MarvelKids in Your Classroom

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A comic strip that the author has created.



















Why Comics? 
Comics are fun, easy, and engaging. They normally come with graphics, colorful images, various non-verbal cues (e.g., a facial expression), and speech lines made by the cartoon characters, all of which may make the input not only fun, but also comprehensible.


Why MarvelKids?
The MarvelKids site has a menu for "Creating your own comics." Creating your own comics can make you effectively be engaged in the activity. Therefore, the MarvelKids website (http://marvelkids.marvel.com/) should be one of the websites that you may want to utilize to facilitate your students' higher-order thinking by leading them to be engaged in the activity and letting them create their own pieces of art.
Simple, yet High-quality
All you need to do is: (1) go to this link -> http://marvel.com/games/play/34/create_your_own_comic
and, (2) click "Create your own comic."  Then, you can choose either "Create a comic strip" or "Create a comic book".


 Choose between "Comic strip" & "Comic book."


Now, it is time to create you own comic story by dragging in characters you want and dialogue boxes that catch your eyes.


Drag characters & dialogue boxes.

After creating the strip, you can print, make a PDF file of it, or screenshot the strip for multiple purposes.





Applications in the Classroom
We may use this activity as:
(1) an individual activity for a student to practice language features in an authentic context
(2) a group activity by giving students one umbrella theme and letting them create serial strips
(3) a homework assignment to reflect what they have learned by creating a comic story
(4) and, as a post session, teachers can prompt students to act like the characters they have created in order to facilitate their speaking proficiency (as well as helping them internalize the contents again naturally).


Advantages
It is quick to use. For example, the comic strip attached at the beginning of this posting took only 5 minutes to create. Also, it is fun. Young students (even adult learners) are normally familiar with cartoon characters. This fact will effectively motivate them to participate in this activity. Third, it is colorful. Colors stimulate our eyes, which can lead to the activity being more engaging. Fourth, it involves ownership. Since the activity is creating your own story, it has strong ownership value that can foster students' motivation. Lastly, it is free to use.

Challenges
We need stable internet access and technology supports (e.g., enough desktops or laptops).
For some adult learners, it might not be a very motivational activity.




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