Tap into the World of Comics: Primary School Version

I recently presented my 'Tap into the World of Comics' at the 2010 Blast! Interactive Learning Conference for Middle and Upper Primary Educators at the ICT Learning Innovation Centre  (Which was a fabulous event by the way!).  I realised I had to make my presentation a little more 'Primary school friendly' and more appropriate for presentation mode rather than print mode. 

Here is what I came up with.  I also created a handout for teachers to jot down notes during the presentation and demonstrated another use of comics.

Tap into the World of Comics Primary School version

View more presentations from S. Hendy.

Tap into the world of comics worksheet

View more presentations from S. Hendy.

Photo! 3D Screensaver

This is a fun tool I stumbled upon.  I have been thinking about how to create a virtual art gallery, so I did some research and came across this cool application.

I found it at http://pho.to/p3d-platform/ it is a site where you can edit your photos online, however, it also provides some great ways to present your photos.

It offers free downloads to create Photo! 3D Album, 3D Screensaver and photo web album.  It creates a realistic 3D world which displays images. You move around the environment automatically and view the different images.

Create presentations online by creating a widget. Choose the template from slideshow, 3D album or a 3D gallery. You can upload your own images, add images from sites or flickr. The site creates the widget and provides you with an embed code.


The screensaver in particular, is a great way for students to display their images, use at the end of a school year, at a subject selection evening or parent/teacher event to showcase the school events. There are many environments to choose from.  It is also fun to use at home and display your family photos.

Xtranormal

I have been creating resources for teachers to show how to use different sites.  This is a fun one to use called www.xtranormal.com/ .  I have been having a play, so I thought I would share.

Create a creature

I love sites which provide options to create, here is another scholastic game where you can create a creature.  It can be used for writing or art activities.

http://www.scholastic.com/underlandchronicles/creaturecreator.htm

Scholastic Writing Games

It appears I have come across a theme of digital stories lately.  I was looking at the scholastic site and came across some great writing games I thought I would share.  The games are all related to books.

http://www.scholastic.com/dogslife/createtale.htm

Students can create a scene using the characters provided.

Space is then provided to describe what is happening in the scene.  Students can also use prompts provided.

http://www.scholastic.com/esperanza/storybuilder.htm

Decide on a scene.

Write a story.

http://www.scholastic.com/inkheart/editorial/index.htm

This game helps students plan to write an editorial and displays the components needed.

http://www.scholastic.com/charlottesweb/comic/index.htm

Make a Charlotte's Web Comic

The scenes, characters, objects and speech bubbles are provided.

There are also options to create other comics based on:

http://www.scholastic.com/amulet/makeyourown/

http://www.scholastic.com/bone/comic_maker.htm

http://www.scholastic.com/goosebumpsgraphix/makeyourown/index.htm

http://www.scholastic.com/smile/makeyourown/index.htm

Students can create stories relating to the novels or create their own versions.

Character Scrapbook

This site I came across on Twitter from @storytellin .  It is presented as a scrapbook and allows students to analyse the characters in books.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/scrapbook/

Students type in the name of the book and one of the characters.  There is an option to create the look of the character and then write about them.  There are several pages provided for students to describe the character.

The site ask students to respond to the following:

Ten things I know about ......

Ten words that describe .....

Ten details about .......'s appearance

Ten facts about ........'s personality

Ten challenges .......... face

Ten accomplishments .......... achieved

The site also provides resources for teachers and printables.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748285

This is a great way to reinforce and extend students' knowledge of a book they have read.  It could also be used for students to plan their own story and create their own character.

Collection of Online Story Makers

I have already shared these sites in the last post using Live Binders.  I have to say, I still love the visual and interactive aspect of Glogster so I made one using the same collection of sites.