Bitstrips

Hi all, this is my avitar I made on Bitstrips.

So what do I think of Bitstrips? This application is FUN!! It is easy to use and free, which is great.It allow student another way of presenting a narrative and using their literacy skills.

See those character to your right, these are my children Lachie and Eilish. I showed the application to, so they could have a go.

They loved it, but in particular Lachie; who wouldn't be see dead writing a story. But this really engaged him, making several strips. It engaged him enough that he told his teacher about it, hoping the she would use it in class. He also spent a lot of time looking at other people strips as well; which I thought was good. That would be one of the Art outcomes(view works of other artists) taken care of. He in particular liked the political strips best, laughing at the Obama cartoons.

So would I use it in class? You bet I would! I can see me utilising this across a number of learning area, not only English,the possibilities are endless. Here's few of the top of my head:

• student could create a strip about bullying or other issues like this
• retell a stories or events
• design new characters
• practise utilising dialogue/ direct speech
• tell a joke
• review each other work
• even a life cycle could be done this way

I'm sure that more ideas will spring to mind, but these are a good start.

So my final thought is that, this application will certainly be added to my teaching tool box and is a keeper.