Cartoons and Comics in the Classroom

Graphic novels have become more and more popular in classrooms these days thanks to great librarians and teachers realizing the learning potential of them. Today, I'm going to show you a few websites that would allow both you and your students the opportunity to create cartoons and comics that would appeal to a wide range of learners, just like graphic novels do.

1. Toondoo
I was a little concerned at firs that this site would be too childish and geared more towards younger students, but looks can be deceiving! I will tell you this first: I have a medium speed wifi connection and a fast computer, but it took quite a bit of time to open the toon creator. It kept stopping and telling me a script was causing Java to load slowly. I knew immediately that this would be a problem for the Chromebooks and slow connections on our campus. I'm hoping it was a fluke, but be prepared when using this website with a slower connection. Students get frustrated easily when things take forever.
Ok. Back to the good stuff! Once the toon creator opened, it was very simple to begin making a toon. For advanced users or users with time, they can create their own toon avatar or just use stock images and characters. Here is a very short toon I created about my new adventure in Crossfit and the number one complaint of my friends who do it with me (I LOVE to run!).



Toondoo would be a great resource for all content areas. I can see English classes creating book synopsis or writing original toons. History classes could create toons about historical people and events. Science classes could create toons about different biological processes or environmental issues. The ideas are endless!

2. Pixton
Pixton loaded much more quickly and was very easy to navigate. The educator templates available are AMAZING places to either start from or to use for lessons and activities. When choosing characters, they are automatically put in a position that is logical to the background chosen, but can easily be changed to another position, making it very easy and quick to create a comic. Pixton had many more backgrounds to choose from and were easily searchable. Compared to Toondo, Pixton is more user-friendly and would allow for quick assessment and creation of things. Here is a quick brainstorming comic I made over the feelings created by the beach. This would be used as a prewriting technique for a poem. Pixton is very much geared towards students and educators. It can be used across the curriculum and is much more friendly to comic newbies, which many students will be.

I've got that beachy feeling brainstorming comic

3. Make Beliefs Comix
If you want a quick form of comic making, this is your best bed. Students and teachers do not have to register for this site. They simply begin building from the first page. Images and backgrounds are very basic though. So if you students want more control of the characters and backgrounds, this isn't for them. But, for a fun activity that can be completed quickly in class, such as a quick review of concepts learned or a fast KWL graphic, this is the site to use. Here is my comic created using the site that tells the story of so many new librarians.

After playing with all three of these platforms, I see the value in all of them. Teachers on campus and their students can benefit from incorporating comics into their classes in so many ways. To get teachers interested in using them, I want to share different ideas with them during department meetings to that we can brainstorm specific assignments and lessons that could be enhanced with comics. Using comics to illustrate new vocabulary, as a storyboard for their own creative writing, or using them to create their own political cartoons are all easy and engaging ways to move away from Google Slides presentations and Prezis. We all know images help students retain information much better than words alone. So, turn that subject they struggle with understanding and applying into a comic and see how it changes their learning and retention!