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The project Autonomous “Personal Learning Networks” for Language Teachers has been funded with support from the

European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible

for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Resource Number 18 

Make Beliefs Comic 

URL

www.makebeliefscomix.com

Category VII

Writing skills training 

Keywords

digital comic, writing, creative, language

Rationale

Enhancing writing and creative literacy skills is an important support to many aspects of learning. Digital comics offer a way to

experiment and utilize these skills in a way that removes constraints caused by psychological barriers to production in L2

learners and minimize stress connected to productive skills as this instrument allows them to express contents confidently

through the comic characters.

  A digital comic utilizes the included clipart and images to support a learner's story and allows a professional result that a

learner can feel proud of displaying, even if their writing skills are minimal. This is particularly true with language learners.

The tool helps maximise the use of simple language for lower-levelled students, but as well to use a variety of language

registers for the higher-levelled ones. Its enjoyable format also helps enhance student’s motivation to learn languages by

using an active learning tool.

The possibility to quickly produce results and edit results is a second advantage.

Description

Make Belief Comix is one of the oldest and simplest digital comic tools on the Internet, originally founded by Bill Zimmermanin 2006. There are a large number of educator supports including:

  how to play

  story ideas

  writer prompts

  educator ideas

The tool is available on the website and is extremely simple to use. It includes:

  a set of character clip art,

  a set of object clip art,

  choice of panels (1 – 4),

  backgrounds,

  speech and thought balloons,

  panel prompts,

  characters,

  objects.

The images placed in each panel can be:  moved

  scaled

  brought to the front

  flipped

  deleted

Results can be printed and emailed.

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The project Autonomous “Personal Learning Networks” for Language Teachers has been funded with support from the

European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible

for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Resources required

No special equipment is needed.

Obligatory resources

  Desktop computer or laptop

  Internet browser and connection

Optional resources

  Printer if required

Cost

Free (the owner of the resource is a retired teacher and journalist in New York and requests donations to help support theresource) 

Setup and Configuration

No download or setup are required. You can directly start composing your comic and after completing it, it is possible to printit directly or send it by email to selected email addresses.

Styling

The website is very simple and user-friendly.

  Icons symbolizing basic functions of the programme - adding a character, resizing it, adding objects - can be easilyspotted and used for effectuating the requested action.

  In the central part there are the comic windows ready to start completing them. Bellow the comic panels there is anumber of comic characters in offer, on the left you can choose move, scale, bring to the front, flip or delete thecharacters and object which appear in the strip. On the right you can add objects, speech or thought balloons,change background colour, make choice of number of panels and select panel prompts.

   Above the comic panels there is a possibility to name the comic and add author’s name.

Navigation and operation

Navigation is intuitive and as a mature tool is normally reliable and consistent. The main window is clearly-organized and the

icons visibly marked. By clicking on Enter here! you can start choosing the outline of the comic and filling in. This ease lowers

barriers caused by unfamiliar e-environment and concentrate on the result. No special IT skills are required.

Implementation methodology 

Lessons based on exploitation of the digital comic format can be done directly in the lesson, in the language classroomequipped with computers or equally, completed as homework. Students can work either individually or in groups to come upwith a solution.

Teaching/Learning ideas:

  Have students place value or  reflect on a particular experience in a comic strip   Use comics to talk about holidays, school, work, etc.   Illustrate a language problem.   Have a character to go through a vocabulary SS were taught in the lesson.    Have a character to explain a grammar point.   Create a comic book using the strips created by students. Students may serialize their comics by creating a new.

strip each day as part of a continuing story.

  Encourage students to use comic’s characters to comment on local or national events, cultural life, social trends.

  Create a comic in which the characters deal with a topic or problem given which might be personal or wider social.

The results can be printed or emailed, and/or placed in the classroom. Another possibility is to select the best comic betweenall the students and place them on the school websites or school magazine.

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The project Autonomous “Personal Learning Networks” for Language Teachers has been funded with support from the

European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible

for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Example of implementation

Type of lesson: General English courseLevel: A2 of CEFR

Lesson Title: Using Comic Strips to Graded Reading of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Age group: Teenagers (aged 14 -17)Number of students involved: 15Duration: 90 min.

  Introduction: T presents the content and aim of today lesson  – to use the comic format for reading practice. At theend of the lesson, SS will be able to read and comprehend the writing style of L. Carrol and fit their ideas related tothe reading impression into a condensated format.

  Discussion: T asks SS if they know what the story contained in the book is about, what characters appear thereand what actions take place in the book. Together they bring the information.

  Reading: T brings photocopies of graded reading book of Alice in Wonderland adapted for A2 levelled SS anddivide the class into groups of two or, if the class is small, individuals. Each group is assigned a chapter to work on.SS read in pairs or individually the content of the chapter and ask for unknown expressions. After this stage, theyare asked to make an outline of what happened.

  Modelling: T presents to SS the new resource showing it on a projector screen connected to a PC with Internetaccess. As an example, T shows SS how to create a comic and produces a sample on using the widest range of options for designing the comic to give them a clear idea of how to work with the comic strip creator.

  Preparation: T asks SS to come up with a list of scenes, a script, and a storyboard based on the content of thechapter and define 4 panels as a basis for the comic.

  Lesson flow: SS following T’s instructions to produce a comic strip build their own comic based on the outcome of the previous stage. They choose characters, settings, and complete speech bubbles. After this, they email their results to T’s email address. 

  Output: T receives to his email account SS’s comics. These are printed and ordered according to the chapter sequence. SS go through them and are asked to retell the Alice story by looking at the comics and imagining whathappened. SS working on the strip can correct or complete the story.

 Follow-up: As a final step, a PPT presentation using the comic strips can be built as an e-book and placed in astorage place for presentation (e.g. www.slideshare.net).

Alice in Wonderland, Chapter 7 - A Mad Tea-Party.

Other issues

Building digital comics in which the characters speak for the creator also provides a mechanism to help autistic and deaf students to communicate. 

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The project Autonomous “Personal Learning Networks” for Language Teachers has been funded with support from the

European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible

for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Useful tips

   A European project EduComics created resources and case studies in using digital comics in education.

  Teachers' forum Teaching Degree.  Article “Comics in the Classroom: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Teachers”.

Includes numerous links to get more information about the comics in the classroom

  Find a list of tools here. 

Other digital comic Internet resources:

  Dvolver Moviemaker   – a more sophisticated cartoon tool

  Concept Cartoon - Teaching examples using comics

  ΚΑΒΑΜ! Comic Creator  - Interactive self assessment using comics.

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