Art By Elio
Can Ava Keep Her Hands to Herself?
Enjoy a mini graphic novel about personal space.
By Katie Mach
From the October/November 2025 Issue
Learning Objective: Children will discuss why it is important to maintain personal space and keep your hands to yourself.
About the Story
English Language Arts Focus
Genres of literature
Social and Life Skills Focus
Self-regulation
Self-management
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Implementation
- Whole group
Pairings and Text Connections
- Suggested book: Hands off, Harry! by Rosemary Wells; Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook
Before-Reading Resources
- Video: What Is a Comic? (5 minutes) Explore how comics use pictures, thoughts, and dialogue to tell a story.
Suggested Reading Focus
Self-management (20 minutes)
- Ask students to think about what it means to keep your hands to yourself. Does it ever feel hard to do it sometimes? Why is it important to keep your hands to yourself? What is personal space?
- Read the comic with expression. Check children’s comprehension after each panel. Children can also turn and talk to discuss.
- Using the Talk It Out questions, discuss the comic. Encourage children to make personal connections. Can they think of a time where they had trouble with personal space? Was it hard? How do you know when you need to keep your hands to yourself?
After-Reading Skills Practice
- Skills: text-to-self connections (15 minutes)
Text-to-Speech