Bitstrips for Social Studies

If you're on Facebook, then you've probably noticed that a lot of your friends have turned into cartoon characters staring in small comic strips. This new technology, called bitstrips, are quickly becoming an internet sensation. And with the launch of their new app for apple and android, it's easier than ever to create an original comic. While these can be fun and silly, they can definitely have a place in the classroom (that's not to say that a classroom can't be fun and silly). If fact, the creators of bitstrips have launched a "bitstrips for school," website that's dedicated to integrating this technology into the classroom. The possibilities are endless. For a social studies teacher, this can be a great resource.

To get started, you create an avatar, or a digital representation of yourself. You can then add a background from the library, or create your own. You can also add other people (even famous people!), props, pets, etc., as well as other pictures. The school orientated website lets you do a little more, like upload to a class folder, than the free version. There is also an option to share and remix comics (much like the Canvas tool we have used in the past). I think this would be really awesome for any classroom because you can do so much with it. The website suggests using it for students to introduce themselves in the beginning of the year. For the social studies classroom, this would be a fun way to do many activities. For example, you could have students predict what the effect of something out be and turn that into a comic. Or students can portray famous events or moments in history. This would also be a great resource for students who struggle with writing. There was a technique we learned in our Language and Literacy class that helped students to get their ideas down without having to write. Instead of writing about a topic, we drew it and had to explain it to someone else. With this tool, students can digitally create a comic and share it right on the website.

While I can not access the bitstrips for school website, it seems like it would be a good resource of teachers. You can see students work individually, as well as give feedback. There are also a lot of curriculum-relevent activities by grade and subject area. And if there's nothing that works for what you want, you can create new activities and share them for other teachers. Many of the testimonials claim that their students love this tool. Someone wrote that it was one of the best application for use in the classroom. Almost all of the testimonials said that it helped their most reluctant writers with their work.

Bitstrips also engage many areas of a students learning. It helps students with the visual literacy and media literacy, which are located in many core curriculum standards. They also help students think critically, recognize emotion, digitally tell stories, support collaboration, and increase social skills. I honestly hope that this sticks around a couple years so it's still relevant when I have my own classroom!

Collaboration Canvas

I remixed my original canvas with an English lesson on bullying. My lesson was "Colonial America." It may seem strange to see a canvas on Colonial America mixed with a lesson on bullying, because it is.  I searched through all the canvases at my disposable, and could not find anything that went well with my lesson. Geography and religious tolerance/tensions were the unit themes I was covering, and I could not find anything in the canvases that covered those issues. The original lesson that I based my first canvas on was the Salem Witch Trials. I decided to take that one lesson and collaborate it with the lesson on bullying. I think that there is a lot to be said about modern bullying and bullying that occurred over four hundred years ago, so that is the direction that I took my collaborated lesson. I think that the English side of the lesson would be familiar for students, but the social studies side will require some out-of-the-box thinking.

http://www.play.annenberginnovationlab.org/play2.0/challenge.php?idChallenge=2727&mode=edit#network6