Title: Smile
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Summary
I will admit, going into this weeks theme, I was unsure about what book I would choose. I have not had much experience with graphic novels. When I came across the graphic novel "Smile" by Raina Telgemeir, I was still a little hesitant. However, this comical story had me entertained right from the start. The graphic novel "Smile" is actually a memoir based on the author's very own childhood. This novel is through Raina's point of view and starts off with her being in sixth grade. By the end of the graphic novel though, Raina is a Sophomore in high school. Raina goes through some very traumatic dental issues throughout the story. Throughout the course of the story, Raina knocks out her front teeth, has her teeth shoved up into her gums, has teeth retracted, gets braces twice, and even has to have a retainer with fake front teeth. The poor girl goes through the ringer when it comes to dental work. Raina is a trooper though with all of her dental issues. However, like most teenage girls she does struggle by feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable with her smile while all of this is going on. Throughout the story, while Raina is dealing with her dental issues, she is also dealing with normal teenage girl things like friendship with catty girls and having her first crush. The book is very relateable to many adolescents, especially for girls. The book has very engaging and comical graphics to keep you engaged throughout the whole story. I fell in love with this graphic novel, and would definitely recommend it as a book to be available to Jr high early highschool ages.
Classroom Activities
This cute and relateable graphic novel allows for numerous activities that a teacher can utilize in his or her classroom. Scholastic has some great free resources available for teachers to implement in their classroom. I have listed the link below. Some of the activities provided includes a pre-made graphic organizer for students to fill out while they read the novel. Another activity listed on this free resources is a post activity. This post activity is my absolute favorite! If I were to teach this graphic novel to students I would most definitely incorporate it into my lesson. The activity is to have students create their own comic over a time with they have felt embarrassed and/or in an uncomfortable situation. I think this would be such a fun and interactive activity for older students to do because it allows for them to share experiences, and be empathetic of other. This activity also gives a chance for students to be creative and use their artistic abilities which they may not get to do that much during their regular school day. All students at one point or another have been in a situation where they have felt frustrated or not at ease among their peers, and it's important for them to know that they are not alone. This graphic novel also gives many opportunities for whole group and small group discussions among the class. Depending on how long the teacher wanted to spend on teaching this graphic novel, I think there could be some great educational and emotional lessons involved.
References
Lesson Plan for Smile by Raina Telgemeier Pre-Reading Activities. (n.d.). Retrieved June 17, 2024, from https://www.scholastic.com/graphix_teacher/pdf/Scholastic_GrphxWebCast_RTelgemeier.pdf
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