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Grade 5 · LESSON 562 OF 619

Windy Duck: Build a Cartoon Character

Make an original character design page featuring a duck with a runaway hat. The character wants to wear a hat outside, but a breeze lifts the hat away. One possible ending: it catches it upside down and finds a leaf inside. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.

45 minutes; extend to a second meeting as neededPencil, eraser, and optional black drawing pen on paperCartooningCharacter Design

One way your story could work

The character wants to wear a hat outside, but a breeze lifts the hat away. One possible ending: it catches it upside down and finds a leaf inside. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer. Two different body proportions can suggest the same character. Choose one, retain its identifying prop, and avoid tracing the reference.

The image introduces the character and prop; it is shared across ten different skill lessons. Follow this lesson’s directions to make its specific finished piece, using your own design.

Explore Cartooning →
Modern Art Lessons Studio Guide
YOUR STUDIO GUIDE SAYS

This is one of ten skill lessons using the Windy Duck story seed. Teach it independently or keep the character for a short skill sequence. Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback. A character study is shared across this sequence; the written worked example explains this lesson’s specific outcome.

STUDENT WORKSHEETPlanning, material testing, midpoint revision, and reflection prompts matched to this project.
OPEN + PRINT WORKSHEET ↗

Right-sized challenge · Grade 5

Core goal: Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.

Before starting: Try one small character design sample. If the main action is unfamiliar, model it before the full project.

If it feels too hard: Reduce the number of details; offer prepared panel boxes, larger tools, a partner, and dictated labels.

If the skill is already secure: Make a second version with a different visual choice and compare how an unfamiliar reader understands it.

Adult support: Students choose their own designs. Adults prepare tools, supervise binding, and preview external resources.

Time: One 45-minute meeting for a focused study; two for a flipbook or a longer revision. Finish the core skill before optional decoration.

Safety: Use school drawing tools. Adults handle stapling and difficult cuts. Keep jokes kind; do not caricature classmates or stereotype identities. No public account or upload required.

Suggested teaching starting points, not fixed ability bands. Adjust after observing the learner. Informed by NAEYC process-art guidance and the National Core Arts Standards framework.
Studio Guide introducing the project

THE STUDIO GUIDE'S PROJECT PLAN

What students are making

Make an original character design page featuring a duck with a runaway hat. The character wants to wear a hat outside, but a breeze lifts the hat away. One possible ending: it catches it upside down and finds a leaf inside. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.

Student directions

  1. 1

    Your finished project is an original character design page featuring a duck with a runaway hat. Read the story seed: The character wants to wear a hat outside, but a breeze lifts the hat away. One possible ending: it catches it upside down and finds a leaf inside. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.

  2. 2

    Start with flat bill, broad feet, and a floppy hat. These are helpful shapes, not a tracing template.

  3. 3

    Try a rounded version and an angular version of the same character using large simple shapes.

  4. 4

    Choose the shape arrangement that best fits the personality. Add the identifying feature and one useful prop.

  5. 5

    Draw a larger final version; simplify tiny details that disappear when viewed from an arm’s length.

  6. 6

    View the drawing from an arm’s length. Name the first three shapes you see and simplify an unclear detail. Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.

Artist connection

Mo Willems OPEN THE DIRECT EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE · TEACHER PREVIEW REQUIRED

The Eric Carle Museum describes how simple shapes create expressive characters. Classroom connection: notice how a small face or pose change can communicate a feeling. For this lesson, investigate character design using your own a duck with a runaway hat.

Teaching rule: borrow the artist’s question, process, material thinking, or relationship to audience—not a recognizable style.

Current art-world practice

Original cartoon storytelling through character design. This classroom task studies visual communication; it does not reproduce a published character or strip.

Ask students where they might encounter this practice today: a museum, public space, screen, community event, landscape, or temporary installation.

Teacher preparation

  • Preview the linked Mo Willems resource and choose one classroom-appropriate example. No purchase or whole-film viewing is required.
  • Prepare a quick character design demonstration using a different original character.
  • Prepare a page or card layout for an original character design page featuring a duck with a runaway hat; print the matching worksheet.
  • Offer large paper and short word banks; an adult may scribe dialogue.

Demonstration notes

  • Begin with flat bill, broad feet, and a floppy hat.
  • Try a rounded version and an angular version of the same character using large simple shapes.
  • Choose the shape arrangement that best fits the personality. Add the identifying feature and one useful prop.
  • Draw a larger final version; simplify tiny details that disappear when viewed from an arm’s length.
  • Show one unclear version and explain a small revision rather than presenting a perfect picture to copy.

Learning goals

  • Practice character design through an original cartoon.
  • Two design trials lead to one readable original character with consistent identifying features.
  • Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.

Materials

  • drawing paper and scrap paper
  • pencil and eraser
  • optional black drawing pen
  • ruler for panel guides when useful

Teaching sequence

  1. 1

    0–5 MIN · LAUNCH — Introduce a duck with a runaway hat. Read the goal and obstacle; let students propose an ending.

  2. 2

    5–10 MIN · MODEL — Demonstrate Try a rounded version and an angular version of the same character using large simple shapes. Use flat bill, broad feet, and a floppy hat. Explain that the character reference is not a finished assignment.

  3. 3

    10–15 MIN · TRY — Choose the shape arrangement that best fits the personality. Add the identifying feature and one useful prop. Students compare small trials before committing.

  4. 4

    15–32 MIN · MAKE — Draw a larger final version; simplify tiny details that disappear when viewed from an arm’s length. Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.

  5. 5

    32–40 MIN · TEST + REVISE — View the drawing from an arm’s length. Name the first three shapes you see and simplify an unclear detail. Record the partner's response before explaining the intended meaning.

  6. 6

    40–45 MIN · SHARE + CLEAN — Collect the work and one revision note. Do not grade drawing speed or realism.

What success looks like

  • The work addresses a duck with a runaway hat and the chosen skill.
  • Two design trials lead to one readable original character with consistent identifying features.
  • The student makes an original choice rather than copying the reference.
  • Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.

Teacher questions

  • How can we show that the character wants to wear a hat outside?
  • Which visible clue shows that it a breeze lifts the hat away?
  • View the drawing from an arm’s length. Name the first three shapes you see and simplify an unclear detail.
  • What does the reader understand without your explanation?

Common problems + responses

  • The picture is busy — remove a background detail that does not support the skill.
  • The character changes accidentally — compare its three identifying features.
  • The ending is unclear — strengthen the visible clue before adding more words.

Access + differentiation

  • Reduce to one character and one main visual change; rehearse the skill in a small sample.
  • Plan for an unfamiliar reader; compare alternatives and revise pacing, emphasis, or consistency using feedback.
  • Extend by trying a second version with a different viewpoint or pacing and explaining the effect—not by adding unrelated materials.

Material substitutions

  • Use pencil only if drawing pens are unavailable.
  • Use larger paper, adapted grips, a partner recorder, or spoken reflection.
  • For motion, arrange numbered drawings and move through them by hand if flipping is difficult.

Four-part assessment rubric

SKILL — Two design trials lead to one readable original character with consistent identifying features.

STORY — A viewer can identify the intended action or idea.

PROCESS — Trials and a purposeful change are visible.

REFLECTION — The student cites a reader response or visible detail.

Vocabulary

shapeproportionsilhouette

Student reflection

What did you notice? Which choice feels most like yours? What would you change next?

National Core Arts Standards

VA:Cr1.1.5a — Combine ideas innovatively

VA:Cr2.1.5a — Experiment and develop skills

VA:Cr3.1.5a — Write an artist statement

STUDENT PROMPT

Make an original character design page featuring a duck with a runaway hat. The character wants to wear a hat outside, but a breeze lifts the hat away. One possible ending: it catches it upside down and finds a leaf inside. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.

Make your own version. Test an idea, notice what changes, and keep the choices that help your meaning.
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