Cartoons and Comics

Cartoons and Comics

Even as readers get older, they still enjoy books with pictures such as Diary of a Wimpy. As readers' interests in graphic novels continue to increase, we have to start thinking about how we can use this  in the classroom. Making the students the authors and artists of their own comic strips can help struggling students build on important reading skills, engage artistic students, and allow students who may not be great artist to create their own comics. I created three different comic strips using ToonDoo, Pixton, and Makebeliefscomix. Continue reading to see my comments about each site.

ToonDoo

By dwoodard247 | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

I enjoyed using ToonDoo. It thought it was very simple to use, and I think it would be great for students on an intermediate level who have had some experience with creating comics, but are still getting comfortable with the concept. I was able to to manipulate the characters, choose different props, and there are characters with predetermined facial expressions. 

Pixton

Pixton is probably my favorite website to use for creating comics. Students who are more advanced would enjoy using this website. There are tons of different backgrounds to choose from, you can manipulate the characters in many different ways, change their facial expressions, and add your own images. 

Make Beliefs Comix

Make Beliefs Comix is great for beginners. There aren't a ton of options to overwhelm the user, but there are still enough features to customize the comic to your liking. This would be good for elementary students, special ed, etc. 

How Can You Implement This In The Classroom

Makebeliefscomix.com also gives you some awesome tips on how to incorporate comics in the classroom no matter which subject area you may teach. Click here to view the 25 ways to incorporate comics. I also plan to use comics in the library as ways for students to review books, create comics for their favorite books, have a comic competition, or in the makerspace club! Since I work in middle school, I'll be using Pixtoon or ToonDoo.