What is it?

Make Beliefs Comix is a website and iPad app that helps students create comics and build writing skills. It also offers a wealth of resources for teachers and parents to support comic creation and writing instruction. Students can use Make Beliefs Comix to work together or independently on creating a one-of-a-kind comic strips. This website and/or app can be used across all grades and subject areas.

How to Create a Comix

Watch this short video that shows you how to create a comic strip on Make Beliefs Comix!

26 Ways To Use MakeBeliefsComix

In The Classroom

1. Create autobiographical comix
2. Practice new vocabulary words
3. Promote team collaboration
4. Practice conversation skills of ESL students
5. Social skills training
6. Digital citizenship lessons and social media etiquette
7. Foreign language practice
8. Print, download, or email: Validate student efforts
9. Introduction to creative writing
10. Create daily comix diaries
11. Create serialized comix strips
12. Life skills practice
13. Local or national news immersion
14. JUST FOR FUN!
15. Public speaking practice
16. Strengthen conflict resolution skills
17. Daily classroom theme tie-in
18. Family bonding and communication
19. Jumpstart creativity with story boards
20. Understanding literary character perspectives
21. Menu of writing prompts/tools
22. Don't forget - You can get printables too!
23. Download the free e-books to encourage writing
24. Try the lesson plans selection
25. Use the special needs selection for students with different abilities
26. Download the send a MakeBeliefsComix greeting card

How Can Students Collaborate Using Make Beliefs Comix?

MakeBeliefsComix allows users to fill in talk or thought balloons for different cartoon characters. This helps students practice conversation and offers a way to experiment with language, sentence, structure, and vocabulary in a meaningful context, especially for ESL students.

We know, as educators, we're collaborating with people all the time. Although there are different views, skill sets, language skills, and personalities, we have one thing in common: we all care about the success of our students. With that, we need to start the “symphony” for our English language learners on the right note so that all students — and their teachers — can learn in harmony all year long (Ottow & Said, 2018).

How Can Students Organize Their Thoughts Using Make Beliefs Comix?

Make Beliefs Comix allows users to place events in chronological order and/or logical order. Users can test out their one-of-a-kind story to verify the sequential order of events throughout the story.

Good writing relies on precision and compelling storytelling to entertain and inform audiences, so it's important for writers to determine the best method of organization when attempting to explain an event or project (Nordquist, 2019).

How Does Make Beliefs Comix Incorporate Visual Learning Into Their Website/App?

Make Beliefs Comix allows users to express emotion without words. Below is a mother's thoughts on Make Beliefs Comix:

"It is so excellent that you can choose the emotion/facial expression of each character. Cole's teacher starts every day with their Emotions Board, where students tell how they feel and move that icon to their 'In' box on the wall. When one of them gets frustrated, the teacher asks the child how he is feeling and may ask the other kids how they think he's feeling. Then he moves the 'frustrated' icon to his 'In' box. When he chills back out and feel happy awhile later, they comment on how happy he looks and he runs to move the 'happy' icon. They practice making various emotion faces every day, too, but make it fun. This has really helped Cole in looking at other people and reading their feelings. That comic strip is just the perfect tie-in! Thank you!" -- LeAnne Cantrell, Mandeville, Louisiana

Feedback From Satisfied Customers

"Comics give students a brain-friendly break from worksheets and mind-numbing exercises." -- Sylvia Guinan, professional English language teacher and Community Builder At WiziQ

"Clearly, when students create a comic strip of their own, they are using their reading and writing skills as well as tapping into their creativity. The comic strip work readily supports classroom work."-- Review excerpt from TESOL Essential Teacher Magazine (June 2008) by Tamara Kirson, TESOL lead instructor at City College of New York in the United States. Ms. Kirson was named The New York Times 2009 ESOL Teacher of the Year.

References:

Nordquist, R. (2019, September 4). Organizational Strategies for Using Chronological Order in Writing. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/chronological-order-composition-and-speech-1689751

Ottow, S., & Said, S. (2018, September 7). Collaborating for Language Learners: Starting The School Year On The Right Note. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/tch/blog/collaborating-language-learners-starting-school-year-right-note

Kirson, T. (n.d.). TESOL Essential Teacher Magazine.

(Photograph of Frankenstein) (2019). Retrieved from http://makebeliefscomix.com

Zimmerman, B. (2018). Autism. Retrieved from https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/special-needs/autism/