Cartoons and comic strips can be used from beginner level to advanced level. Cartooning is a great way to think through a reading selection using a creative outlet. Through cartoons, a particular point, can be illustrated much more quickly and interestingly than through words alone. A cartoon tells the same story as the paragraph or reading section. But when we look at the cartoon, we can absorb the story/concept at a glance.
Most students will identify the "Golden Arches" as the symbol for MacDonalds, but only a few will recognize the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic party. For the cartoonist the symbol constitutes a sort of visual short hand. Teachers must help students become familiar with this short hand. This activity begins with symbols students know and are familiar with. Then they are asked to help their knowledge further by considering all the meanings various symbols might have.
The students will then have to decide together what the actual meaning of each symbol is. The students can then show their knowledge through a group project where they develop their own carToons.
Analyze a political cartoon and determine the subject, verb or verbs and object of each. Using this information, write a sentence conveying the cartoon's theme. More than one sentence structure interpretation can be made from many cartoons.
Super-hero your images! Use this image editor to add speech and thought bubbles to photos and images. Upload your image (such as a photo from your digital camera or a ...
This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn about and create comics in any subject area. Comics have become mainstream in "graphic novels" and can express or explain major concepts, portray the underlying tensions behind an issue, or simply help students remember terms and definitions. The storytelling potential of comics goes back to cave drawings and can be as simple as a stick figure or as elaborate as a photograph annotated with voice bubbles. Explore these resources for tools and ideas to "draw" comics into your classroom as a tool for learning.
You can make your very own comic right now! At Write Comics, you will be able to create your own comics using the figures, backgrounds, animal, aliens, and dialogue bubbles, ..