Cartoons and Comics
Comics and cartoons are great ways to engage students in learning. Think about those students who love graphic novels. Did you know that there are sites out there that actually let you, yes you create your vey own cartoon and comic strips? I experimented with ToonDoo, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix and here is what I thought about them.

ToonDoo is a free illustrating service that allows users to create and share comic strips.  After creating my account, came the task  of creating my very first comic strip.  I started my comic by first choosing a character. It took forever for the characters to load, I literally waited almost 10 minutes or longer.  I eventually logged out and restarted.  Once I was able to actually create my comic strip, it was some what easy to create. * Note that you have a variety of options to choose from backgrounds, movements, text boxes, etc. Because it was my very first, I wanted to create something simple.  I would not recommend this site when working with students, it just takes too much time, and I only have so much time to work with students.

 

Pixton After creating a free account, I was informed of my 7 day free trial period.  I could feel my frustration growing while trying to create this comic strip.  Like Toondoo, Pixton is also time consuming and not very user friendly, in my opinion.  I'm not sure I would recommend Pixton for those who see students for a short amount of time.  I love the idea of creating comic strips with students, but it took me a lot of time to try and get them half-way decent to post for my blog. 

MakeBeliefsComix After a few attempts of trying to go to the site MakeBeliefComix from my computer, I kept getting the message below that my antivirus ware was picking up a possible threat from this site. I used a different computer, once I did, I went back to the site, and whalaa...I was able to create the comic strip below, with ease.  I didn't have to create an account or anything.  I love that.  I can see students enjoying and using this site easily!   It's free and no account is needed.

 

 

 



I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy this assignment, because the whole idea of me creating a comic strip was exciting. However, I found the first two sites somewhat tedious to work with (maybe because it was my first time), and considering the amount of time I have to work with students each day, I'm not sure about using or recommending either of them?  But, I did like the finished product.  After, getting a chance to finally create a comic strip on MakeBeliefComix, the process was so easy for me.  I would recommend it out of the three for students and teachers .  One way I might incorporate comic strips in the future is by organizing a graphic novel book discussion or teaching students to make their own comic strips.  Enjoy!