comics as story prompts

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Using a comic strip as a story prompt Create the comic without words in the speech bubbles. Email it to yourself or save a copy so you can work with it later. (some sites won’t let you save your creations online)

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Ask them to imagine what the characters are saying in the speech bubbles. Practice the dialogue as a role play. Print your comic and cut it into separate frames. Have students talk about what’s happening in each, and arrange the frames to make a story.

PowerPoint Presentation: 

With pre-literate students, I asked them to tell me how they knew which sentence was which. (e.g., they knew that “Let’s play” started with a “L”) For younger students, write the dialogue on strips of paper. Let students practice reading.

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Have students match text to frames. Of course, it’s another opportunity to read together.

PowerPoint Presentation: 

R ecord the narration. Let students listen and re-record as desired. (I use a digital recorder, and transfer mp3 files to my computer) Add the text to the speech bubbles, read again together, and then let students take the roles of characters in the comic. Rehearse for the purpose of recording (the idea of rehearsal being more fun than practice).

PowerPoint Presentation: 

Literate students write their dialogue, too. They can type it into the speech bubbles, or write it in the bubbles.