Kathy M and Sharron brought their Grade 2 classes to the computer lab today to learn about how to use ComicLife. (This fun program is installed on all the Macs in the district and provides lots of great opportunities for students to show their thinking.)
Because students import pictures rather than draw them on the screen, all students can see immediate, "professional" looking results. Budding artists can scan their drawings or hold them up to the Photobooth camera and import them easily.
We began by reviewing with the kids the various elements found on a typical comic book page: the panels, the pictures, the speech and thought bubbles, the "impact" words ("POW", "CRASH") and narration blocks. We asked the students to create a 4 panel page with a title in the first square ("What I Like"), and then insert three pictures of themselves: happy, happier and a little sad. Then they added a 2 speech bubbles and a thought bubble: "I like...", "I really like...", "But I don't like...")
Students had a lot of fun trying out the different options and experimenting with the program. (Plasq has just released a Windows beta that kids can try free for 30 days!)
Here's a sample I made to demonstrate:
What I Like2
Here are a couple of "how-to" handouts (2 page and 6 page) that teachers might find useful:
Comic Life Mini Manual
