Cartoons and Comics

Cartoons and Comics

Our schools, classrooms, and libraries are filled with students with different learning modalities, backgrounds, talents, and needs, and as educators, we are always on a quest to find new and creative ways to engage them all.  This is a challenge that is underestimated in every way.  Thinking outside the box is made easier when we have so many webb apps like MakeBeliefssComix, ToonDoo, and Pixton, at our disposal.  Having students create comics and cartoons is a fun way to make reading, writing, and thinking more enjoyable.  They provide students and teachers with unique ways of interpreting, and expressing language by integrating images and words.  Students can create comics and cartoons to plan a story line, summarize short stories and chapters, illustrate short biographies, learn about current events, and create daily journals using new vocabulary- to name a few.  

MakeBeliefsComix



I created this comic for a quick write.  We will be reading "The Monkey's Paw" soon and the story touches on the theme of superstitions.  I thought it be a nice way to introduce it, and learn about superstitions. Makebeliefcomix was really easy to use. I love the fact that they offer many ideas on how to incorporate comics into your lessons and classrooms.  Some of the ideas mentioned sound great especially for my ESOL students.  Filling in the thought bubbles, so they can practice language skills are great mini lessons that can dramatically help with language development.    The only downfall to Makebeliefcomix is the limited number of characters.  I wanted a witch for my last panel but couldn't find one.  All in all, I think our students can have a great time creating their own comics using it.

ToonDoo

My comic is a chapter summary of the short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W.Jacob.  My students will create their own comics for chapter 2 and 3 to show comprehension of the reading.  ToonDoo is a great webb tool that is easy to use.  However, at times, I felt a little frustrated because I'm used to using the undo arrow whenever I make a mistake.  ToonDoo does not have the undo arrow!  I loved the variety of characters; and the fact that you can change the posture and expressions.  These two features can serve students well when thinking about characterization.

Pixton

My reading class has been doing a "Meet and Greet" every week.  I provide them with an article about a person who has changed or influenced the world.  They usually jot down important information like the reasons the person is remembered today using the 5 key point graphic organizer. I thought I'd try doing the comic instead.  I think it works perfectly. I can't wait to have them work on one next week. Pixton provides the user with so many great options.  One of the features I really enjoyed using was moving my character's posture and changing their facial expressions.  Moreover, Pixton was  easy to use, I had no real problems at all. 

Tellagami

http://tellagami.com/gami/NP763Z/