The Broken Brush

Responsible decision making

Self-mangement

Characteristics of a comic

Problem and solution

•  Morning Meeting: If you use your morning meeting to build your classroom community, this mini graphic novel about using class materials responsibly is a great discussion prompt.
• Whole Group: Read “The  Broken Brush” as a class readaloud. Once you’ve read and discussed the story together,  have children act out the  different parts. 

• From the Storyworks archive: “Sticky Situation: When Is It My Turn?,” October/November 2022; “Sticky Situation: My Way,”  May/June 2023.
• Suggested books: The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill; I Can Help by Reem Faruqi; What  Should Danny Do? School Day by Ganit & Adir Levy

Video: What's In a Comic? (5 minutes)

• Explore how comics use pictures, thoughts, and dialogue to tell a story.

• Ask children what kind of story this is. How do they know?  Watch “What’s in a Comic?” as  a refresher.
• Ask children about a time when they did not take care of school supplies. What happened? Discuss why it is important to take care of our classroom.
• Read the comic aloud, reading the dialogue with expression. Check comprehension as you read each panel. Children can turn and talk to discuss what each picture tells them about the story and the characters.
• Then give children a chance to practice reading with fluency  and expression. Choose volunteers to read each part aloud and act it out. 
•  Discuss the Talk It Out questions as a class. Ask children to share examples from their own lives. 

• Skills: Self-regulation (15 minutes)

Skill: Poetry (15 minutes)

• Write the word RESPONSIBLE vertically on chart paper. Create an acrostic  poem for the word with the help of students.