Comic Strip Creators (N) for Writing ...

Comic Strip Creators (N) for Writing to Learn (Low Stakes)


http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/


Create comic strips in a variety of languages for free!


According to www.leadandlearn.com, implementing the writing to learn instructional strategy has three major objectives:

1. higher engagement
2. increased critical thinking
3. demonstration of deep subject-area understanding

Using an online comic strip creator can enhance the process in meeting the first two objectives.


In my experience with middle and high school students, choosing and customizing images is an inherently engaging process. In recent Windows Movie Maker projects, the bulk of student on-task time was used in selecting and modifying images for the movies. When I started teaching 12 years ago, selecting and clipping images for poster board-based projects also took the majority of time (if allowed) on a project. Students love to customize and they love choice. Creating online comic strips allow for both.

The decisions that go along with expressing ideas in a limited amount of space requires a great deal of critical thinking. In a comic strip students must distill their ideas to demonstrate understanding of content knowledge. They must also choose relevant images (and symbols) to demonstrate their ideas. The process of making decisions about content, analyzing information to "make it fit", and creating symbols to represent content are all part of higher level thinking whether you subscribe to Bloom or Costa.




Getting Started

1. You may want to visit Adrian Bruce's Blog where he discusses introducing this strategy to his students by exploring the puns in "lame" jokes. Bruce also provides a link to his favorite online, comic strip creators in this post.

2. Then go to  http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/ and click "Enter Here". Be sure you have enough time; the easy to use interface and the many options will engage you immediately.

A tutorial for using the interface is available.





Note: You will want to make sure your school/district's content filter's do not restrict the resources prior to use. My LEA's restrict some due to "Humor/Jokes".





Contact your tec fac or the author for support on any step in implementing this resource.