This post originated in a way you may find unusual. My wife was reading our AARP magazine and came across an article about Bill Zimmerman. She remembered using the web site he had created and made sure I read the article.
Bill Zimmerman decided when he retired that he wanted to learn new things. Among the new skills he took on were learning to sketch and new techniques for teaching. Bill worked as a professional editor, but became interested in teaching because he also had taken up teaching English to immigrants. Because he loved comics, he came up with the idea of using comics to teach reading and writing. Out of these beginnings came the Make Beliefs Comix site.
Make Beliefs Comix offers a wide variety of ideas for teaching writing in the classroom. Among this collection are the tools for creating comics and comic strips.
I had to give one of these tools a try. I can’t draw. Bill’s commitment to learning new things in retirement far surpasses my own so I was happy to use his create a comic strip tool. He has me by a few years (Bill is 78), but I will stick with my present set of hobbies.
Here is what you do. You designate the number of cells in your strip. You add characters to the cells. You add balloon bubbles and text to the characters. You can actually add more elements, but you can use these basics to get started. Mail the final product to yourself or someone else.
Give this site a try. Even old dogs teach the young dogs a few things.
