Cartoons and Comics in the Classroom

          Creating your own comic strips and cartoons is a great way to reinforce concepts taught in the classroom.  It also give students a creative way to express their ideas and show what they know.  Here are three sites that you may want to explore for fun, easy and FREE ways to create comics for your classroom or library..

          The nice thing about Make Beliefs Comix is that you don't have to create an account, you can just jump right into creating.  It automatically starts you off with three panels, but there is an option to change to either two panels or four.  There are 13 different backgrounds to choose from, or you may select a solid color background.  There are about 50 characters available for use, and each one has 3-4 different emotions to choose from to fit a variety of situations.  You can then add word or thought bubbles, panel prompts, and a number of words and objects to enhance your comic.  Adjusting the location and size of the items is simple and after playing around with the site for just a bit, I was easily able to create this comic to go along with our upcoming book fair...

Because you do not create an account, you can not save comics in Make Beliefs Comix so make sure that you either print it, email it or save it to your computer!

          To use ToonDoo, you must first create an account, but it is quick to do and soon you will be ready to create your comic.  There are a number of layouts to choose from in different sizes, both horizontal and vertical, with 1-4 panels.  Once you select your choice, loading takes a while.  In reality it's only about a minute, but in a world where we want to click and be taken to the next step immediately it was a little frustrating.  Once the creating screen loads you will find a wide variety of different characters, backgrounds, props, text options, etc. to add to your comic.  It can be a little overwhelming at first with all the choices, but with so much to choose from you can really make a quality comic for any scenario.  With the click of a button you can change the emotion and posture of your characters, adjust the size, flip them around or rotate them to fit your needs.  I made this simple comic to show parts of the water cycle, but look forward to playing around more with this site to make a more involved comic.

          Like with ToonDoo, to utilize Pixton you must first create an account.  What I like about this site is that it gives you an option to either create a comic from a blank layout, or you can also create from a template, which is a complete comic that can be modified to fit your needs.  If you choose to start from scratch, there are many options to help you make the comic that best fits your needs.  Whether you want a comic strip, story board, mind map, time line, plot diagram, or poster, Pixton can help you create just what you need.  There is a large number of backgrounds to choose from and once you select the one you want, you are provided with an option for one, two or three characters.  Depending on the background you choose, the selection of characters you are offered is different and varies from about 6-8 characters.  You may then change the poses and the expressions of the characters to fit the scene and add your desired text.  You may also add additional panels as needed.  To make my comic in Pixton, I selected a template of an already completed comic and modified it by adding characters and speech bubbles with text. I was not able to download the comic with only the free account, but I could email it to get the link to share or save.

*After playing around and making three comics I was told that I had reached the limit of my free account.

          For a list of ways to utilize comics in your classroom, visit 25 Ways to Use MakeBeliefsComix.com in the Classroom. As far as using comics in the library or classroom, here are some ways to incorporate their use...

- Students can create storyboards for books they have read

- Students can create book promotions for books they have read

- Students can illustrate knowledge of concepts introduced

- Promote events taking place at school or in the library

- Just for fun!

          My favorite sites that I enjoyed using and plan to use with students are MakeBeliefsComix and ToonDoo.  I think if you want something quick and simple MakeBeliefsComix is the way to go.  However if you have more time and are wanting something more involved, then ToonDoo is a great choice.  I believe given time to explore and play around a bit, students will enjoy and successfully use both of these sites.