Lesson-plan for an activity featuring multimodality. The first of an entire
Lesson time: 60 minutes
The targeted class will be a year 1 at upper secondary school. They are in the second semester and
are close to finishing their first year. This lesson is a means for me to see how much my pupils have
grown and how much of the written English they have mastered.
What: In this lesson we will be analysing a chapter or two of Art Spiegelman’s Maus I. We will
mainly be analysing how Spiegelman uses the graphic novel as medium to tell the story as well as
why Spiegelman has chosen this medium. During the lesson the pupils will get to use their
analytical abilities to also discern the relationship between the art and text. The teacher assumes that
at level the pupils are at they would have done multiple text analyses in earlier years. However, the
teacher will have gone through a text analysis with the class at an earlier date as a form of repetition
for the pupils.
The materials we will use are Spiegelman’s Maus I or the complete Maus, a whiteboard, a writing
medium whether that is digitally or with pen and paper. Maus I will be handed out by the teacher,
whether it is digitally or printed is depending on whether the pupils want to read it via their
computers or via paper.
The purpose of this lesson is to refine the pupils’ analytical abilities as well as let them hone their
reading competence.
HOW: I will start off with my lesson by preparing 5ish minutes in advance. During this prep I will
write in the top corner: the time at which we start and finish the lesson. What the lessons subject
will be and materials needed. I will then write down the steps we will take during the lesson: Lesson
Introduction 5 min, reading 10 min, analysis 20 min, short break 5 min, analysis 15 min, round up
the class.
To start off the lesson I will introduce today's subject: text analysis. I will give the pupils the
reading materials which is the first two chapters of Maus. I will explicitly tell them that they should
focus on reading the first two chapters but it might help to read the third chapter as well. The point
is to immerse themselves in the story and art rather than reading the text. During the introduction I
will give them a short list of things to think about whilst reading. Things such as who the characters
are, how the different characters are depicted, why they are depicted in such a way. Does the text
match the environment of the context?
When it is time for them to read they get ten minutes to read regardless if they read all of it in time
or not. The point isn't to have finished reading, but to immerse themselves in the story world and the
context and to familiarise themselves. This way they will have an easier time when analysing the
work. The reason why I gave them a list before reading is so that whilst they don't need to answer
the questions having read the questions will help the pupils notice smaller details they otherwise
might not have.
After the ten minutes are up, I will move the class along to start analysing the work. I will briefly
ask what they thought of the work so far. Just to see if they liked or not. I will then hand them pre-
made questions that they can use as a basis for their analyses. These questions will be expanding on
the previous questions that were handed out before the pupils began reading.
Which characters are in the focus? Who are the main character/characters?
How the different characters are depicted, why they are depicted in such a way?
Does the text match the environment of the context?
What is the relationship between the art of Maus and the text?
Why do you think the author has chosen to use graphic novel form instead of a novel or other forms
of literature?
What impressions do the characters have? Are they static? Are they moving a lot? Do gestures in
the artwork match up with the dialogue spoken?
We talk about narrative often. How does this story being in the form of a graphic novel affect the
narrative of the story? What sort of impressions do we get from this work?
Once these questions have been handed out I will let the pupils work in pairs or individually if they
want to. The pupils get 35 minutes to work with this assignment There will be a short break during
this time so they can stretch their muscles a bit. I do not think that everyone will finish the
assignment during this lesson. That doesn’t mean I don’t expect them to fail. I will also walking
around the classroom to see if there is anything I can do to help the pupils that might be lagging
behind or are stuck or just want help with the questions.
During this time I am hoping that I will be able to see them work during the lesson. By this I mean I
want to see what kind of interesting deductions and analyses they will draw and make. I can’t really
wait to read it once I’m at my desk during break times or whatnot.
Once there is five minutes left I will ask them to stop writing. I will ask them how they felt that this
assignment went. I am expecting some of them to have found this a challenging exercise but
hopefully they will have felt it to be rewarding. I will ask them to hand their works in whether they
wrote it digitally or physically. This way I can see the results with my own eyes.
Why: the reason for why we are doing this is that through a graphic novel I want to teach the pupils
about narrative through different media than what they might be used to. I want to see if by using a
multimodal narrative my pupils will be able to achieve the same results as if it had only been
regular text.
Hopefully they will also learn to appreciate graphic novels and see them as an amazing form of
media.