Cartoons & Comic Apps

I have been teaching for about 15 years now... as I look back, I used to wonder about those "old heads" that didn't want to embrace technology.  They refused to use the electronic gradebook and still held on tight to the overhead projector.  Well, now I'm somewhere between an "old head" and a "techie".
(I am still holding on to Powerpoint--even though lately--I have used Prezi.)

On the  other hand, I am so desperate to keep my students engaged.  The little darlings don't have the patience for my favorite types of assignments.  And to be honest, I would rather grade something on a computer screen than take home yet another billion pieces of paper.

So with that in mind, I investigated 3 Comic Srtip making sites.  There are so many uses in the ESL/Language Arts classroom for these apps.  I instantly thought of my English Language Learners that are often unsure of their words.  This would be one way to get them to summarize passages.
It could be used for characterization exercises or as a take home quiz to assess what you remember. The possiblities are almost endless.

Take a look at my humble creations:



Pixton is an online tool that can be used to create comics and characters.  Pixton does have accounts specifically for educational purposes.  Once teachers create an account you can populate it with classes.  This allows for students to be able to respond to a specific assignment.
My personal thoughts:  I like the ability to set up an account that can be populated with students.  It took me awhile to work through making a comic.  I believe most of my students would be able to use Pixton with no problem.  I do however, have to consider my students with Intellectual Disabilities-- I don't think that they would be able to use this program on their own.




ToonDoo is a online tool that is that is also used to create comics /comic strips.  There are many characters and backgrounds to choose from.

My personal thoughts:  I felt ToonDoo was very easy to use.  It only took a few seconds for me to get the hand of it.  I believe that all of my students would be able to use ToonDoo with minimal instruction.  The drawback is that there is not an "educator" specific component. I however, will use this site during the upcoming school year.

Make Beliefs Comix is yet another online tool to create comics.  The site allows you (or your students) to email the finished product.  It does not require a login.

My personal thoughts:  This was my least favorite site.  The instructions are too wordy for the struggling reader.  Comics are not offered in color.  I found the site pretty simple--but I have to think of the students I teach.