high. I will have an
 outline of the story first, and starting on pages, add colours to the drawing, add captions or speech
bubbles to every page, then create the book cover to end it. I will keep the story length to no more
than 5 minutes of reading time because it will be a book for kids from kindergarten to fourth grade. I
might do some drafts first, ask for feedback, and make some changes that are necessary before I
put colours into the drawing.

When I finish drawing and adding captions to the book, I need to continue asking for feedback from
different people and make sure there is no error that might mislead kids in the book. I also have to
make sure I include all the details so that I can maximize the expression of the message behind the
book. To make it to the final product, I might either present the works online as an e-book by
scanning them or keep them on paper and put all the pages together like an actual book. Whether
it is an e-book or a physical book, it should have a book cover, story pages with my original
drawings, captions to read, the end of the story, and a back cover with drawings as well. The whole
book should also be colourful, clear, and easy to read with big font.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and skills you
will need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to access/learn all of the
resources necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail your plans.

To complete this project, I will need to search for online tutorials and tips for creating a book and
find the correct steps starting from planning, writing the storyline, and making some drafts before
starting. I can have access to the technology I have to find resources. I also have at least basic
skills or even advanced skills to draw and write to complete this book. My plan to be able to access
all of the problems. Also, when looking for resources online, I can always try to use different
websites or servers, so I can get more information.

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will you

need to help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you? What is your
plan to access the mentorship/community connections necessary for this project?

The community connection I would need are places that are easy to reach for me to complete my
project, for example, school, local art studio, or online. I need this type of mentor because I can
lose my ideas quickly if I don’t get the response I need. My plan to access the mentorship
connection is to ask the teacher of the art studio class that I am taking this semester. When I draw,
I don’t necessarily need too much help because there is no right or wrong answer in art, but I will
need some feedback from someone who is professional so that I can understand a different
perspective besides me. I can use focus flex to reach the teacher since we always have plenty of
work time in art and I can also message the teacher on Teams when I don’t need any
demonstration.
Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee that
might affect progress with your Capstone Project?

Some limitations and potential obstacles could be:

- Lack creative ideas I need for writing and drawing.
- A proper inspiration that is hard to find for this specific topic.
- Nonstop overthinking a single detail which I might be stuck with for a long time.
- Doesn’t have enough drawing materials in the middle of the drawing process.
- Do a small part of the drawing wrong and need to start all over again.
- Have other school subjects to work on and can’t put full attention on the capstone project.

Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about your
project that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

- I should keep asking for opinions and feedback from different people while I am making the
book so it can be more inclusive.
- The book should be kept at a certain length, so it won’t be too short or too long to read.
- I should give the final version to at least 5 different people and ask for comments

References: Provide reference list of a minimum of 8 PEER REVIEWED ACADEMIC references:

research, videos, etc. Your list should be written using correct APA formatting.

References

Clark, R., Keller, P. J., Knights, A., Nabar, J., Ramsbey, T. B., & Ramsbey, T. (2007). Let Me Draw You a

Picture: Alternate and Changing Views of Gender in Award-Winning Picture Books for

Children. International Review of Modern Sociology, 33(1), 69–96.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41421255

Gubar, M. (2011). On Not Defining Children’s Literature. PMLA, 126(1), 209–216.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41414094?searchText=children+literature&searchUri=%2Faction

%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dchildren

%2Bliterature&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default

%3Aac0ab13d248772ddb8086281a19dd79d&seq=1

Hagerman, M. A. (2019). Conversations with kids about race. The Phi Delta Kappan, 100(7), 17–21.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26677367?searchText=kids+book&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch
 %3FQuery%3Dkids%2Bbook&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-

default%3A1450998609a884b4e754f45a6b31c656&seq=5

Lam, S. (2023, April 25). How to digitize a sketch in 4 steps with Adobe Illustrator. SKILL SHARE Blog.

https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/how-to-digitize-a-sketch-with-adobe-illustrator/

Rasinski, T. V., & Padak, N. D. (1990). Multicultural Learning Through Children’s Literature. Language

Arts, 67(6), 576–580. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41961778?searchText=children

%27s+literature&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dchildren%2527s

%2Bliterature&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default

%3Abc8553a928ada452e9f38416d09a4552

Roethler, J. (1998). Reading in Color: Children’s Book Illustrations and Identity Formation for Black Children in

the United States. African American Review, 32(1), 95. https://doi.org/10.2307/3042272

Villarreal, A., Minton, S., & Martinez, M. (2015). CHILD ILLUSTRATORS: Making Meaning Through Visual

Art in Picture Books. The Reading Teacher, 69(3), 265–275. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24574751?

searchText=picture+books&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dpicture

%2Bbooks&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default

%3A4dc50ff81bea9b3d2632b9a849ebfbc5&seq=10

Yokota, J. (1993). Issues in Selecting Multicultural Children’s Literature. Language Arts, 70(3), 156–167.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/41482079?searchText=children%27s+literature&searchUri=%2Faction

%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dchildren%2527s

%2Bliterature&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default

%3A18d14784d6a91e6f7ab8bc8ebc6508df&seq=2
‌