I take comics very seriously - as should all teachers!

I loved comic books as a kid. My faves were Archie, Spiderman, Sgt. Rock, Daredevil, Superman, and Conan the Barbarian. I know, Conan is definitely not rated "G", but hey I was a pre-teen boy once!

But there is a lot we can teach kids using comic books. I am using this website:

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

I am going to use this page with two classes, acting as "buddy classes". Both classes will go into the lab, and create a simple 3 frame comic together. They will be a class of Grade 3's (the big buddies), and a class of Kindergarteners. Using click and drag, the K's will select and place the characters, and the grade 3's will support their writing. We will teach:

1. How stories have a beginning, middle and end.



2. That you must plan the ending before you plan the middle. How else will you know where to go with your story?



3. That when you are writing a story, the authour can show the audience what all the characters are saying AND what they are thinking, but other characters are not allowed to know what each other are thinking.
   

Here is a sample:

This is a lot of deep thinking about writing. And, we could tackle all sorts of social or academic topics, even at the middle school level and beyond. Comics are powerful. Just don't read them for silent reading class every day. Hey you! Get a chapter book for tomorrow.....

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