Cartoons & Comics

I love reading comics! And, with graphic novels as popular as they are, I know that my junior high students like reading them, too! I also like the ability to design within a site and easily see changes. Here are four sites that give you the ability to make your own comics along with making design changes seamlessly, and then share them with your students. 

Pixton

The first site that I tried was called Pixton. It was my first time to use the site or create a comic strip and I must say that it was very simple. Many features were free, but if you want to get into creating lots of movements, facial expressions and a change of scenery, then you will have to purchase a plan. Plans begin at $9.99 per month and go up to $99 per year. The best part is that all plans include unlimited student enrollment.

Make Beliefs Comix

The second site I visited was Make Beliefs Comix. This site seemed a little dated with less features than the first site. I had a little trouble getting started, but once I explored the site a little more I realized it wasn't very difficult. Obviously, my state of mind at the time was expressed in the comic strip. This site is not just for creating comic strips, but you can also create greeting cards, ebooks and more. There are options for lesson plans, help in special needs, and for students whose first language is not English. 

FotoJet

My first impression with FotoJet is that the interface reminded me of the Canva platform. Since I use Canva on a regular basis, it was immediately familiar. I chose one of the collage templates to get started. It's easy to choose a photo that is available within the platform, or you can upload a photo from your computer. The other option is to import a Facebook photo. I chose to use the available photos in the platform since most junior high students do not have a Facebook account. Downloading the project is free but to be able to save your work or access better features, the user will have to purchase a plan at $40 per year if billed annually. I went ahead and purchased a year subscription to continue making more of these. My daughter is really missing volleyball right now so I chose to create a collage using her pictures. I could imagine that students (and teachers) would enjoy making these to highlight moments. This was a fun site to explore. 

Storyboard That

The last site that I used to create a comic strip was StoryboardThat. I remember using this site when I previously taught 7th grade ELA and I wanted to create a comic for Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. The site has plans from $9.99 per month to a yearly plan for $96. This site was probably the easiest to figure out without a tutorial. All features are simple to find, add, and edit. This would be my favorite site but with a free plan, the user is limited to only two storyboards per week. 

All in all, I really enjoyed creating the comics on each site and it gives me a new way to reach students that I normally would not have used. I can't wait to see what the students will be creating when I share these sites with them.

I plan on spending some time in the next few days making comic strips to share with students and teachers on my Canvas page. We all need to smile during this time of uncertainty and I also want to pass on the quality of the sites. I will ask my students to share with me their creations so that I can post on the school website. I think this would be a great way to see our students publish their work and feel a sense of accomplishment. I also think teachers will find it an enjoyable site to use for creative lessons.