Comic Life is a program that lets the user create a comic book style document that includes pictures, captions, and titles. It has been around for years, but has become a powerful educational tool that is being used in all grades, all subjects, all over the country.
Comics, Really??
You can find a lot of educators singing the praises of using comic creating software. Pushing students to think about content differently and deeply in a fun way is the main draw to educators. Need proof that using comics in your classroom is worth spending a few days in a lab?
The potency of the picture story is not a matter of modern theory but of anciently established truth. Before man thought in words, he felt in pictures… It’s too bad for us “literary” enthusiasts, but it’s the truth nevertheless, pictures tell any story more effectively than words. (Sones, 1944, p. 239)
Comic Life in the Classroom
Strengths of Comics in Education
Eek! Comics in the Classroom
Using Comic Life
The program is pretty intuitive and user friendly. Play around for a few minutes and you can find pretty much whatever you need. Here is an instruction sheet that you can print out for your kids or yourself.
How do Comics Fit?
Comics can be used in all curricular areas. Some more easily than others, but nothing good comes easy, right?? Comics can be used to assess background knowledge prior to starting a unit, a way to review content, a way to assess understanding, and much more. Here are some sites with examples and lesson plans for using comics in the classroom.
Social Studies: Examining race class, and gender in the media; timelines; famous people in history; countrys and cultures; current events
ELA: “how to” instructions; character or plot analysis; pre-writing; post-reading
Science: exploring biomes; planets and their characteristics; periodic table; ride the rock cycle
Math: step by step explanations; math in the real world; geometry in nature; fractions
PE: game/sport rules; sportsmanship
Health: social issues; nutrition; say no to drugs posters
Performing Arts: music history/appreciation; famous musician, instrument care
So, how do you see Comic Life ehnancing a unit (or part of a unit) in your class? Think of a past unit or future unit that could be enhanced using Comic Life? Post a comment with your thoughts and what area of study you can see yourself using Comic Life for.
19 comments ↓
I think it might be a decent tool for summarizing at the end of a unit as a HOME project–not during class time.
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A summary of genetics (DNA, splitting of a cell, inherited traits). Thanks for the info.
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The uses in Language Arts are unending.
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I will use this to do short art historical reports with my kids
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I will use this to do short art historical reports with my kids
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We would be able to use this by possibly having the students make “A day in the life of a _______ atom” The students would choose an element that they want to research. Thanks!
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Comic Life is cool! I will use it with my kids for summarizing what they have read, recreating characters, and as a jumping board for writing a story. I will also use this as an assessment when we are writing directions! Thanks for the fun!
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As soon as CRTs are over, I would like to set up time to use this in the lab. I will have the students each choose a topic from the year and make a comic about it. This will be a fun way to review for semester exams.
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I think this would work great for summarizing major events in history! I also think the favorite things activity you had us do would be a great get-to-know-you activity for kids at the beginning of the year. We could get to know them and they could get to know this program.:)
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What a great site! I’m thinking that I can use it to wrap up the nonfiction project we are completing. It can be part of the oral presentation!
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starting teamwork unit…could use to illlustrate teamwork
rule and action of individual sport activies
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Graphing. Making a comic strip that shows all of the different types of graphs with a short explaination of what they mean.
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This will definitely work well for summarization! Ican’t wait to have the kids use this as another way to publish their writing!
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For Black History Month, my students are studying Ruby Bridges. We will create a comic using primary source documents (photographs) and sequence the events as they unfolded.
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I could use this to summarize a story, illustrate a part of a story, illustrate writing, or write an original story.
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I LOVE THIS…The students can use this as an alternative idea to present their information on the planet project that we will be doing next quarter. I am so excited.
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Comics are a great way to engage and motivate students to learn. If you’re interested in creating comics online, check out Pixton.com.
You can design every aspect of your character, and move it into any pose you want. All you have to do is click-and-drag to change or reposition any part of it – the creative and artistic possibilities are endless!
Share with others, post to your blog or remix comics to add your own twist. Read comics in over 40 languages, with our automatic translation by Google. Language filters, privacy settings, and flagging mechanisms help preserve a safe online environment.
We welcome you to try it and tell us what you think. Sign-up is free!
thanks,
Clive
Creator of Pixton – Interactive Web Comics
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Love Comic Life. Use it K-8. Here are a few more sites to add to your Comic Life resources:
* http://comic-life.wikispaces.com/
* http://snipurl.com/fanvo
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janzalone Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
@jepcke, thanks for the links. I checked them out and they are great!!!
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