Science fiction/comics class at Eaton ES

Earlier this week, comics writer/editor Jason Rodriguez, comics artist Keir Lyles, Eric Suggs Jr. (president of Art Way Alliance) and the folks heading the Museum of Science Fiction project held a two-hour workshop on comics and science fiction at the John Eaton Elementary School in D.C. Suggs provided us with an overview of the program (below) for the 5^th grade class.

Science fiction and comics in the classroom program summary

This program aims to pair students with a comic book writer and comic cook artist in order to get them to understand how science fiction is created and guide them in the development of their first science fiction comic strip.

In this program, a comic writer (Jason Rodriguez) will talk about different ways that students would turn a concept like the recent “Rosetta Comet Landing Mission” into science fiction. While this discussion is taking place, comic artist (Keir Lyles) will be drawing out some of these concepts, illustrating the process from science fact to science fiction idea to science fiction comic. This would give students the opportunity to understand not just the creative process, but how the science they are learning in schools informs some of the science fiction they are reading in their books and, sometimes, vice versa.

After this discussion and demonstration, the students will be asked to create their own three-panel science fiction comic strip using the writer and artist as a sounding board for ideas and execution. The comic strip that they create will allow them to not just talk about the story that they created, but the science that served as the foundation of the project.

Detailed program breakdown

30 to 45 minutes: Science fiction creation discussion and artist drawing out the concepts that are discussed. The remaining time will be used to work with the students as they create their three-panel comic strips.

Below is the link to the pics from the class:

Photos courtesy of Eric Suggs