Matthew+Smith

=Cartooning In (For) Class=

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A Bit of Background:
toc The guiding principle behind much of how I have integrated digital tools into my classroom is to provide a digital workspace for my students to compose, research, collaborate, revise, and publish in ways they otherwise could not. Overall, I operated much of my class last year through a class Wiki that I used to present lessons and students used to collaborate on group Websites and publish work created elsewhere for others to see. Each student also had a class Gmail account for collaborating, creating documents and presentations through GoogleDocs, getting comments and suggestions from me, and for turning work in without needing to print. My goal was to give students a place to play and create and publish that allowed their work to be easily viewed, shared, discussed, and polished.

Many digital tools that allow for composing in different kinds of media also often allow students to approach the ideas, skills, and texts we go over in class in many different and enlightening ways. During this workshop I will be demonstrating some Websites that allow for the easy creation of comic strips that can certainly be used to approach a class assignment or concept from a different perspective.

For this workshop, we will be using ToonDoo. ToonDoo is a good middle-ground cartooning site that can make fairly clean and professional comics fairly easily. There is also a pay version of the site specifically for teacher. For more advanced users, a site called Pixton provides more options. Other cartooning sites such as the Read/Write/Think Comic Creator and the Stripcreator Website are a bit less advanced and don't require any logins. A final site, Bitstrips, is also a solid site with a space specifically for educators, but it charges a fee.

Your Assignment:
I could have gone with a variety of more obvious prompts, but I've decided to have you try using ToonDoo to study vocabulary words. Along that vein, your assignment is the following:


 * **Create a cartoon in ToonDoo illustrating the vocabulary word of your choice from the list below. Your comic may give a short scene, include humor, or be ridiculous, but it should NOT include the vocabulary word, itself. Once you have completed your comic, save it and E-mail the link (or share it) to me at matthewssmith17@gmail.com.**

Look below to see a sample comic addressing this prompt, the steps you may need to follow to complete your response, and the vocabulary words you have to choose from.

A Sample Created by Me (for the word "Nefarious"):
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Your Steps:

 * 1) Register at ToonDoo by clicking on the following link (www.toondoo.com) and clicking on the "Register" link at the top, right corner.
 * 2) Click the provided link to begin creating your own comic, choose your layout (one panel, two panels, or three), and begin messing around
 * 3) When you are done, use the pull-down menu in the upper-left corner and click "Save As."
 * 4) Choose a name and click "Publish." You may then either click on the provided menu to share with my E-mail address or just copy and paste the URL address for the page into an E-mail to matthewssmith17@gmail.com
 * 5) If you'd like to be more advanced, I can also just show you how to embed your cartoon to the bottom of this Wiki page for all to see and guess the vocabulary word.

The Vocabulary Words:

 * **Assuage: to satisfy and slake; to lessen pain or distress; to calm or relieve**
 * Upon our return from the arduous climb, we were treated to more than enough food to //assuage// our hunger.
 * There was little anyone could say to the widow to //assuage// her grief.
 * **Bravado: pretend courage**
 * In a display of //bravado//, the prisoner asked for a cigarette before being hanged.
 * The poodle's //bravado// frightened the big dog away.
 * **Flippant: disrespectful; saucy, impertinent**
 * A sure way to get under Mr. Tarranto's skin is to give //flippant// answers to his serious questions.
 * Marjorie's //flippant// attitude toward her grandmother's illness led to a bitter family argument.
 * **Omniscient: having infinite knowledge; knowing all things.**
 * When we are young, we pester our parents with questions because we believe they are //omniscient.//
 * Judy went into the exam with an //omniscient// attitude but came out feeling like a moron.
 * **Purloin: to steal**
 * To profit from his insurance, Chris arranged to //purloin// his own jewelry.
 * Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The //Purloined// Letter," is an international classic.
 * **Sycophant: a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite; one who attempts to win favor or advance him or herself by flattering persons with influence**
 * Tom's laughing at all the teacher's jokes and volunteering for every task were looked upon as //sycophancy// by his classmates.
 * I do not envy the //sycophant// who has advanced himself at the expense of self-respect.
 * **Ennui: feeling of weariness and discontent; boredom or tedium**
 * Even just a few days in a hospital bed is likely to cause //ennui//.
 * Charles could barely hide his //ennui// when forced to spend the entire day with his family at the petting zoo.
 * **Loquacious: talkative**
 * With a few drinks under his belt, my normally quiet cousin can become quite //loquacious//.
 * The //loquacious// talk-show host never gave his guests a chance to tell about themselves.
 * **Intractable: hard to manage; unruly; stubborn**
 * The union chief was willing to compromise on wages, but he was //intractable// when it came to working conditions.
 * Mrs. Finkel usually sent her //intractable// pupils directly to the principal's office.
 * **Collusion: a secret agreement for a deceitful or fraudulent purpose; conspiracy**
 * The captain of the Zaire forces defending Mutshatsha was accused of acting in //collusion// with the enemy in the surrender of the city.
 * The senator felt that there was //collusion// on the part of his committee to deny him the chairmanship.

Other Applications:
Other possible uses of a cartooning site in class include illustrating key concepts (such as Photosynthesis or Irony), Illustrating things about the student (something they fear or love), Illustrating character traits from a reading, Showing scenes from a student's life, Showing scenes from a character's life, Retelling a story from a text, Creating a sequel or prequel to a story, Creating a completely new story, Giving creative directions, Outlining the plot of a story (Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, etc.), A student's life in three panels, Putting themselves into a story, Illustrating a character/author dinner (where characters or authors from previous readings are imagined eating dinner together and debating various topics), A student's life 10 years in the future, Illustrating poems or quotes or sayings, Illustrating an essay outline, etc.

YOUR Cartoons:
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