Get Your Sketchnote On – 3 hour workshop for Media Specialists

Collaborating with Media Specialists is one of the perks of my job. I support teachers and learners K-12 and working with folks who love books and advocate for reading is pure pleasure. Being asked to present a 3-hour pre-conference workshop on Sketchnoting for the North Carolina School School Library Media Association’s (NCSLMA) annual conference last week was an honor. Preparing for this group held a few atypical challenges as I would have to wait to find out if their interest in sketchnoting was from an individual or professional perspective. Basically, did they want to learn for personal enjoyment and their professional knowlege OR were they planning to share the skill with their students in a specific content area? It was going to be fun.

The typical agenda involves discussing the what and why’s of Sketchnoting, then practicing, building skills, and exploring the different opportunities to try on Sketchnoting. We opened up with a sketchnote selfie, or trading card. This is my way of starting slow and warming everyone up. The objective is to create your image then visualize 3 items that bring you joy or that could represent you, and draw those too. My group set to work, and before long they were all smiling at their introductions. In different settings I then use these cards to organize groups, pick participants, or personalize instruction. Today, we would use them as visual prompts to introduce ourselves. On the back, they were to think of that person or thing that could perch on their shoulders and cheer them on when life got tough. Mascot, cheerleader, talisman, buddy or champion which is the noun the group chose for this selection. This too, was a task that was undertaken with gusto. The sensitive nature of each person’s sharing brought a reverance to the room.

My favorite part of our time was introducing the book “We Don’t Eat Our Classmates” by Ryan T. Higgins. Perusing the attendee list prior to the event I noticed that most attendees served elementary schools, I wanted to personalize the activities to showcase the reading standards that would be apporpriate learning outcomes for K-2, I settled on first grade standards and shared those outcomes with the group. They could choose from identifying the beginning, middle and end of the story. The main problem and solution. The character and emotions from the events in the story, or any of the other apropriate reading standards for younger grades. I showed the cover and we listened to the book being read. The smiles and chuckles from the group were worth the prep, travel, and delivery time. This book is a gem. We discussed creating a dinosaur using only the basic shapes and I shared my own rough sketch of Penelope in rectangle, triangles, and circles. I had also prepared a template of sorts by drawing the main character, Penelope Rex on my iPad Pro and printing those sheets.

I distributed Penelope Rex, but also gave out plenty of blank paper for personal exploration. The quiet was palpable as attendees smiled and thought, remembered and then asked clarifying questions. I had a printed copy of the standards and a hard copy of the book for back up, but for the most part the adult learners in the room took off running.

Jerry and Jennifer chose my template and redrew Penelope. Jerry focusing on events and emotions by using arrows to show the stages (connectors in sketchnoting). Jennifer nailed the emotions and Penelope’s reactions in her pages.

Marina opted for a different set-up and a fabulous emotion meter to assist. This activity was not open-ended and once time was up, we shared out. Marina said she wanted to give the emotion meter to each of the stages, but ran out of time.

Here is my final product.

We discussed each submission with awe and upon seeing my outcome, Marci commented on my use of object (symbol) to designate event. She reflected that focusing on redrawing Penelope in action was a challenge and that this choice of object (icon/symbol) was something she would remember and use again with her students. This activity was inspiring and fun. It has educational support in a standards focus, and is easily adopted in the younger grades. The challenge is to work the same magic with literature on a higher level that might require a deeper understanding of symbol, and other text features. I envision more words in those sketchnotes, but an equal amount of joy.

Get your Sketchnote On, indeed. It was such a pleasure exploring together.
Do you have books or poetry that you like to explore with visuals? We would love to hear from you and see your examples as well.