Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel,

Learning Goals

• Describe Garvey’s interests and feelings, including his love of music and his struggle with his father’s expectations about sports.
• Use dialogue, facial expressions, and other visual details in the graphic novel to explain how Garvey responds to teasing and encouragement.
• Explain how friendship and singing help Garvey recognize his strengths and express his identity.
• Create a short comic that communicates a personal strength and shows a supportive response from another person.

Activity Steps

1. 1.Introduce the question, “How can we discover and share what makes us ourselves?” Explain that Garvey feels pressure to enjoy sports but has different interests. Invite students to name interests people can have without labeling any interest as better than another.
2. 2.Read selected sequences showing Garvey’s interactions with his father, support from his friends, and discovery of his singing voice. For K–2, read aloud and closely examine a few panels; for grades 3–5, have pairs read the selected sequences.
3. 3.Model how to read a graphic-novel page: follow the panel sequence, identify who is speaking, and notice facial expressions and body language. Ask students to identify one visual detail and one line of dialogue that reveal Garvey’s feelings.
4. 4.Create a class chart with three headings: “Pressure Garvey Faces,” “Support Garvey Receives,” and “Strengths Garvey Discovers.” Add examples from the selected pages. Discuss why teasing about someone’s body or interests is harmful and what a supportive friend could say instead.
5. 5.Have students create a three-panel “My Choice, My Strength” comic: introduce an interest or strength, show someone offering encouragement, and show the character choosing to explore that interest. Allow fictional characters instead of personal experiences; younger students may dictate captions.
6. 6.Invite volunteers to share their comics. Close with an oral or written response: “Garvey helps me understand that being yourself means ___.” Ask students to connect their response to a specific moment in the book.