Comics in the Classroom

Comics in the classroom, and I don't mean the funny stand up guy, are a powerful and useful tool. Whether students are creating stories or highlighting vocabulary, the comic format provides a visual tool that motivates and differentiates the product for each learner. Many high quality online comic generators are available.

MakeBeliefs Comix

This is an online generator that requires no registration. It allows you to print and/or email your comic to any email address. It allows for simple 2, 3, or 4 panel strips. By clicking on preloaded images, you simply create the comic of your choice. It is easy to use and fun to play with. Some drawbacks are the lack of customizable characters and the inability to change many features. For a quick use, easy intro to the world of making comics with students, this is a hit. If you want to be more detailed and have specific needs, it might not be the creator for you.  I made a simple strip highlighting the day of a teacher.

I was able to turn it into an image file by using Skitch because it was not able to be saved online in anyway.

ToonDoo

This is a highly interactive site to create comics. There is a large library of images and backgrounds to use. The images are able to be changed as well. Facial expressions, postures, and activities are all switchable in various characters. There is also the ability to draw and create your own images. There are places to doodle and ways to share what you make in a gallery or by emailing it to any address of your choice. It is complicated when trying to figure out how add items to the gallery and manipulate the images. It is doable once you figure it out though. I made a 3 panel comic about the first day of school and had a lot of fun playing with the different character choices. I tried to save the comic in a gallery, but haven't quite figured it out yet. I used Skitch to capture the picture and left the interface in so that you could see how easy it is to navigate.

This site is rather complicated for young learners, but would be a huge hit with older elementary and middle school students. It requires registration and log in. An educator introducing students to ToonDoo will need to take some time explaining how to get to certain areas and how to share their work.

Pixton

This site is set up for classroom use. The initial screen wants teachers to set up their class access. You can give assignments and create an entire environment for students to interact with.

When creating comics, there are five categories to choose from Quickie (simple, preloaded background, 3 panel strip) to Freestyle (any size, shape, layout, number of panels). They are in progressing levels of complication and always have the option to create your own format. There are how to videos to help get you started.

When your comic is created, it is sent to your email address. In this image, I included the heading to show how it is laid out. It is in editing mode because I couldn't find the presentation mode.

This tool would be great for secondary level students. It is highly user friendly and has many options. It is rather complicated to manipulate as a newbie to the site, but I think it would get much easier with use because it seems very intuitive. This is the most integrated and complex site I reviewed. It provides amazing opportunities for students to share their learning, create new content, and interact with an exciting medium.

As a third grade ELAR teacher, I can immediately see how comics can be used to enrich students' understanding of story elements. I also can see me using the comic format to give students options for products in many areas like vocabulary, nonfiction summarizing, and social stories. While motivating and fun to create, students are challenged to use higher order thinking skills to create quality artifacts. I've encouraged reading graphic novels and comic books for years and can't wait to see how they like making their own.

There is a winner.. in Book Communities

Let's face it. We all like a winner. And there is a clear winner in the group of online book communities I recently investigated. I'll share my thoughts in ascending order, saving the best for last.

Library Thing

Oh Library Thing, what can I say? I didn't like you very much. You weren't very user friendly, didn't give good recommendations, and your interface left me bored. You were very wordy and kind of hard to figure out. Your homepage was OK. You had places to connect with other readers, but they didn't reach out and grab my attention. It was easy to find reviews from other readers, but it all seemed a little forced. I don't think students would enjoy using this site due to the lack of visually focused interface and interactivity. The older style discussion boards are out of date and, while interesting, not appealing to those under 40. Yes, I will count it against you that you don't have anything blinking or flashing or trying to get my attention. Sorry Library Thing. You are a "Crusty Classic" we shouldn't have to read just because our parents thought you were worthy.

Booklikes

Booklikes, you had me confused for a minute, but I figured you out. You are a book community, and a blog all rolled into one. You are multi-purposed and interesting. Your blogging tools are easy to use and you offer an easy way to follow others in a blog roll. Posts are easy to create and include all types of media.

Then I click a button and you are an online book community and reading organizer. My books are easy to see and organize onto shelves. You offer deals through Amazon.com and have discussion rooms to share information and thoughts with other Booklikers.

I like the way your page is organized and it was fairly easy to figure out how to use. I'm not sure how useful it would be for students, however. It seems very easy to venture into any area, and I didn't find much control over where students could travel. I liked the look of you, but it was a bit much to manage.  You are a quality mismash of things I like that don't come together as effectively as I'd like to see. You have purpose and value, but just aren't right for me, much like a self help book that doesn't meet my needs. 

Biblionasium

Now we are getting to the good stuff. Biblionasium is a librarian's dream. No, I really think librarians dream about stuff like this and the god of books inspires someone with enough techy know how to make it happen.  This book community is created for librarians and students and teachers to interact with each other. Shared reviews, titles, ability to create different groups, and teacher/librarian oversight all add to the joy that is this place.

It is very elementary in style, so a middle grade or high school teacher might have a hard time selling this interface as "cool", but it would still be able to handle the content. The lack of outside interactivity is a safety protocol that is important for younger students to be able to interact safely in a book community.

The book organization piece of this community looks good and is easily customized for each group. Chosen titles are easy to identify and neatly organized. 

This community was easy to learn how to manipulate and is full of options that make it ideal for growing a community of readers. This is the Choose Your Own Adventure of book communities.

Shelfari

This is a wonderful community. I love the look, the feel, the recommendations, just to gush a bit. There are so many places to interact with other readers and interesting groups to follow and join. The shelf looks great and is easy to apply to other websites. The widget will put your shelf on any website you wish. Students can get recommendations and view reviews. 

There are so many great things about Shelfari. It's super easy to add books. It looks great when you rate and favorite titles. The interface is very intuitive and the connectivity is amazing. The only thing that kept this place from being my favorite was that there is only one viewable shelf. You can organize it in different ways, but I could never find a way to differentiate between elementary, middle grade, and YA books. If I could have found a way to do that, provide different shelves for different interests or levels, this would have won out in the great book community battle. I will most certainly recommend this site to my third grade students and add the shelf widget to my class website. Shelfari is the Newberry or Caldecott Honor book; a wonderful thing that just barely missed the big award.

Goodreads

And that leaves us with the winner, Goodreads! This is probably not a surprise.

Goodreads is the big daddy of all book communities. It is massive in size and options. It promotes connectivity and content without being pushy or goofy.  It was easy to learn how to navigate and gives a lot of great options for use. All in all, it is the best of all worlds. This community can be used by adults and students alike. While I won't recommend it to my third grade students, it is a wonderful tool for older students with more ability to interact on the internet.

So, there you have it. In the quest for finding the best book community, Goodreads has won, hands down due to its scope, connectivity, and ability to manipulate the elements. It is the Ambassador for Literature in the reading community. 

Podcasts

Podcasts are quite a useful tool for the classroom and library. There are so many ways to use this amazing medium. They are easy to create, unique for many students, and add an element of surprise to the unsuspecting listener.

As a classroom teacher, it is wonderful to let students create their own podcasts. They get to talk about an assigned topic or read fluently and share it with others. Activities like Reading Idol, campaigning,and dramatic readings encourage students to create their own podcasts to share with others. Teachers can record lessons and assignment explanations in their own voice so students can go back and listen over and over as needed or get caught up if they were absent.

In the library, librarians can add a voice to upcoming announcements, start contests with Name that Book snippets, and record procedures to help non or struggling readers know the expectations. There is no end to the creative and engaging ways a thoughtful librarian could utilize this tool. Some ideas Tony Vincent suggests in his 2008 article  "Podcasting for Students and Teachers" include book reviews, classroom news, class discussions, interviews, and curricular content.

I created the following podcast in about 10 minutes. I outlined the ideas I wanted to cover, logged on to Soundcloud, used the help menu to refresh my memory about how to record, and recorded my audio. It was that simple. I lucked out and did it in one take.



See? It didn't turn out too bad. The kids loved it in class and now want to make their own podcasts to share their book reviews and opinions. I'm not sad that they have a new tool to use to share the content they are learning on a regular basis.