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Reading (and Writing) Graphic Novels on the Web
By RR | January 17, 2008
Graphic novels are incredibly popular among adolescents (and adults) these days, both in America and overseas. Many of our students are reading them on their own time, and educators have begun to catch up. In the English language arts, for example, graphic novels such as Maus and Persepolis are frequently taught, and Puffin graphics has an entire line of graphic novels based on classics such as Macbeth, The Red Badge of Courage, and Frankenstein.
I usually think about graphic novels in the context of reading/literature instruction: they can help reluctant readers visualize the storyworld, for example, and appeal to adolescent boys in particular. But lately, a few online applications have helped me think about them in terms of writing instruction. The first is Makebeliefscomix.com (thanks to Troy Hicks for alerting me to this one). At this site, you can create a 2, 3, or 4 panel comic strip using a range of characters and various background colors. This one below took about ten minutes to make.
Another good option is the Read Write Think Comic Creator, pictured below. It is a little less sophisticated than the Makebeliefs tool and does not allow you to email the final comic strip. But you can create 6-panel strips and change backgrounds–cool.
Finally, there’s Sketchcast, which does something a little different. Sketchcast lets you record a drawing as it happens and add a voiceover if you’d like. I played with this for a while, and believe me, the sketch you see below was by far my best effort. Maybe your students could do better.
Categories: Courses | | 1 Comment »
Those look like tons of fun. Thanks for passing along the links.
Posted by: Trina on January 17th, 2008 at 5:11 pm