Try and Use Comics in Your Classroom

Today I experimented with a free comic strip website called http://stripgenerator.com/. Although I found the characters to pick from quite odd, which comic strip characters usually are, it was a simple set up. Creating the thinking/speaking clouds were easy, inserting whichever character you'd like, and coming up with some kind of silly story, as I did. Check out Miss.B's ESL class created using stripgenerator.

Using stripgenerator or any other comic tool online can be a very fun way to engage your learners. You, as the teacher, have the freedom to have the student create any kind of comic strip. This could include using science, math, social studies, or English content areas. Student's also have the freedom of creativity, with the exception of a few guidelines from the teacher. Using comic strip tools can be one way to help teachers incorporate technology in their students lives. The easiest way to use comic strips for content purposes would be to first pick a content area. We'll say science. Use a topic you have covered recently in class, and have students create a comic strip using new vocabulary words, but adding their own twist to a storyline. For example, the weather. Students could make a comic strip involving a weather man, being a student waiting for the bus, etc. Throughout their comic strips students should have at least one vocabulary word per section.The options could be endless. The main thing to focus on is making sure an objective is being reached by incorporating this fun activity.