Professor Garfield Contest

NYS Teacher Centers
Professor Garfield Foundation
Ecology Contest - FAQs

Introduction

Professor Garfield has arrived in New York State to work with all the boys and girls and to increase awareness to “Green” efforts across the state!

Professor Garfield is proposing a challenging and exciting contest for students in grades 3-5! Students will have the opportunity to use the Comics Lab part of the suite of tools available on the Professor Garfield Website. The tools will assist students in developing a three-panel comic strip in support of a “Green Theme”.

Timeline

1. District level submissions must be sent to your local teacher center by May 14^th.

2. All students will receive a participation certificate. Click here to download the printable certificate.

3. All submissions must be accompanied by an entry form. Click here to download the form.

4. All submissions should be judged using the rubric on this page

5. Winners will be announced by the middle of June.

Professor Garfield

Cartoon Strip Rubric

	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Action	Action makes sense from one panel to another	Most of the action makes sense from one panel to another	Some of the action makes sense from one panel to another	Action does not make sense from one panel to another
Characters	The main characters are clearly identified, and their actions and dialogue are well-matched to their actions and dialogue in the story.	The main characters are clearly identified, and their actions and dialogue match actions and dialogue in the story.	The main characters are identified, but actions and dialogue are too general to show their relationship to the story.	It is hard to tell who the main characters are, or main characters in the comic are not the main characters in the story.
Spelling, Punctuation, & Grammar	There are no spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors.	There are 1-3 spelling, punctuation, or grammar errors.	There are 4-5 spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.	There are more than 5 spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors.
Thoughts/ Speech Bubbles	Thought/ Speech bubbles are present and clearly reveal a character's thoughts or relay dialogue efficiently.	Most Thought/Speech Bubbles are present and somewhat reveal a character's thoughts or relay dialogue.	Some Thought/Speech Bubbles are present and reveal some character's thoughts or relay some dialogue	No Thought/Speech Bubbles are present.
Transitions & Layout	Most panel-to-panel transitions are well-planned and appropriate to the information and/or emotions conveyed. Panel order and word balloon order within panels are always clear.	Some panel-to-panel transitions are well-planned and appropriate to the information and/or emotions conveyed. Panel order and word balloon order within panels are usually clear.	One or two examples of well-planned panel-to-panel transitions. Panel order and word balloon order within panels are sometimes confusing.	Most panel-to-panel transitions are random and haphazard. Panel order and word balloon order within panels are consistently confusing.
Message	"Green" Message (Energy/Resource Conservation, etc..) is present and highly compelling through strong voice.	"Green" Message (Energy/Resource Conservation, etc..) is present with appropriate voice.	"Green" Message (Energy/Resource Conservation, etc..) is present, but lacks strong voice.	"Green" Message (Energy/Resource Conservation, etc..) is incoherent or absent.