Creating a German Language Textbook Using Comic Strips
I teach German at the University of North Alabama. I've been using your site to make comics to help teach German grammar in my classes. I recently wrote an Open Educational Resource German 101 textbook that is free for anyone to use. (I did not make any money off this project, nor am I allowed to do so). Your comic site was a huge help in doing illustrations for it. Plus, they helped to make the examples humorous and gave some color to an otherwise boring textbook. Most importantly, it cut down the cost of our textbook from $250 to $0 for all students.
I use MakeBeliefComicx to enrich the grammar lessons in the OER German 101 textbook that I wrote. They help to add some color and illustration to each lesson, which is extremely helpful since I can't draw. I add dialogues. Most foreign language textbooks have dialogues with no pictures. Having them look like a comic strip gets students reading more quickly. They learn the language easier when there are pictures to reinforce the meaning of the text.
Just thought I'd let you know how much of a help your site is! I plan to keep using it in future OER resources. Here's a link if you're interested in seeing how your wonderful site helped. Here is a link to my free OER German 101 textbook. German 102 is currently in progress:
https://una.pressbooks.pub/gr101/chapter/section-1-1/
Wie geht’s?. To ask how someone is doing, use the following phrases:. Wie geht’s? How are you? (Lit. How goes it?) You can use this phrase with anyone, whether formal or informal. You may be wondering why there is an apostrophe in the word geht’s. This is a short form of “geht es.” We use the apostrophe to show that the letter “e” has been left out.
--Dr. Rebecca A. Linam, adjunct instructor of German, Foreign Languages, University of Northern Alabama, Florence
Creating Comics on Living with the Pandemic
As we started our 5th week of virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic, my students were really missing each other, They would come on our video chat and want to tell their classmates about what they did over the weekend, how they were spending their time after they were done their school work, and what they were doing with their family. Each week I look for a new and fun activity that can bring the students together and share with their classmate's activities they are doing.
Last week, a student of mine asked me if we could share what we have been doing through a comic. I went online and I found MakeBeliefsComix.com. It was easy to use; it has lots of stickers to add to the comics and speech bubbles that the students could create their own dialogue between characters. It was the perfect site. I shared the site with my students and asked each of them to create a comic strip of how they have been spending their days at home. I then took their individual comics and put them into a slide show to create a class comic book!
-- Alexis Loomis, first-year teacher, Saints Peter and Paul School, West Chester, Pa.
Here is the video of the Comic Book
CLICK HERE to View the Comic Book (Excerpt shown below)
Creating Comics on Living with the Pandemic
As we started our 5th week of virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic, my students were really missing each other, They would come on our video chat and want to tell their classmates about what they did over the weekend, how they were spending their time after they were done their school work, and what they were doing with their family. Each week I look for a new and fun activity that can bring the students together and share with their classmate's activities they are doing.
Last week, a student of mine asked me if we could share what we have been doing through a comic. I went online and I found MakeBeliefsComix.com. It was easy to use; it has lots of stickers to add to the comics and speech bubbles that the students could create their own dialogue between characters. It was the perfect site. I shared the site with my students and asked each of them to create a comic strip of how they have been spending their days at home. I then took their individual comics and put them into a slide show to create a class comic book!
-- Alexis Loomis, first-year teacher, Saints Peter and Paul School, West Chester, Pa.
Here is the video of the Comic Book
CLICK HERE to View the Comic Book (Excerpt shown below)
Teaching English
The students in my college-level Chinese classes used MakeBeliefsComix to tell stories related to the subject matter of the week. For instance, when we were learning how to tell directions, they made up a story about a woman who asked the policeman how to get to the hospital because she had to take her kids there.
-- M. Rose retired language instructor, Retired Language Instructor, Monterey, CA
I learned about MakeBeliefsComix in my grad school "teaching with tech" class several years ago and have used it since at the university and high school level ESL classes. We often use your site for vocabulary reinforcement. After the students have been exposed to the vocab list a few times, we ask them to use a few vocab words to tell a story.
Sometimes we use the site to demonstrate understanding of concepts. For example, we did a unit on voting rights around the world. The students used their newly-gained knowledge to show what they learned about things such as voting rights, disenfranchisement, voter suppression, democracy, etc.
Many of my students enjoy the break from regular classroom activities. Thanks for providing a product that inspires them!
-- Emily Richards, teacher at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis, Ind.
Learning About Opportunity Cost
Sixth grade Social Studies students in Ohio have several standards dealing with economics. One of these standards covers the idea of opportunity cost which is understanding what you give up when choosing between two things.
My students had to create a comic strip showing a time in their life when they experienced opportunity cost. I had about ten different paper comic strip templates on which they could draw their experience. Many of my students wanted to create an online comic strip and used MakeBeliefsComix.com to do this. The website was easy for them to use and the comic strips turned out amazing!
They were easy for me to print so students could use them for a "Gallery Walk" and earn team points in our classroom. Here are a couple examples of what my students were able to do with this website. Thanks, MakeBeliefsComix! This was an enjoyable class project
-- Tracie L. Clay, Gahanna Middle School West
This is What Courage Looks Like!
My 5th grade class read an article entitled “This is What Courage Looks Like”. It is about Claudette Colvin, a young girl who like Rosa Parks, decided one day to stay in her seat on a city bus, when a white woman needed a seat. Claudette was arrested and tried in a court of law. She was found guilty and realized she had lost her dream of becoming a lawyer. Several years later, Rosa Parks did the same thing on a Montgomery city bus. Claudette became a witness for the trial.
My students have been studying about character struggles, and how events and other characters effect the struggles of the character. Then, they learned how it played out after the turning point (climax). We did a three-panel comic strip with the first one representing the struggle of the main character, the second panel representing the turning point or climax, and the third panel representing the effects on the main character.
Below you will see a couple of examples of their creations using MakeBelifsComix.com.
I am thrilled that they turned out so well. I can’t wait to put them up in my classroom for all my students to enjoy! Thanks again so much!
Sally Kinsey, Colony Meadows Elementary, Fort Bend ISD, Sugar Land, Tx
Summaries for a Story
After learning all about summaries for a story and the necessary elements, I challenge my students to create a summary for "A Package for Mrs. Jewls" in comic form. The students are working at a higher level than simply identifying important characters and events. They need to use the settings and characters that are in the story and represent them symbolically because the real Louis and Mrs. Jewls and the students are not available as options. There are, however, people and objects that are close enough for them to match. The tools that are provided on https://makebeliefscomix.com allow students who wouldn't be able to pull what they are thinking into written or draw the cartoons themselves to share their ideas. Students then add their cartoon to a Google Slide presentation so that I can print them for the hall.
Thank you for providing these tools. Here are the group instructions for the first summary. Each student has a job to complete while they work as a team. You already created a graphic organizer in your notes for “A Package for Mrs. Jewls.” Use it to create a comic that gives a symbolic summary. Below is a guide for jobs.
| Characters | Setting | Events | Symbolism |
| This job finds characters that symbolize who is in the story. They will also add in thoughts and word bubbles. | This job will find backgrounds to represent the setting. They can also add objects that help tell the story. | This job will be the first job. They need to plan out what events will be included in the summary and guide the character and setting jobs with what to find for each frame. Each events will go in a frame. You can only have 4-6 frames.
This job can add cartoon words like *poof* that add to the story. |
You will need to use symbols in your summary for all the jobs of creating the events, characters, and setting. |
I use Pep Talks for morning meetings. While I enjoy the topics, I also find that they are great to leave with a sub. It allows them to have the students share in an organized way about a topic that can bring out some deeper thought. They thank me for leaving the pep talks.
Christine Lopez, 5th Grade Teacher, Mountain View Elementary, Harrisburg, PA.
To Help with Speech Pathology
As a speech-language pathologist who works with students via telepractice, I have found MakeBeliefsComix to be a really useful site. I have used the comic strip creator with students on the autism spectrum many times during online speech therapy sessions. I love using this activity to target theory of mind concepts with students. We can create simple (or elaborate!) stories together, and it provides so many great opportunities to interpret and predict the thoughts and feelings of others. It is a fun and effective way to address appropriate social language skills with students of various age ranges.
You can create a really basic/silly comic strip to use with young students, or create something more realistic for use with middle schoolers. I love doing activities where the student can be an integral part of creating the materials, then using the materials we created to target goals. It provides for a really rich and engaging session...and since I work with students online, having the materials right there on the screen is very convenient!
-- Sara Smith, M.S., CCC-SLP, E-Therapy, www.electronic-therapy.com, sara@electronic-therapy.com www.electronic-therapy.com
For Reluctant Readers
I have a neighbor whose grandson, Michael, is a bit uninterested in reading. He balks at any suggestion to read. He was privately tutored last year with some success. This summer he was taken from one summer camp to the next. He frequently spent time next door with his grandparents. He came over one day bored with the summer heat and his disinterest in anything besides his iPad or tv. I asked my neighbors if he could learn a new program and help me learn it, too, at the same time (this way he thought all the discoveries were his own!).
Soon we were making his first comic strip (9 sections). At first he was resistant pretending this was yet another of my brilliant ideas to get him to read. He suddenly was captivated by the ability to change the backgrounds and move his characters around. He asked how to spell several words, but remembered the correct spelling as his story progressed.
I want to share his excitement when he realized he had control of the “monster” he created and the ability to make him talk and move around the screen. He was SO involved with creating it and then kept going! I tried to change something and he was resistant to any help (good for him!). The fact that this program is computer based is a “win win.” How much easier to say “let’s play with this fun program" rather than lets read a book!
As a seasoned teacher my heart swelled with appreciation for this website! He was learning!!!! We reviewed his work and he grinned with a bit of a twinkle in his eyes! We sent it to his mother at work and made a hard copy for his grandparents. His mother is now helping him with this site.
-- Jody Miller Lowry, RN BSN MA, Bradenton, Florida
Communication Tool for Social Problems
I introduced MakeBeliefsComix to students, some of whom have autism or intellectual disabilities, as a creative outlet to help them communicate and deal with social problems. I had the kids make three- or four-panel comic and put in characters and speech bubbles, and they’d type in the words. That’s when I learned that the kids were being bullied, or they were frustrated they couldn’t do something their peers could do. There were all kinds of things they had to confront that they couldn’t talk about, but they could write about it using a cartoon.
I also approached the school’s administrators to stop the bullying, and used the comics to teach all students how to navigate socially. As soon as kids would misbehave, I’d invite them to create a comic and tell me about it. The cartoons allowed students to feel safe describing their experiences.
-- Sharon Eilts, special education teacher, Sunnyvale, CA. (These comments are from an interview Ms. Eilts had with Brain & Life Magazine.)
