Thursday, March 3, 2011

A Comic Generator for Student Use

This week’s post comes to you live from the NCCE Conference in Portland. Christine (the elementary tech coach) and I are down here learning about new tools and all sorts of ways to use technology in support of student learning. The first thing we noticed when we got here was that there are QR codes everywhere. Last year, there wasn’t a QR Code anywhere. It is amazing and exciting how quickly new technologies show up and then get adapted for use in education. If you’re not sure what a QR code is, check out the blog post from February 17 for more information.

People often ask me how I learn about new tools and ideas. Sometimes it’s from a blog or an email from a colleague. Or, sometimes, it’s by looking over some stranger’s shoulder. I was at a workshop the other day and someone in front of me had a site up on her laptop that looked intriguing. Further investigation led me to the ReadWriteThink Comic Creator for students. A number of teachers have contacted me over the last few years looking for just such a tool. There are other comic creators online, but many of them require students to be 13 or older, create accounts, etc. Not this one! Plus, because it’s at the ReadWriteThink website, it comes with high quality lesson plans that use the tool.

So, this week, thanks to me being in the right place at the right time, you’ll get to explore the Comic Creator and/or the ReadWriteThink website. (If you’re not already familiar with ReadWriteThink or haven’t visited it lately, this is a great resource in and of itself—check it out!)

If you want clock hours, check out the Comic Creator and associated lesson plans then come back here and tell us how you might use it with your students. If you can’t think of a way to use the Comic Creator, then check out some of the other cool resources on the ReadWriteThink website, then come back here and tell us what you found and how you could use it.  (Don't forget, if you want to earn clock hours, make sure to include your first and last name AND (CH) after your name so we give you credit.)

Comments (5)

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Ben Todd (CH)'s avatar

Ben Todd (CH) · 724 weeks ago

We were trying to incorporate xtranormal.com for a Civil War assignment. Unfortunately, that site requires an account and some content is not suitable for 13 and 14 year olds. This comic creator, while a bit less colorful, would fill in nicely for the assignment we had in mind which focusses on the study of cliques in jr high and relating them to the sectionalism seen during the Civil War). Useful resource.
Marie Page (CH)'s avatar

Marie Page (CH) · 724 weeks ago

This is a fun website to use - Comic Creator and associated lesson plans. I could see my students using it to write out a comic strip explaining the summary of a lesson or chapter in my classes. It has basic backgrounds, people and objects to insert into the comic strip, but I know that some of my students would say that they are too boring, not enough objects and no color - but it is a cool tool to use to summarize things in a unit and it is a lot more fun to use then the traditional approach to summarizing.
Hilary Hall (CH)'s avatar

Hilary Hall (CH) · 724 weeks ago

I LOVE THIS! The first year of French is ALL about storytelling and creating interesting stories- we have them draw a lot to show understanding of information and often they have to redraw stories we told orally in class- this website would be perfect for them to use, especially those that aren't very confident in their drawing skills.
1 reply · active 716 weeks ago
Marie Page (CH)'s avatar

Marie Page (CH) · 716 weeks ago

So have you tried this website out with your students and if so how was it?
I'm glad you saw the potential for weaving narrative into your different content areas!

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