MODERN ART LESSONS · STUDENT WORKSHEET
Backpack Penguin: Tell It Without Words
Make a wordless comic strip featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.
Character reference shared across ten skill lessons—not a picture of the completed assignment. Study the example for possibilities, then close or cover it. Your work should make different choices.
Story starter and example
The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer. Panel 1 establishes the goal; panel 2 makes the obstacle visible; panel 3 reveals the solution. Older students add a reaction or a pause panel.
What to do
- Your finished project is a wordless comic strip featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. Read the story seed: The character wants to carry one library book, but packs so much that the bag tips backward. One possible ending: it uses the empty bag as a book sled. Invent a different kind ending if you prefer.
- Start with oval body, short flippers, and a large rectangular bag. These are helpful shapes, not a tracing template.
- Divide the page into a clear beginning, problem, and solution sequence.
- Sketch the action lightly in reading order. Repeat the character’s identifying features in every panel.
- Show the important change with poses, object placement, and reaction. Omit speech, captions, and sound-effect words.
- Give the strip to a partner without introducing the story. Note the first confusing panel and revise it. Use large, clear shapes and show one understandable change.
My project: a wordless comic strip featuring a penguin with an oversized backpack. My chosen ending is…
BEGINNING sketch… PROBLEM sketch… SOLUTION sketch…
What changes between each panel?
Partner retelling… Unclear panel… Revision…
Story clue: How will I show that the character packs so much that the bag tips backward?
Before feedback, I wanted the reader to notice… The reader actually noticed…
Revision: I changed… because…
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