I found a great blog, Digital Writing, Digital Teaching and was really intrigued by a post about using comic books as a way to get students to write. The post focuses on a website, http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/ , that provides users with blank comics to fill in. They are now including writing prompts, such as:
Many teachers are using this site as a way to make writing and reading fun. The site is also recommended for ESL students, for parents, and for anyone who wants to be creative. I checked the site out and it was easy to use. The prompts offered were interesting and definitely provided great starting points for some great stories.
I think that this would be a great way to get students who are having trouble writing. It could be used as a starting point, as a pre-writing exercise, or even be used as the actual assignment for some students. I really like the idea of linking different methods of expression together. This would be a great lead-in for a graphic novel or a project.
Hi Brandy,
Thanks for checking out my blog. Good luck with your work this semester.
Please send along a “hello” to Dr. DeBlase for me.
Troy
By: Troy Hicks on October 14, 2008
at 1:13 am
I visited this website after reading your blog, and I have to agree that it is quite a good resource for anyone wanting to find ways to instill a love of writing and being imaginative. I especially like the link that takes you to “Bill Z Treasure Chest”. It is full of good ideas for bringing literacy into the lives of young people .
I agree with the point you made about this being a good thing for reluctant readers, or simply kids that get bored without mass amounts of stimulus.( I find that being more and more common these days).
Good Find!
By: mlemallin on October 15, 2008
at 1:09 am
This is a great tool for the classroom. Writing is one of the most difficult processes to get students involved and interested in. Part of the reason for this is the redundant nature of the standard essay process. Projects like this comic book tool are a way to deviate from the normal and let the students be a little more creative and abstract. In the process though, they will still develop their writing skills. On a similar note, there is also another tool similar to this. There are picture story books that have no words to them. Students use the pictures to create stories of their own. Methods like the picture book and the comic method you refer to are great in getting students to unveil their skills and have some fun in learning to write.
By: ba4440 on October 27, 2008
at 1:18 am
Hi, I was interested in what you submitted on line because I found a great web site that does something very similarly. It is an interactive online tool that sets up a 6 box graphic organizer with which to make a comic strip. Mine was found in the readwritethink.org website. I wrote about it. May be you can try both.
By: coppens on November 3, 2008
at 11:53 pm
I agree that finding an avenue for students to be greative and finding their voice is what a writing teacher needs to explore. If using comics, or free write or journals works then you have succeeded.
Using comics would be a very nice way to help students understand the use of character and plot becasue you have limited time to grab the reader and expose your plot. Creating a comic strip would be a nice class project and fun for the students.
Thanks for the idea.
By: taued on November 14, 2008
at 1:31 pm