1. Composing a graphic novel Teaching resource

2. Ever wanted to compose an interactive graphic story? Here is your opportunity! As part of this Unit of Work, you will examine an interactive graphic novel and use a variety of resources and graphics to compose your own graphic novel

3. COLLABORATE The online version of A New Kind of Alchemy was a collaboration of the short story writer, the work of an illustrator and an editor. Form a group with 3 other class members to develop your own interactive graphic novel As a group, decide on the presentation style of your interactive graphic story

4. EXPLORE Read A New Kind of Alchemy. This interactive graphic story is based on a short story by writer, James Roy.A New Kind of Alchemy To learn more about composing a graphic novel watch these short videos of Nicki Greenberg talking about her graphical adaptation of the novel,Nicki Greenberg The Great Gatsby.

5. IDEAS - IDEAS - IDEAS Have look at these online Graphic Novels; you may get some ideas for your project. Meanwhile is an interactive comic from Jason Shiga – like a much cooler version of those Choose your Own Adventure Books you read as a kid.Meanwhile Salamander Dreaming is the story of a girl and her salamander spirit friend as they journey through a magical worldSalamander Dreaming Finder is a magazine style graphic novel about tribal communities and a mysterious wanderer.Finder

6. The following website links are designed to help you research how to construct your online graphic novel. Graphic Novels: The beginning has a step by step guides to help your groups to build your online graphic novel. It also contains some graphic novel trailers to view.Graphic Novels

7. GRAPHICS You can find graphics, photographs or draw your own images to create your story. Flickr – Creative Commons – many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons Licence and you can browse or search through content under each type of licence. Make sure you check the licence terms for specific photos you wish to use.Flickr – Creative Commons Stock.xchng – Sxc is a huge database of images available at no cost. Check the guidelines posted with each image regarding crediting or informing the originator of any specific images you want to use.Stock.xchng

8. PRESENTATION You can build your new story using a variety of presentation applications applications on your laptop. These include: Microsoft PowerPoint Adobe Acrobat Pro – Extended portfolio Adobe Photoshop Elements – slideshow Adobe Presenter

9. ADDING SOUND Adding audio will enhance your presentation. You could use Audacity to add and mix music, speech and sound effects to your presentation to create the mood of your story. Use Audacity to record a sound track to your slideshow A New Kind of Alchemy. Use your laptop’s microphone to record the dialogue and add a voice-over to the story. You could add dialogue from the short story to create your own interpretation of events in the story. You could add sound effects and music to create the mood and atmosphere of the story.

10. Here is an example of how to upload these files s once you have recorded your audio. You can add the sound track to a Photoshop Elements slideshow. Show Editor, select Add Media (as shown on right) to add your sound track. You can trim the audio to fit the movie. For help with recording your sound track, see Tools4U – Audacity.Tools4U – Audacity The links below can help you find music and sound effects for your graphic novel transformation. FreePlayMusic – a database of royalty-free music and sound effects that you can search and download.FreePlayMusic Jamendo – artists allow you to download and share their music.Jamendo Wavcentral – you can access and download free sound effects and music.Wavcentral

11. TASK TIMEFRAMES Lesson 1 & 2 Form your groups. Explore this guide and the suggested websites as part of the Explore, Collaborate and Ideas pages, choose your presentation medium. Lesson 2 -3-4 Develop and create your story board for your graphic novel using pictures you have either created or sourced from the net Lesson 4-5 Add the finishing touches – audio: commentary or a soundtrack, upload your finished product onto our class Blog Lesson 6 Present on the SmartBoard your graphic novel as a group – linking your project from the class Blog