Comics

**Comic Strip**
**Comics** appeal to the **visual** and **kinesthetic** learner, they are flexible and captivating, and they could be used cross curricula.

a- **Read Article:** Comics and visual literacy //McVicker//, //Claudia J//. "//Comic Strips as// a Text Structure for Learning to Read." Reading. Teacher 61.1 (Sep. //2007//): 85-88.

b- **Discuss:** PowerPoint and digital storytelling c- **Intro** to ComicLife & MakeBeliefsComix

[|Comic Life] is an application for creating comics, but also annotated images, dynamic photo albums, greeting cards, scrap books, story books, and instruction guides and brochures. In the classroom, it is an excellent tool for creating reports of almost any kind.
 * I. What is Comic Life?**


 * Comic Life allows you to create page layouts with boxes for images and text. Styles can be applied to create just about any type of ‘feel’ for your document.
 * Captions can be created with tails in order to have thought balloons, speech boxes or just additional annotations.
 * Filters are available to turn your digital images into a variety of hand drawn looking graphics to enhance the comic appearance of your work.
 * The finished comic could be exported into a variety of formats—HTML, images, iPhoto Album, QuickTime.

View "ComicLife Introduction"


 * II.** **Why Comics in the Classroom?**
 * **Comics work for all competency levels**: Comics also have the ability to meet the needs of students in a variety of learning styles.
 * **For the pre-reader**: it can be purely graphical in nature and help provide practice with sequencing as well as concrete to abstract transitions using illustrations instead of written words.
 * **For the early reader**, the written component of a comic can be introduced when the early readers are ready to connect words with images.
 * **For the reader**, comics can help early readers or readers with language acquisition problems by providing visual clues to the context of the narrative.
 * **For more advanced readers**, comics can contain all the complexity of 'normal' written material which the student must decode and comprehend, such as puns, alliteration, metaphors, symbolism, point of view, context, inference, and narrative structures.
 * **Comics also** have the ability to meet the **needs of students in a variety of learning styles**.
 * **ComicLife** could be used to **facilitate student participation**


 * III. The Comic Life Interface**

Creating a comic with Comic Life is a simple 5-step process.
 * IV. How to Create a Comic in Comic Life**
 * 1) Select a template for your new page.
 * 2) Add digital images from iPhoto, other disks or a connected digital camera.
 * 3) Select a style/filter for digital images.
 * 4) Add text containers and text.
 * 5) Save (frequently) and export to your format of choice.

1. Project 2: create a comic strip 2. Present and post 3. PowerPoint presentation 4. Journal entry: What is the relevance of comic books in a world language classroom?
 * V.** **Assignments:** **// Let’s Create! //**

Some language experts limit the use of comics in curriculum design entirely to the affective domain and view their function most often as glorified decorations. In light of what you now know about comics, do you think they could be cognitive tools as effective as text and illustrated text? Comment.(One page minimum)
 * 5.** __**Reflection:**__

__**Other Comic books Programs**__


 * MakeBeliefsComix**


 * Pixton**

Kerpoof software could be used by kids //**(****Elementary and middle school**//) to create original artwork, animated movies, stories, greeting cards, posters, etc...