Tag: comiclife

Nov 15 2011 November 15, 2011 April 18, 2012 NoComment by David

Kindergarten Thanksgiving Resources

Posted in Kindergarten, Social Studies, Trekkers

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and several kindergarten classes have been working on technology projects (K.1b). Today at Holladay, they put themselves back in time at the first Thanksgiving and set food on the table in Pixie. They also recorded their voices telling about their Thanksgiving traditions and what they are thankful for. Click to watch a few student samples: Cameron, Fatima, Jace. Next week at Johnson we will be working on Thanksgiving Past & Present using Comic Life and a folder of pictures that you can download by clicking here. You can actually use those photos for a variety of projects… use them as a background in Photobooth, create a Keynote, or make a Thanksgiving video in iMovie. Did you know the first official Thanksgiving was actually held right here in Virginia? I filmed a video for the Virginia Trekkers at Berkeley Plantation where you can find out all about it. I also included several kid-friendly links for your students to research Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy your holiday next week!


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Oct 12 2011 October 12, 2011 January 26, 2012 NoComment by David

A Military Uniform Inspired by Animals

Posted in 3rd Grade, Science

Did you know that many inventions were inspired by animals? It’s called biomimicry and it’s the basis for this great lesson created by Ms. Gaglio at Chamberlayne Elementary. She had her students create new military uniforms based on animal adaptations. The students created their uniforms using a website called Build Your Wild Self. Then they wrote persuasive letters explaining why their uniform was the best and should be purchased by the military. You can check out her blog here and you can download her lesson plan and rubric here. I took her idea and taught it to the 3rd graders at Laburnum Elementary today. They had a great time inventing their uniforms! We used Comic Life to add a description of the various parts and explain how each one would help a soldier survive. Finally we posted our pictures to a really cool, easy-to-use online photo sharing site called Comemories. You can see our online gallery (and even add your own) by clicking here.


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Jan 18 2011 January 18, 2011 January 20, 2011 NoComment by David

3rd Grade Martin Luther King Comic

Posted in 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Kindergarten, Social Studies

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day, so several classes wanted to do a project to honor him. This could actually be adapted for kindergarten and 2nd grades as well since each of those grades learn about him too (SOL K.1b, 2.11, 3.11b). I gave the class a Comic Life template to use and a folder of pictures which you can download by clicking here. The template has speech bubbles already partially completed so the students only have to enter the important words. This is helpful for the students who have problems typing. However, for your good typists, you could differentiate by letting them type what they want in each speech bubble. The students add pictures of their choice to each block of the comic, complete the sentence, and then add special effects to it. You can see a sample project by clicking on the picture to see it larger. You might also want to visit my Martin Luther King webpage where you can watch part of his famous “I have a dream” speech and see a timeline of his life.


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Jan 05 2011 January 5, 2011 January 20, 2011 NoComment by David

4th Grade People Groups

Posted in 4th Grade, Social Studies

Today fourth graders at Laburnum Elementary created maps showing where the different people groups settled in Virginia (VS.4b). The maps could have been created with Pixie or even Google Maps, but since this class hadn’t used Comic Life yet, I wanted to show them how to use that program. So I gave them a template and some clip art to use that you can download by clicking here. They dragged the clipart onto the template, placing the American Indians, the English, and the African Americans in the correct places on the map of Virginia. Then using speech bubbles the students identified the various people groups and the regions where they primarily settled. You can try an interactive version of this activity on the Virginia Trekkers website.


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Dec 02 2010 December 2, 2010 December 10, 2010 NoComment by David

3rd Grade Rome Comics

Posted in 3rd Grade, Social Studies

Third grade students at Chamberlayne Elementary created comics about ancient Rome today using Comic Life. I gave them a template and a folder of pictures to use to get started. You can download them by clicking here. I showed them how to use the Styles button to change the text and the appearance of the photos. They chose which pictures to use and wrote facts about each picture in the speech bubbles. If you want to try this project with your class, you may want to give them a word bank to keep their writing focused. These students were instructed to use words like aqueduct, Coliseum, mosaic, and other words from SOL 3.1, 3.4, and 3.8. Then they used the built-in webcam feature to add their own photos. These comics will make an excellent study guide that the students will actually want to study! If you’d like to see some samples click here and here.


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Sep 17 2010 September 17, 2010 September 17, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Weather Comics

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second graders are studying weather now (SOL 2.6) so we created weather comics in one class to summarize the important information: temperature, wind, precipitation, drought, flood, storms, and weather instruments. I created a template and a folder of pictures to use that you can download here. The students added the photos they wanted to the comic and changed them to be more comic-like using the Styles button. Then they added speech bubbles to each picture to explain the facts. You can add more or fewer panels to the comic depending on what you want your students to show. Also remember that Comic Life has access to the built-in webcam so your students can add their own picture to the comic. It’s a fun way to create a study guide that students will want to review.


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Jun 15 2010 June 15, 2010 September 10, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Egypt Comic

Posted in 2nd Grade, Social Studies

Here at the end of the year I’m back and forth between schools to help with testing and get the computer carts ready for storage or use during the summer. So I haven’t been able to teach as many lessons, but I still want to continue sharing ideas with you. I don’t have a student sample of this project to share with you since I created it myself, but making comics is a great end of the year activity. Whether it’s content related like this example or just a comic about the friends you made this year, it’s a fun project. If you’d like to make a comic about Egypt, click here to download a template and a folder of pictures to use. I’ve also created a template for “Friends” that you can download here. Students will take their own pictures using the webcam feature in comic life for that project. Remember the end of the year presents a fantastic opportunity to try some new technology projects! Since this will probably my last post for the school year, I’d like to wish you a very refreshing summer!


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Jun 02 2010 June 2, 2010 September 9, 2010 NoComment by David

5th Grade Animal Kingdoms Comic

Posted in 5th Grade, Science

I already posted an activity for reviewing the five kingdoms here, but I’ve been doing a lot of Keynotes lately, so I wanted to try something a little different using Comic Life. You can click on the other link to download the folder of pictures to use since it is fairly large, but click here to download the comic template and a sample. The basic layout is already in place. It has labels for protists, monerans, fungi, plants, and animals, as well as a few others. Students just need to add in the pictures of each kingdom and make speech bubbles explaining the characteristics of the kingdoms. It’s a quick, easy, and fun way to review for the SOL test.


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May 20 2010 May 20, 2010 September 9, 2010 NoComment by David

3rd Grade Soil Comics

Posted in 3rd Grade, Science

The soil unit in 3rd grade (SOL 3.7) is hard to teach because there aren’t many resources available. I’ve found a couple of websites that you can use and posted them here. One cool activity you can use to spice up your soil unit is to make a comic about soil using Comic Life. I got some pictures together of the different types of soils (sand, silt, clay, humus, loam), and I created a template to get your students started. The students can add speech bubbles to each type of soil explaining their characteristics. To show the different sizes, you can use the speech bubble, drag the tail into the bubble so it looks like a circle, choose a style, and type in it. The template also has a place for students to label the layers of soil (topsoil, subsoil, and bedrock). You can download all the files and a sample by clicking here.


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May 10 2010 May 10, 2010 May 14, 2010 NoComment by David

2nd Grade Magnets Comics

Posted in 2nd Grade, Science

Second grade students in Mrs. Hilton’s class at Trevvett Elementary made comics about magnets today. I gave them a template and a folder of pictures to use that you can download by clicking here. First they changed the style of the heading. Next they dragged a picture of a magnet from the folder into their comic and added a speech bubble explaining the poles. Then I showed them how to take their picture in ComicLife, so they took pictures of themselves holding objects that were magnetic and nonmagnetic. Finally, since I didn’t want them holding magnets near the computers, we held up our science books and took a photo from it to show how magnets repel. The students added speech bubbles to explain each picture. Click on the example to see it larger.


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