Laura Trapp, Rossiter School Librarian

Did you know that Grandpa was Superman? Not really, but we can use this fun format to create a visually appealing record of family histories and events!

The Basics:

Menu Bar Pull down menus organized by topic

Tool Bar Clickable icons

Page Edit Area Main work area

Resource Area Libraries(panels, templates, folders) Details (lets you customize the element you are working with)

Element Well Balloons, captions, lettering

Page Organizer View a small image of each page, reorganize if you wish

u Let’s take a quick look at Comic Life Help! In the menu bar, choose Help – Comic Life Help

Most of the answers you need while you are working in Comic Life can be found in this section.

Make Your Own Family Story:

1.  Choose a template: Drag it from the Libraries box onto the Page Edit Area.

2.  Choose your images: Navigate within the Libraries Resource Area.

  1. If you don’t have any images with you, you can try the “Capture” button to take some photos with your web cam.
  2. You can grab some pictures from the Internet.
  3. Double click on your image to choose style attributes and filters for your photos!

3.  Add Balloons and Captions.

4.  Add a title using the Lettering Element.

5.  Save your creation!

Why use Comic Life with students?

It can help address Technology Standards:

NETS standards: (https://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf)

1. Creativity and Innovation Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:

b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

Montana Technology Essential Learning Expectations: http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/standards/09TechELE.pdf

Content Standard 3. A student must apply digital tools and skills with creativity and innovation to expresshis/herself, construct knowledge and develop products and processes.

Publishing Ideas:

Printing: They look best in color!

Post on a wiki or web page. I have examples here: http://thetrappedlibrarian.wikispaces.com/

Export to a movie – this is a good option for a multi page comic.

Respecting Intellectual Property

Often we want our students to insert images from the Internet into projects. I recommend you use a site that has copyright free images:

·  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Library of Congress American Memory project. All images here are free for educational use.

·  www.pics4learning.com

·  www.schooldiscovery.com/clipart

·  http://search.creativecommons.org/ Creative Commons

·  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pictures_and_images Wikimedia Commons

·  www.ncrtec.org/picture.htm

One idea for teaching your students to give credit to the creator of any image: Create an additional Comic life page using the same template. Students can copy the web address and paste it in the corresponding panel of the “Sources” page.

Additional Resources:

How to Use Comic Life in the Classroom from Tech Ed: http://www.macinstruct.com/node/69

Using Comic Life in the Classroom by Amelia Courtis: http://cnx.org/content/m18037/latest/

Teacher created Comic Life Templates on Wikispaces:

http://comic-life.wikispaces.com/Templates

Comics in the Classroom: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources from Teaching Degree: http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/07/05/comics-in-the-classroom-100-tips-tools-and-resources-for-teachers/

Really helpful resources from the University of Pennsylvania Library: http://wic.library.upenn.edu/multimedia/tutorials/comiclife.html

Comic Life tips from Marla Unruh and Autumn Johnstone, Helena Educators!: http://sites.google.com/site/cllearn/

Blogging and evaluation… Please answer this question on today’s blog:

Teachers: Will you use Comic Life with your students? If so, how do you think you will use it?

Students: What types of school assignments would you like to do in Comic Life?