Just wanted to share January 10, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, SMART Board, Websites.trackback
I had a marvelous day yesterday using our new laptops and MakeBeliefsComix.com with a 4th grade class. They have been studying famous US landmarks and as a final project the teacher wanted the students to identify their favorite landmark and tell why (giving information about the landmark). Typically she would have them write a short essay so I suggested that we try something different by having them write a comic strip instead. The expectations would be the same, they would just have the opportunity to share their knowledge using a different tool. After a quick “how to” lesson on the basics of using MakeBeliefsComix.com the students were eager, ready and very willing to get started! The enthusiasm was over the top!! It was one of those wonderful teaching moments! The outcome was fantastic- the comics were creative and informative and met all of the criteria that writing an essay would have accomplished. Here are two examples- the pictures are linked to the actual comics in case you can’t read them.
I was just so impressed with the way the students changed the emotions of the cartoon characters, creatively integrated the information, quickly learned how to use the tool, worked cooperatively to help each other and how much they enjoyed the activity. As one students said to me, “Miss, this is way cool! It’s not even like I’m in school”.
The next step is for me to create a SMART Notebook lesson with each of the comics so the students can present their finished product to the class. I also will be incorporating Google Earth so we also can “travel” to each landmark. All in all it was a wonderful lesson using a marvelous and FREE website. It’s a great tool for encouraging skills in the area of computer literacy and improve language and reading skills and strengthen creative writing skills. ENJOY!
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[...] create cartoons expressing their ideas (I had used this website last week at a different school to describe landmarks). And so this would not be just any book, it would be a book of comics, expressing issues they [...]
This is a really great site. I was wondering which lessons you included in the SMARTnotebook lesson.
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Thank you LaQuita, for visiting and for your comment. I created a SMART Notebook lesson for each of them. Not only did I import each individual comic into a Notebook lesson so the students could showcase their work to their classmates, but I also used various activities and games from the LAT to review and test what they had learned. For the landmark lesson I also linked to Google Earth so they could “travel” to each landmark- and they LOVED it!
Hope this helps!
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