Tool # 5

I enjoyed creating a MAKE BELIEFS COMIX!  It was very easy to navigate. You select a character, a speech or thought box for typing your dialogue, and the background color. You can scale your work and you can shift the direction that the character is looking. It would be a great way for my ESOL students to interact with a reading by creating a related comic strip. It can be printed out, but I chose to email the one I created today to myself. I also looked at Storybird, which facilitates the creation of short art-inspired stories. Pictures are important in ESOL and they can serve as a starting point of communication. What I also noticed is that the Storybird can be an on-going creation and students can collaborate on a story. Students can also read Storybirds created by others. I created a Wordle using the fable, The Fox and the Grapes. What is nice about the Wordle is that it makes certain words stand out so that students learning English can focus on them in a different format and can preview difficult vocabulary as a pre-reading activity.