Poetry Comic Books

I came across an exceptional comic book creating iOS app called Strip Designer. Yes, it is a paid app, however, as I am on my quest to change how classes utilize the iPads, some paid apps have been necessary. This particular app allows one to bring in external images or drawings, as well as provides the tools to draw scenes right in the app. 

The inaugural lesson used the app to create Poetry Cartoons. Students were required to locate a poem with at least ten lines. Each line of the poem became visually represented within a cell in the comic. As an example, each class was introduced to Julian Peters’ adaptation of Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe. We spent two days working on this in class. The first day was an introduction to the project in the course of which the app was downloaded and its capabilities explored. The next class day was a workday with me in the room acting as a consultant during the creation process.

With their finished projects in hand on their iPads, students participated in a “sit, scoot, shuffle.” Initially, it was going to be a gallery walk, but we didn’t want the students being distanced from their devices or having the nuisance of passcodes on wake. This arrangement placed the students in pairs that rotated throughout the period. Even though the students were sharing their work with their classmates, they were really being exposed to numerous works of poetry.

Other Options

Many of the free options that I have run across contain ads. I am only listing one of these ad-filled options below.

Make Beliefs Comixs – a website and iOS app that allows you to make comics using the built-in characters. This could be great if you want students to quickly create a story without the need and time to draw the characters. It does not allow for saving of the comics, making it a good option for one class period long projects. Note that both the website and app have rotating ads. (website & Free iOS app)