Week 3- Additional Information

Week 3- Comics and Graphics Novels – Additional Information

During my time at the Shirley Warren School, I was able to discuss with a Year six class teacher how they utilised Comic Life into their Literacy lessons. The teacher informed me, that they had used Comic Life quite a few times previously, maximising its properties in different ways.

 One example the teacher provided me with, was using the Comic Life app as a storyboard. Previously, children were encouraged to use the ready placed boxes to plan their story line, affording them an understanding of how the story may play out, through the use of arrows and boxes contained within the Comic Life app.

The teacher also utilised the app for the children when writing Nelson Mandela’s Life story. This involved the children downloading appropriate images from the internet as well as, uploading images they had taken using the ‘green screen’. The children were then able to edit the images (aging, rotating and size), to match the text it was supporting.

I was very fortunate to be able to observe how the app had been utilised within the classroom, and how effective it can be when implemented appropriately. The teacher claimed that the children were very confident in utilising the app, making literacy lessons more engaging and enjoyable; instead of the conventional text book working and teaching methods (the traditional literacy lesson).