When faced with the challenge of getting her students excited about social studies, Shannon Brown decided to combine two things she knows children enjoy: parks and comic books. "In social studies, we look at how decisions are made in our local community. Parks are part of the community, and they're something kids have a personal connection to," she says.

Brown's Grade 3 class at W.S. Hawrylak School in Regina began with the question, "How is a city park made?" A landscape architect took the students on a field trip to nine city parks to show how each is different. Other professionals - developers, designers, engineers and construction workers - visited the classroom to give presentations and hands-on demonstrations. Brown then engaged comic artist Allan Dotson to help the students illustrate their research in the form of a graphic novel.

Much like building a park, creating a graphic novel involves numerous skills. Students were grouped according to interests and aptitudes and worked as teams to draw, colour, research, design, write and edit the publication. These elements connected to the additional curriculum areas of art, language arts, mathematics and science. "It hit the strengths of so many students. I have some who are more artistic, so they were able to show their learning through pictures instead of words," Brown says.

Dotson has worked with children of all ages on one-page comics, but helping Grade 3 students create a full-length graphic novel was something new. "I was impressed with how seriously the students took their work and with how much stamina and enthusiasm they had for this long project," Dotson says. "The kids are all really proud of their book, and they should be, it looks great!"

A launch event in June 2014 will reunite the many community members who helped make the graphic novel a success. Brown hopes the project will inspire other teachers. "You can make any subject exciting for kids as long as you make it creative. Involving the arts is a natural way to make it fun," she says.

W.S. Hawrylak School received funding from the ArtsSmarts program, which is supported by the Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture Inc., with funding from the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. ArtsSmarts Saskatchewan belongs to a national network of ArtsSmarts programs.

Front page: Detail of front cover of students' graphic novel.

Above: Inside page of How Is a City Park Made?

Right: Allan Dotson helps a Grade 3 student edit the graphic novel.

Photos courtesy of the school.