2. MAKEBELIEFSCOMIX.COM Creator: Bill Zimmerman Comic created by 3rd Grader: Jack C. Age 9 GRACE EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL “ I think that it is so fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I enjoyed it because there was an alien and a fat guy.”
6. Lesson Ideas from Educators High School History Class Adult Learners ESOL STUDENTS Middle School Language Arts THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION Biographical Digital Storytelling Click on image for an example lesson image or video.
7. Inquiry Based Ideas by: Drew A program like this could be used to allow students to create their own perspective or spin on the events in history. To recreate their own interpretation of an event in they may be studying. Could use this in conjunction with a video project, creating storyboards to outline or summarize the scenes. With this type of program it would allow the students to use their imagination and ask questions to probe deeper into topics within history that they might express and interest. Then through the development of choosing the scenes or segments to create in a comic strip fashion they will ask themselves questions on what might be important for them to retell and therefore remember and share with other students. It is a program of this nature where they start to literally draw the scene for them to see perhaps from the pages of a book or diary. The students will use their imagination to problem solve even the limits of the program to fit what it is they are trying to express. The program is unable to do a lot, like putting characters in historical outfits that make it easier to illustrate a point or event. But the limits might actually be a benefit by forcing students to think outside the box and use similes or metaphors to express a point. I know there are other programs of this nature out there on the web that may offer more freedom to create for the students and the teacher. Two that I am aware of is www.toondo.com and http://www.comicmaster.org.uk/ , the toondo website is one that I have seen the students at our school creating some comic strips for technology class, using it to create strips on topics like bullying and how to respond. The graphic novel site would be something for history because there are graphic novels written about historical events that are being made into movies.
9. Inquiry Based Ideas by: Alyson This website is perfect for an elementary school classroom. The set up is perfect for young users to create their own comics with brief instructions from their teacher. Students are very savvy on the internet and with games and technology. My first introduction with them regarding the site was very positive. The students who used the site first gave a tutorial for their classmates. The process went very smoothly. As they become more advanced in their comics, I believe that they will want to find a more advanced site for creating their own characters and backgrounds. I will using this website for my students to explore characterization. Students will be given a trait and will be required to create a comic strip where that trait is explored through surroundings, conversation, thoughts, and emotions that makebeliefscomix pro vides. Another inquiry based project that I plan to start is having my students use the comics to document a 4 day experiment conducted at home. They have decided the type of experiment that they want to conduct. I gave them the topic, “Plants”. They determined what they wanted to know ( What type of music will make plants grow the best? Does the type of liquid fed to a plant determine its growth? Are plants social living things? (will they grow best alone or with other plants) Which genre of book will help the plant grow best?) The comics will be used to show the progression of the experiment rather than journaling. I also plan to use the site as a way for students to show symbiotic relationships. The site is a great start for inquiry based learning. I believe that as the learner develops they will need to find a site with more offerings unless makebeliefscomix extends its capabilities and features.
11. Inquiry Based Ideas by: Chris Make Beliefs Comix is a great online tool. The application in inquiry based learning is almost endless. There is an easy connection to Language arts here. You could take any short story and have the students create a summary of the story on this and share it with the class. This could even be used for an entire novel by having a comic strip for each paragraph or section, then again have the students share to the class. In a history class you could create groups and assign them a section in your book then have each group create a comic strip summarizing the main ideas and have them teach the main ideas to the class and have copies for each classmate. For example you could use the causes of the American Revolution; all of the acts/taxes against the colonist could be a separate comic strip. There have been uses of this site for ESL students that seem to help them explore and learn ideas in spite of their lack of language. The uses are endless for such a simple yet seemingly student friendly and interesting tool.
13. Pros and Cons of the www.makebeliefscomix.com PROS Cons
14. Pros and Cons of Online Comics in the Classroom Pros Cons
15. EVALUATIONS OF MAKEBELIEFSCOMIX CHRIS WILSON creator of The Graphic Classroom Winner of Top Children’s Book Blog 2010 Awards Google, UNESCO and LitCam selected MakeBeliefsComix as one of the world's most innovative web sites in fostering literacy and reading more >>and featured it in "The Literacy Project”. American Library Association selected MakeBeliefsComix.com for inclusion in its 2010 Great Web Sites for Kids, more http://www.ala.org/greatsites). "Great Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best web sites for ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception... 'great' should be thought to include sites of especially commendable quality, sites that reflect and encourage young people's interests in exemplary ways. Click on his image to read his evaluation!
17. Site Comparison Make Beliefs Comix Creator generated characters and 4 emotions per character Toon Do Creator generated multiple templates for user to create their own character and its own emotions
