Objective:
The objective of this performance task is to allow students to creatively express their understanding of social studies concepts through the use of comic strips. By creating a comic strip, students can demonstrate their research and communication skills and their understanding of the chosen social studies topic.
Click the file -> Comic Strip Sample 1
Click the file -> Comic Strip Sample 2
Pros:
Encourages research skills: Students must research their chosen social studies topic to create their comic strip, which helps them develop research skills.
Enhances communication skills: Students must effectively communicate their understanding of the topic in a visually engaging and concise way, which helps them develop communication skills.
Integrates visual and textual elements: Students can use visual and textual elements to create an engaging and dynamic performance task, which helps them develop creativity and artistic skills.
Can be used for storytelling: Comic strips can be used to tell a story, which can help students to better understand the social studies concepts being taught.
Cons:
May require artistic ability: Creating a high-quality comic strip may require artistic ability, which not all students may possess.
May be time-consuming: Creating a high-quality comic strip can be time-consuming, which may limit the time available for other social studies activities.
It may have limitations in assessing critical thinking: While the performance task can assess research and communication skills, it may have limitations in assessing critical thinking skills, as students simply present information rather than analyze or evaluate it.
May require additional grading time: Grading comic strips may take more time than grading traditional assessments due to the need to review and evaluate the visual and textual elements.
In summary, creating a comic strip as a performance task can be a creative and engaging addition to a social studies class, as it promotes research, communication, creativity, and artistic skills. However, it may require additional resources and grading time and may have limitations in assessing critical thinking skills.
