Transcript Comic Projects in the Classroom John Baird, M.Sc. Math Teacher Houston, TX Warm-Up • Using the provided template create a comic based on the following.

Comic Projects in the Classroom
John Baird, M.Sc.
Math Teacher
Houston, TX
Warm-Up
• Using the provided template create a comic
based on the following prompt:
“What do comics
mean to you?”
Introduction
• Background
• Why should we use comics?
• Comics projects in math
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Setup
Basic activity types
Advice for implementation
Overcoming barriers
• Further ideas and applications
Background
2009
2000’s
1994
2009
Personal
Background
• Create a Comic Project
– Started in 2005 as ESL activity
– Based on student interest in manga
– “An interactive, open-ended, student-centered
activity using visual and textual juxtapositions
(comics) to encourage synthesis.”
• Key artists:
– Erin Binkley (Erin Ptah)
– Kara Jay (Kittyhawk)
– Angela Melzak (Kuroitenshi)
Personal Background
• Locations and groups:
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ESL students in Taiwan, ROC (2005)
New Haven Children’s Library patrons (2006)
University of Pittsburgh graduate students (2007)
Elementary students in Pittsburgh’s urban areas
(2008)
Adult mental health patients (2009)
7th graders in a Harlem middle school (2009)
LaGuardia High School, a.k.a. the Fame school (2010)
Comic club at a private K-8 school in NYC (2010)
6-12th graders in a residential treatment center (2010)
Middle school students north of Houston (2011)
Why should we use comics?
Engaging!
Why should we use comics?
Context!
Why should we use comics?
Interdisciplinary!
Why should we use comics?
Gifted and Talented!
Why should we use comics?
Multicultural!
Comic Projects for Math
• How can we integrate comics into regular math
instruction?
• Two forms of use: Passive and (Inter)Active
• Passive - Reading
– Ex. Guides, Logicomix, Essential Math Series
• Active – Creation
– Ex. Create a Comic Project
Penny
Arcade
Daisy is
Dead
Comic Projects: Setup
• Template selection
– Ex. Webcomics
• Characteristics:
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Attributable word bubbles
Relevance (can vary)
School appropriate imagery
Ask permission of artists
Consider commissions (Ryan Estrada, Erin
Binkley, etc.)
Comic Projects: Setup
• Orientation
Girl Genius
– Warm-up
– Group talk
• Basic applications:
– Individual & Group use
– Pre-Drawn & Blank
templates
Comedity
Comics Projects: Activities
• Frayer Models
– An old standby
• Visual organization
through comic panels
• 5 panels, each with a
specific purpose
• 4 surrounding panels that tie into the
stated theme of the center
Comic Projects: Activities
• Activity type: Word Problem Generator
– Independent w/ Pre-Drawn templates
• Theme: Applications of Trigonometry
– Using your comic to provide context, write a
word problem in prose form
– Adapt the prose word problem to fit into your
comic as a script
– Leave space at the end for someone to write
the solution!
Comic Projects: Activities
• Activity type: Word Problem Adaptation
– Independent w/ blank templates
• Theme: Interest Rates
– Start with a word problem involving interest
rates
– Portray the actions and exchanges of the word
problem in the panels of the comic
– Leave space at the end for someone to write
the solution
Comic Projects: Activities
• Sample word problems:
Vanida is planning to buy a boat that costs $10,876 including taxes and
tags. She will pay 10% down and finance the balance at 12% APR for 48
months. Calculate her monthly payments for the boat.
Joaquin bought a wide-screen, flat-panel plasma TV for $4500. He paid
$500 down and financed the balance for 36 months. His monthly
payments were $127.20. Find the finance charge he paid and the APR he
was charged.
A car dealer will sell you a $16,450 car for $3290 down and payments
of $339.97 per month for 48 months. What is the simple interest rate?
Comic Projects: Activities
• Activity type: Round Robin
– One blank template per person
– Draw one panel, then pass it to your left
– Continue the comic you’re given
• Theme:
– Each table picks a geometric shape
– Write about the shape’s properties and portray
some of the ways it’s used in the real world
Comic Projects: Results
• How might students write
comics?
• Dialogue comic
– Characters discussing the
topic
• Description comic
– Each panel with a
definition/illustration
• Contextual comic
– Adapts information to original
setting
xkcd
Comic Projects: Implementation
• Groundwork
– Short answer writing on concepts
– “Why?” questions
• Demo
– Make some of your own
• Display!
• Learning station
– Bonus work for those who work ahead
Comic Projects: Barriers
• Students
– “I don’t read comics.”
– “Can I just get a work sheet?”
• Administrative
– “You’re telling them to do comics instead!”
Comic Projects: More Ideas!
• Comics as Matrices
– Strips as vectors
– 2x2 and full page as arrays
– Adding and subtracting
characters from comics
– Ex. Garfield Minus Garfield
Comic Projects: More Ideas!
• Image Analysis
– Comics as data
– Discrete: panels,
bubbles, characters
– Continuous: panel
size, gutter width
– Low cost
Future Research
• Review and critique of existing math
comics for artistic and technical merits
• Development of additional comic activities
to facilitate interdisciplinary learning
• Impact of comics with special education
students
Future Research
• Analyzing comic content for understanding
– Connect to analysis of math journal content
• Quantitative analysis of the impact of
comics in the classroom
– Hoyun Cho, Teachers College (Middle School)
• Effects of age on processing comic
narratives
– Preliminary done in 2010 (Baird & Newborn)
Conclusions & Summary
• Comics have a variety of applications in
the math classroom
• They provide an ideal medium for
combining the visual, textual, and
symbolic representations of math concepts
in a single location
• The simple addition of a “storytelling”
activity can promote synthesis – and
comics are rich in storytelling power!
Exit Tickets
• Use the provided template to create a
comic based on the following prompt:
“How could this workshop be
better next time?”
References
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Baird, John (2009). “Picturevoice: An Art-based Health Communication
Research Tool.” Presented at Society of Public Health Education 60th Annual
Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
Baird, John (2010). “Comicvoice: Community Education Through
Sequential Art.” Presented at Pop Culture Association 2010 National
Conference, St. Louis, MO.
Baird, John (2010). “Comic Projects in the Classroom: Using Interactive
Sequential Art to Enhance Education.” Presented at University of Texas
Austin 2nd Annual Teach & Share, Austin, TX.
Baird, John (2011). “Interactive Comics: Techniques to Enhance Math
Education.” Presented at South-by-Southwest Interactive, Austin, TX.
Baird, John, Dana Newborn (2011). “The Effect of Age on Comic Narrative
Creation.” Paper presented at the Pop Culture Association, San Antonio, TX.
Countryman, J. (1993). “Writing to Learn Mathematics.” Teaching K-8,
23(4), 51-53.
Contact Information
• Website:
– http://go.to/ccp
• Email:
– [email protected]
• Twitter & Facebook user name:
– createacomic