Making a Comic Strip Based On A Word Problem.

 

This past Friday, I discussed turning word problems into comic strips to make it easier for students.  I also talked about having students learning to do this as a way of helping them understand the problem.  Today, I'll be discussing how to do this so either the teacher or the students can do it.  

One should decide whether to use a computer based program or one on the tablet.  This article lists 21 different sites that allow students and teachers to make comic strips.  The sites range from fairly simple to more complex.  Try the various ones out because some are made to turn photos into comic strips while others are designed for creating either simple or more complex comics.

For this problem, I used Canva, since I have an account there.  The only real issue I had with it was trying to find free images..

The first thing I did was visit grade 6 in IXL to find a word problem that has student subtracting two fractions.

"Naomi filled a bucket with 9 3/5 gallons of water.  A few minutes later, she realized only 4/5 of a gallon remained. How much water leaked out of the bucket?"

Next, I had  to determine how many frames would be needed to express the problem.  For this one, I could do it in two frames but three is better.  In the first, we have Naomi with a bucket containing 9 3/5 gallons of water.  In the second frame, we have the same scene but the bucket only has 4/5 of a gallon.  The third frame would have Naomi asking the question.

So I know that in frame one, I have a girl holding a bucket that is pretty full.  In the bubble, I'll put something about filling it with 9 3/5 gallons of water.  In the second frame, I'll show the same girl with a mostly empty bucket with a comment about only having 4/5 of a gallon of water.  The final frame shows the question about how much water leaked out of the bucket.

Not too bad.  I made a different one on Pixton.  Pixton can be signed onto using Google, Microsoft, or Facebook.  In addition, it allows both teacher and students to use it.  The reason this one has the bucket as background is that I had to bring the bucket in as a photo.  Pixton does not have "things" like buckets.

Take some time and explore the different comic strip makers.  If you don't like any of the ones on this list, do a search and have fun looking for one you like. Once you've got the hang of using the program and you've provided several problems in comic strip form to your students, let them make their own.   Have them preplan the strip before they make it so they get the info correct.

Have fun, I'm off to make several for next week.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.