Cartoons and Comics

 So what about cartoons and comics?

You must admit, reading cartoons and comics is fun! They are something every single one of us is familiar with. Young children can enjoy them and they have the ability to have multiple audiences. So then, why are cartoons and comics usually shunned sometimes when classes begin talking about curricular needs? Cartoons and comics are a great way to get an audience's attention... use them to introduce topics, comment on current events, or bring comic relief to others. 

Although I have always felt that cartoons and, or, comics would be great to use in class, I have to admit that I never felt that I was creative enough to actually create some. For one, drawing was never a talent of mine, and then I was just too focused on curricular needs. Instead of using these formats to grasp my students, I shied away from them. I was then introduced to various sites which make creating comics and cartoons easy and fun. The three sites that I used were: Fotojet, Pixton, and MakeBeliefsComix. 

Fotojet: Fotojet was so easy to use and personalize. They have various templates which can be used to create cartoons. You also have the option of creating a brand-new one. I had to play around with the various settings, but it is easy to get the hang of once you mess around with it. This site allows you to add your own images and words to create your cartoon or comic. The seven-day trial allows you to use most of the features as well. This is the comic that I created using Fotojet:

My family loves Disney World. I wanted to incorporate it for this particular comic. 

Pixton: Pixton was so much fun and incredibly easy to work with. You can sign up for free, but once you want to download your comic, you will need to pay for an account. You can pay a monthly fee, which is not too expensive. They even offer school packages. This may be something you may want to share with colleagues and possibly get your campus to buy school licenses. I read that these features allow you to connect Pixton to school Clever accounts, which is a great feature to have. This is the comic that I created using Pixton:

https://share.pixton.com/q4aiuoj

                    Using Pixton is very easy and can be easily used to create storyboards or posters with reading materials used in class. I had a lot of fun with Pixton and will use it in class.

MakeBeliefsComix- MakeBeliefsComix is entirely free and a tool that allows you to create comics and stories for free. I have to say that this site was a bit more complicated to manipulate, but once I got the hang of it, turned out to be easier than I originally anticipated. This site did lag much more than either of the other two sites I used. Additionally, it is not as easy to personalize as the other two. Be warned that you have to create an account first and please press the save button. Trust me on this one! Also, you will have to actually look for how and what you need to do to create an account. This site is good to use, especially because it is free, but you do not have the ease or functionalities that the previous two sites offer.  Overall, this was easier than I first thought, but you do not have as much liberty to personalize it. 

This is a comic I created using this site:

 https://makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/#send

All-in-all, these three sites are great tools to use in the classroom and can be used in cross-curricular classrooms. It would be great to hold a professional development session that incorporates how to use cartoons and comics in the classroom setting. This professional development must be hands-on as well. It would be great to have educators manipulate and create their own comics that can be used to introduce or summarize class content. Some sites were easier to work with, which is why this professional development must be a hands-on session. I really enjoyed working with Pixton and Fotojet. I would recommend all teachers to use these sites to engage learners an as an option for students to show and support their understanding.