Thursday, August 27, 2009

MakeBeliefsComix and Macrons!

MakeBeliefsComix, designed by comic author Bill Zimmerman, is a fun and interactive site where people of all ages can have fun designing and creating their own comic strips! Teachers can create lesson plans in which students create their own cartoons. For those who need some inspiration to get started, Mr. Zimmerman has 21 fun suggestions for using MakeBeliefsComix in the classroom and he also maintains Bill'z Treasure Chest, a writing prompt blog.

MakeBeliefsComix is used by teachers of English as a Second Language, as well as Latin, French, Portuguese, German, Spanish, and Italian classes. There is support for special characters in these languages and the site hopes to add more languages. Many special education teachers also use the site to create stories for students on the autism spectrum, to encourage the use of language and to teach social navigation.

Latin teachers will be especially happy to know that their students can use macrons in the comics that they create!