Comic Book Kid

The first day of fourth grade was rough for Lucy Monroe. First she fell off the old, rusty monkey bars. Then the principal decided to close the playground. The whole school blamed Lucy! But she and her friends had an idea. They would plan a new playground.

To find out what happens next, you’ll have to read The Geeky F@b 5. It’s a comic series about five girls who use math and science to solve problems. It’s written by Lucy Lareau and her mother, Liz.

Lucy Monroe is in fourth grade. Her first day of school was rough. First she fell off the monkey bars. They were old and rusty. Then the principal closed the playground. The whole school blamed Lucy! But she and her friends had an idea. They would plan a new playground.

To find out what happens next, you’ll have to read The Geeky F@b 5. It’s a comic series. In it, five girls use math and science to solve problems. Lucy Lareau wrote it. So did her mother, Liz.

Lucy is 12 years old. She and her mom began writing three years ago. Many stories are inspired by real life. So far, they’ve written two books. More are on the way.

COURTESY OF GEEKY FAB 5

Lucy and Liz plan the stories together. First they write a script. This explains what will happen in the comic. They also write dialogue, or what the characters say. Lucy makes sure the kids sound realistic.

Once the script is done, it’s ready for pictures. Lucy and Liz work with an illustrator. His name is Ryan Jampole. He draws the comics. “I replay the script in my mind like a movie,” he says.

Jampole draws the action of the story in panels. A panel is a single drawing on a comic page. He sketches each panel first. This helps him figure out how to arrange a scene.

Next, Jampole adds more detail. He draws balloons for the dialogue. Then he and an editor complete the book.

Lucy loves holding the finished comic. “I made this cool thing!” she says.

Lucy and Liz plan the stories together. First they write a script. This explains what will happen in the comic. They also write dialogue. This is what the characters say. Lucy makes sure the kids sound like real kids.

Then the script is done. Now it’s time for pictures. Lucy and Liz work with an illustrator. His name is Ryan Jampole. He draws the comics. “I replay the script in my mind like a movie,” he says.

Jampole draws the story in panels. A panel is a single drawing on a comic page. He sketches each panel first. This helps him figure out what to show.

Next, Jampole adds more detail. He draws balloons for the dialogue. Then he works with an editor. Together, they complete the book.

Lucy loves holding the finished comic. “I made this cool thing!” she says.

Ryan Jampole started one page of the first Geeky F@b 5 book by dividing it into 3 equal sections. Which of these models best represents the page?

Jampole used 1/3 of the page for a panel showing Lucy’s classroom. Shade in the model you chose from part A to represent this fraction.

Later in the book, Jampole used 2/5 of a page for a panel showing Lucy’s sister doing a karate kick. What is the denominator of 2/5?

What is the numerator?

Use the model below to show how much of the page Jampole used for the karate kick.

Jampole draws a scene where Lucy and her friends plan a new playground. It has 8 panels that are equally sized. Hubble is Lucy’s cat. He is in 2/8 of the panels. Draw cats in the model below to show how many panels include Hubble.

How many times did Hubble appear on the page?

On one page, Jampole used 1/3 of the space for a big panel. On another page, he used 4/6 of the space for one panel. Which panel was bigger? Draw fraction models on a separate piece of paper to prove your answer.

Comic Book Kid

Meet a mother and daughter who write comics about science and math

MATH TALK:

MATH TALK:

Modeling Fractions

Modeling Fractions

Continue the Learning Journey

Continue the Learning Journey