Cartoons and Comics

Toon Doo

It is free and easy to make an account at Toon Doo.  You have many choices of formats: vertical and horizontal.  The cartoonist has many choices of characters, setting, props, text, open clipart, and my gallery.  I made a very simple comic and the only problem I had was my text ran off of the page.  I had to type and then hit the enter key to get my lines to fit inside the speech bubble and inside the cartoon square. 

This is the link to my Toon Doo titled "Spring Break":

http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/11017209

Pixton

This is a free way to make comics. I checked that I wanted to use this site to make a comic for "Language Arts" and it gave me some formats that could be used for story maps, character analysis, themes, main idea, and many more.  This could be used for all subject areas.  I used a template and did a comic on "Verbs."  I teach ESL students in a program called the New Arrival Center.  All of my students are new to the United States and are beginner English Language Learners.  So, I spend a large amount of time teaching verbs to my 4th and 5th graders.  

You can click on this link to see my comic:

https://www.pixton.com/schools/comic/oe0wf7jb

I liked the format, but I spent too much time making changes.  My time would have been better spent, looking at the example and starting from a blank page.  It is simple to add characters, props/setting, and text. 

MakeBeliefsComix

You do not have to register at all to make a comic at this place.  You do not save it, Instead, you email it to yourself or your teacher.  I thought this was the fastest because there are fewer choices, but it was still fun.  I think that I would use this first with my students because it is less overwhelming.  Students will have fewer choices, fewer ways to get distracted and lost, and more probability of completion of task.  

I made an "All About Me" comic.  You can see my comic by clicking on the link below:

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=1157315C2187778

The stick figures are cute and make me think of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid characters!

How to Use Comics and Cartoons In the Classroom 

I think the first lesson on comics would be using MakeBeliefComix, especially with younger children.  A great lesson would be to do a comic to introduce yourself to the class.  Writing teachers always teach personal narratives and this would be a great beginning too.  I did a comic on "Verbs", but students could easily do a comic on nouns or adjectives too.  Our school does Multisensory Grammar, and this would be a fun extension. This is a way to reach all the learners in our class, use technology, and to have students to have a creative product to be proud of.