NJ Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/
NJ Bilingual Educators

---

Bilingual Elementary Grades 1 – 8

Presenters That You Don’t Want to Miss

By Maggie Manson

During this year’s Spring Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Brunswick, don’t miss the rare opportunity to hear professionals in the field share the latest information on educational practices. The presenters will discuss educational challenges that we all are confronted with daily.

The Bilingual Elementary Special Interest Group (SIG) will be holding a forty-five-minute discussion group on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Those attending will discuss concerns, questions, comments, and ideas regarding elementary bilingual students and/or classes. You are invited to share good news or experiences relating to our elementary bilingual students and practices within your districts during these sessions.

Don’t miss the extraordinary occasion to meet bilingual educator, children’s author, and recording artist Jose-Luis Orozco. Mr. Orozco has written fun and exciting music that makes children want to get up and sing, dance, clap, and laugh all while learning basic language and literacy skills. He has recorded 13 volumes of Lirica Infantil, Latin American Children’s Music, and written three successful, award-winning books, De Colores (Dutton 1994), Diez Deditos-Ten Little Fingers (Dutton 1997), and Fiestas (Dutton 2002). This presentation is a must see for teachers, parents, librarians, and childcare providers who use, or would like to use, music as a learning tool.

Also presenting both Tuesday, May 24th and Wednesday, May 25th is Lydia Breiseth. She is the manager for Colorin Colorado, a bilingual web site for families and educators of English language learners. She will be presenting information about how her website will help ELLs succeed.

If you want a recipe to help your students pass the NJASK, don’t miss Ana Mistral’s workshop presented on both conference days. Her interactive workshop will explore how literacy instruction in both the home language and English can help students become better readers and pass the NJASK.

If you are looking for innovative ideas on how to present science through literature to your ELLs, don’t miss my presentation with Marybeth DeCostanzo. Our focus group is geared to elementary and pre-K educators, but all are welcome to attend.

We look forward to meeting everyone. See you there!

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to check the final program for any scheduling changes.]

Magdalia Manson is the Bilingual Elementary Grades 1-8 SIG Representative. She teaches in Perth Amboy.

---

Bilingual Secondary

Conference Workshops

By Janet Kaback

May is fast approaching, and with May, comes our annual conference! It is my fondest wish to see all of the bilingual teachers in New Jersey attend; but since all is not possible, how about many?

The menu of offerings for this year’s conference is again unparalleled. There are workshops designed to appeal to all grade levels and specializations within the many fields encompassed by bilingual education.

Among these are:

• Strategies for Teaching Beginning English Language Learners
• Designing Web-Based Integrated Tests
• Teaching Grammar and Critical Thinking Through YouTube
• 10th Anniversary of 9/11: Including our ELLs
• Social Bookmarking in the Learning Classroom
• Ensuring Shared Responsibility for ELLs
• Leadership for Change
• Building a Community of Learners Through Technology
• Engaging Students by Building Content Reading Skills and much more

 

This sampling appeals to both ESL and bilingual educators. I’ve already selected many that I’d love to attend.

Our combined ESL/Bilingual Secondary Special Interest Group meeting times will be: Tuesday 8:45-9:45 AM and Wednesday 12:15-1:15 PM.

Please mark your calendar. Last year’s SIG meeting was the most heavily attended of any that I’ve facilitated in my years as SIG representative. The conversations and issues discussed are those that have been affecting us all. And I know that there are new issues this year.

I look forward to seeing you at our conference.

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to check the final program for any scheduling changes.]

Janet Kaback, Secondary, Bilingual SIG Representative, is a bilingual social studies teacher at East Side High School in Newark, NJ.

---

Early Childhood

A Message from the Early Childhood SIG Representatives

By Karen Nemeth and Sandee McBride

Our annual spring conference will be here before we know it and this year promises to be full of changes. We are excited to be moving to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown New Brunswick, the home of Rutgers University. This area is full of activity with many restaurants and shops. It’s close to public transportation as well, with the train within walking distance of the hotel.

We are pleased to have Jose Luis Orozco with us this year. If you haven’t heard of him yet, please take a peek on YouTube and you will hear him singing educational songs while he plays the guitar. There will be demonstrations this spring that focus on the use of digital cameras to create custom cue cards; Web 2.0 tools; the New Jersey Network; Colorín Colorado; and multicultural story books. There will be workshops on the topics of partnering with families, dual language strategies, and teacher collaboration. Models of district programs for young learners and workshops dealing with the Kindergarten WIDA Model and the PreK-K WIDA Standards will be available to participants.

Remember to meet us at the Hyatt Regency on Albany Street in New Brunswick. You can also find information on our website. Be sure to continue to follow NJTESOL/NJBE on Twitter and NJTESOL/NJBE Facebook page to get into the conversation. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about participating in social media for educators.

We look forward to seeing you there.

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to check the final program for any scheduling changes.]

The Early Childhood Special Interest Group Representatives are Karen Nemeth, Founder and lead consultant, Language Castle, and Sandee McBride, ESL Teacher Grades PreK through Higher Education.

---

Elementary ESL Grades 1 – 5

A Plethora of Possibilities for the Elementary School Teacher

By Noreen Drucker

The 2011 NJTESOL/NJBE Conference is fast approaching. It will be held at the recently renovated Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick on May 24th and 25th You can catch a glimpse of what will be offered at our website. But just in case you are not at your computer, or you left your I-phone on the kitchen table, or you forgot to charge your Blackberry, allow me to highlight the parts of the program that would be directly related to elementary school teachers.

On Tuesday, Debbie Zacarian and Judie Haynes will be presenting “Strategies for Teaching Beginning English Language Learners.” The workshop will provide suggestions to work with those students struggling in their first months of language acquisition.

“Helping ELLs Succeed with Colorin Colorado!” will be offered by Lydia Breiseth, and Monica Schnee will present “Extending Language Learning with Web 2.0 Tools.” Both of these presentations are scheduled for Tuesday morning.

There will be workshops that deal with the content areas as well. “Teaching Academic Vocabulary in Math” will be presented by Barbara Andrews, and “Science through Literature” will be presented by Maggie Manson and Marybeth DeCostanzo. “Five Principles of Teaching Math and Science to ELLs” will be offered by Nancy Siddens and Madeline Franco-DeFaria. These workshops will be most useful as we continue to emphasize the importance of ESL in the content area.

Nancy Cloud will be making the keynote address on Tuesday night. Teachers who attend the dinner will receive professional development hours. On Wednesday morning, for elementary and middle school teachers, she will be making a presentation entitled “Connecting Reading and Writing with ELLs.”

For those whose districts are emphasizing differentiated instruction, “Differentiating Instruction for ELLs with Technology” is perfect. This workshop is offered by two NJTESOL Executive Board members, Judie Haynes and Marilyn Pongracz.

Literacy is a major component of our conference. For elementary teachers, “Promoting Literacy with Picture Books” will be presented by Keith Schoch. Sharon C. Snyder will offer “Language Learning Instructional Strategies”

To round out the presentations for elementary teachers we have: “Transfer of Literacy Skills” by Ana Mistral, “Making Content Comprehensible for All Students” by Cristina Hernandez, and “Engaging Today’s Learners” by Noreen Drucker.

For those of you who can attend only one day, ” What’s WIDA Got to Do with It?” by Barbara Tedesco and BJ Franks, both Executive Board members, and “State Initiatives in Bilingual Education and ESL” by Raquel Sinai, Lori Ramella, and Ericka Reed will run on both days.

Our Special Interest Group will meet on Tuesday at 1:45 and Wednesday at 1:30 for an hour. We will discuss “Hot Topics in Elementary Education.” There are plenty of those, so please bring your ideas and contribute to the discussion. The Spring Conference is a valuable experience that you wouldn’t want to miss. I hope to see you there.

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to check the final program for any scheduling changes.]

Noreen M. Drucker is the Elementary ESL SIG Representative. She teaches in the Randolph Township Public Schools.

---

ESL Middle School

Looking for the “Magic Bullet”

By Tina Kern

The more I know, the more I realize that I need to know. It sounds like a conundrum, but no matter how long I continue to teach, it seems like I am always searching for the “magic bullet”, the lesson that will end all lessons, the book that will make sense of everything, or, in my personal life, the perfect pocketbook!

I search the Web, I talk to colleagues, I research, I write, and I read as the weeks fly by and the weekends become an extension of a frenetic life. Right now, as WIDA ACCESS testing is ending and DRA reading benchmark assessments continue, I wonder how our ELLs will learn to enjoy learning, as I do. If it’s not part of the curriculum map, it can’t be taught – no time!

So we continue to be overwhelmed by overload. ELL educators statewide ask questions and we continue to uphold the high quality of education for our students as NJTESOL/NJBE shares and disseminates information. I applaud the educators that ask the questions others might not ask in order that tests are executed professionally and classes proceed in the best interest of our students following the Standards. Especially now, in these times that cause many an educator to shake their head in disbelief, in an atmosphere that dissuades educators to continue to attend workshops with which to continue to expand knowledge and keep current, I am proud of our colleagues that daily strive to provide an excellent education to our students.

I worry, though, that some of our colleagues in various districts aren’t part of our network I worry that while conferences, workshops and professional organizations are available to them, some colleagues are either unaware or discouraged from participating. It is very difficult to be the lone ELL educator in a school or district who must stay abreast of all information, state regulations, etc., while simultaneously providing excellence in education to all levels and grades of ELLs. But our professional organization makes a community of all educators. Our colleagues reach across district lines as we remain connected through today’s technology.

Instead of being overwhelmed, consider the opportunity to be energized. Think of it as being an educator on overdrive! That’s how I feel when I attend our NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference. The testing is over, and my mind reviews the year. I search for new ways to reach the difficult child, the silent child, the child waiting to enter the classroom in September.

This year, more than any other year, it is difficult to leave the classroom. Districts are not encouraging us to go out of the district on professional days. Yet an opportunity to network, to turnkey methods, and learn about current legislation is too valuable to miss. Being a member of Executive Board, I am involved in the work behind the scenes to help make our conference the success it has always been. Just in case you haven’t looked at the workshops on our website, I point to some that definitely will interest our SIG. Last year, I had the great opportunity to hear part of the workshop by Debbie Zacarian and Judie Haynes. Don’t miss it this year- It definitely is informative and a real treat. Also WIDA is always on our minds, so remember to attend the session with Barbara Tedesco and B.J. Franks, “What’s WIDA Got to Do With It?” Once again, Raquel Sinai, Lori Ramella, and Ericka Reed will present “State Initiatives in Bilingual and ESL Education,” a must for every educator and administrator. Be sure to peruse the various technology sessions, in addition to the sessions that cater to your particular needs. Of course, I hope to see you on Wednesday at the workshop I designed especially for our middle school educators, “Closing the Middle School Gap.” I will include technology as well as methodologies in the content area and ESL, with hand-outs and flash-drive information so that you can immediately integrate the information into your classroom.

Come to our SIG meetings. Our ESL Middle School SIG will meet each day and it definitely will discuss important information pertinent to all educators, not just in our Middle School SIG, but for anyone who sends or receives our students. You can network, renew acquaintances, and share experiences. We’ll answer questions and pose new ones. But, above all, we’ll “chat and chew” about issues important to all of us. Email me with any topics you want to discuss. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

So meet me at our conference…and maybe we can discover the “magic bullet” together. 

Tina Kern is the Middle School ESL SIG Representative. She teaches in the Morris School District..

---

ESL Secondary

High School Teachers and the NJTESOL/NJBE Conference

By Christina Namendorf

Once again the NJTESOL/NJBE Conference is set to take place in May. The new Hyatt location is going to be a great change and a more exciting atmosphere, but do remember to bring money for parking. I, for one, can’t wait to see the conference in its new setting in downtown New Brunswick.

This conference should be especially exciting for secondary ESL and bilingual teachers. On each day of the conference, there is an entire strand of workshops geared directly towards secondary ESL and bilingual teaching. There will also be a SIG meeting for secondary ESL and bilingual educators on both days of the conference. The SIG meetings are a great place to come and interact with other ESL and bilingual teachers from across the state of New Jersey. I hope to see you there to discuss the current issues in our field and to make suggestions for improvement.

If you are looking for ways to improve your teaching, make connections with other ESL and bilingual professionals, or to learn some new technology, then the NJTESOL/NJBE conference is the place to be! Attend the Around the World Buffet on Tuesday evening at 5:00 PM ($35.00) where Nancy Cloud will speak about teaching reading and writing to ELLs. Awards and scholarships will be presented.

I hope that all secondary ESL and bilingual educators know about the scholarship opportunities available from NJTESOL/NJBE each year for a graduating high school senior. It is great to give our students an opportunity to get money towards their future in a competition against other ELL and bilingual students. It is important to give our students all the opportunities we can: remember to check out these scholarships for next year. Applications are posted on the NJTESOL/NJBE website each year.

Overall, I am excited to attend this year’s NJTESOL/NJBE conference and can’t wait to see you there!

Christina Namendorf is the NJTESOL/NJBE Secondary ESL Representative. She teaches ESL at Sayreville War Memorial High School.

---

Higher Education

Higher Education Strand at the Spring Conference

By Marianne Hsu Santelli

I have just returned from a two-day PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors Association) re- certification workshop/clinic. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to spend the money. After all, I already know how to ski, and I know how to teach skiing because I have been doing it for more than a decade. I didn’t want to spend the time–it’s a busy period because of mid-terms, mid-term grading, and spring break. It’s a lot of work. But I went -bear with me here- there is a point to this. Driving home after the clinic last night, I had time to reflect on the time spent and what I was taking away: some new techniques, a few new tricks (for my bag), a couple of bad jokes, and many new friends who share my joy of skiing. All this will help me be a better skier and a better ski instructor.

Here’s the point: the annual NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference is being held on May 24 and 25, 2011. And yet for all kinds of reasons, some of us will not go. But there is much professional and personal gain to be had from the experience of attending even if it’s a bit of hindsight bias.

This year, NJTESOL/NJBE has scheduled an entire Higher Education Strand to be held all on one day, Tuesday, May 24. The higher education SIG sessions, The Question of Placement, will be presented on both days: Part I: Assessment and Outcome Evaluation Models on Tuesday, May 24 and Part II: ESL Placement and Retention Models on Wednesday, May 25. Besides these SIG meetings which are both held at 2:30 pm, there will be diverse demonstrations, workshops, and presentations. These topics include social networking in classrooms; Google docs for writing, grammar and critical thinking through YouTube; learning communities; on-line learning; paraphrasing and summarizing and introduction to research; reading strategies; and, of course, testing and evaluation.

We may not feel like going, or we may not want to spend the money, or we might prefer to start that to-do list. But this year, NJTESOL/NJBE has made a concentrated effort to include a strong higher education strand; they have also made it possible for us to attend these sessions on one day, a logistical feat accomplished by the Conference Chair, Cassy Lawrence. Take a look at the program at njtesol-njbe.org and the higher education schedule.

I am in flight now on my way to TESOL in New Orleans, where with a couple of colleagues, I will be presenting a workshop. I am sure, when it’s over and on the flight home, I will reflect on the old friends I found, and on what I take away: some new techniques, a few tricks, and names of people who share my joy of teaching, even if I am doing this reflection while flying. And I hate flying!

I encourage you to register for the NJTESOL/NJBE Spring Conference (no on-site registration) soon. You will leave the conference with some new information, a few new tricks and techniques, and names of people who share your affinity for teaching and teaching the second language learner.

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to check the final program for any scheduling changes.]

Marianne Hsu Santelli is the Higher Ed representative.

---

Special Education

Identification: Linguistically, Symptomatically, and Culturally

By Elizabeth Riello-Connors

I had a difficult time composing this article because the issues that involve our English language learners (ELLs) and SPED (Special Education) students are the same issues that often generate the same responses over and over. The answer most times: It depends on the individual student and circumstances. The English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher may or may not be included in the resources available to an ELL in SPED student. Most likely, though, the ESL teacher will be the initiator or primary source of information regarding language needs and cultural behaviors during the identification and intervention processes.

If identification and intervention are your topics of interest, then know that the SLP (Speech Language Pathologist) will at some point be involved. The SLP provides crucial information to the referral, diagnosis, and development and implementation of SPED services (Individual’s Education Plan: IEP). S/he is one of many professionals, including the ESL teacher, who should be serving on the multidisciplinary student assistance team. As such, the SLP and ESL teacher can, and should, work together in establishing any deficiencies in the L1 (primary language of the student) and bridging gaps between both the L1 and L2 (second language of the student).

If your building/district SLP has been introduced into the life of your ELL student, I encourage you to reach out to them. You can provide useful and vital information which will help build, if not be the foundation of, the case history and portfolio. By this point, you should have a collection of formal and informal observations that reflect the language fluency and proficiency of the student. Document the authentic language experiences and contexts in which you’ve observed the student.

In which language does the student verbally express his/her needs? In which language does the student interact with peers? In which language does the student interact with teachers or people of respect? Are there certain contexts in which code switching has been observed? Does the student know how to initiate, maintain, and terminate a conversation in the L1 appropriately? Does the student demonstrate literacy skills in the L1; is he/she comfortable communicating through writing?

In addition to verbal samples/observations, it’s important to note and document cultural social differences. For example, in many cultures eye contact is a form of disrespect. It would be important to note that a student may come from a culture wherein eye contact is not modeled as appropriate behavior and so does not use it as such. This is a cultural difference and not a symptom of a disability. However, it should be noted that the [in]ability of the family to recognize certain behaviors, such as eye contact, as a symptom of a deeper disability can be problematic in the identification and intervention processes. Some cultures may not recognize certain disabilities or value SPED services as we do, and so the ESL teacher plays a vital role in identifying and differentiating between cultural differences and those disabilities.

     Reference: Dyches, T. T. (2011, January 18). “Assessing Diverse Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.” The ASHA Leader.

[Ed. note: See https://leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.FTR1.16012011.8]

As our Spring Conference, Creating Global Learning Communities for ELLs, approaches, I look forward to meeting with the Special Education Special Interest Group members. Our roundtable discussion will include a discussion that will involve, but not be limited to, the identification and intervention of our ELLs in special education, reaction to the disproportionate representation of ELLs in special education, and the methods we use to make content comprehensible and meaningful.

I invite members to come with useful websites and resources to share with colleagues. Please check the NJTESOL/NJBE website, https://njtesol-njbe.org/, for the tentative preliminary schedule, directions, and other useful links related to the conference. It is highly suggested that you arrive early, carpool if possible, and take time to participate and share completely in the day’s presentations and workshops to benefit fully from your membership with NJTESOL/NJBE. I look forward to seeing you there!

Elizabeth Riello-Connors is the Special Education Special Interest Group Representative. She teaches in the East Brunswick Public Schools.

---

Supervisor’s SIG

Remedy for Budget Cuts

By Regina Postogna

A growing concern for administrators, specifically bilingual/ESL supervisors, is the increasing number of cuts that school districts are making through the abolishment of Bilingual/ESL/World Supervisor positions, and recently, Reductions In Force (RIFS) that include bilingual and ESL teachers. Some districts have opted to attempt to replace bilingual supervisors with bilingual coaches, however the coaches are teachers and cannot formally evaluate staff and are therefore powerless. The responsibility for observations falls on building principals and vice principals.

I have mentioned in a prior article that some school districts do not recognize the importance of administrators who are highly qualified in bilingual education and actually have no administrator who is certified in this area. Teachers and their students are suffering because there is no one to correctly evaluate instruction, provide meaningful feedback, and ascertain that the proper professional development is provided for all staff in this area. It has come to my attention that some bilingual teachers have received negative evaluations for using native language in January of the school year; of course, the administrators who evaluate them are mono-lingual and are unaware that students cannot become proficient in academic English in 4 months (September to December). It takes 2 to 3 years for social English and 6 to 7 years for full academic language proficiency, basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency skills (CALPS) respectively.

Budget cuts are being thrust upon school districts; however, there is a way to remedy the situation. There are administrative openings for principals, vice-principals, and directors of curriculum and instruction and my suggestion is that when districts review candidates’ credentials for these positions that they ought to strongly consider hiring someone who is highly qualified in bilingual education. In this manner, even if there are no content supervisors, there is an administrator who is knowledgeable in this area and bilingual programs can continue to be run in compliance with state mandates and best practices in bilingual education.

Regina M. Postogna, is an adjunct professor at Kean and Monmouth Universities, (C & I Departments). She is the Supervisors’ SIG Representative.

---

Teacher Education

Conference Offerings for the Teacher Education SIG

By Gail Verdi

As we get closer to NJTESOL/NJBE’s 2011 Annual Conference, I’m writing to inform our teaching and learning community of the offerings available for members interested in exploring the Teacher Education Special Interest Group. Two new events have been scheduled to help support teachers mentoring teachers.

As noted in the Winter 2011 issue of Voices, the Teacher Education SIG will host a round table titled Superheroes in L2 Education: Teacher Educators Respond from 1:30-3:00 on Tuesday, May 24. This panel will include several notable researchers in the field of second language acquisition and multicultural education. The husband and wife team, Dr. Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth (NYU) and Dr. Timothy Ebsworth (College of New Rochelle) will continue a conversation they started with son Joshua in the Huffington Post wherein they articulated their disappointment with the Obama administration’s education policies. In this article, the authors argue that although Obama’s rhetoric inspired new hope amongst educators, he has done little to change the Bush-era education policies (Eisenstein, Ebsworth, & Vaidhyanathan, January 2011).

In addition, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Anthony Pittman, a prominent scholar in the field of multicultural education, has accepted our invitation to speak on our panel as well. Dr. Pittman’s 2009 book Whited out: Unique perspectives on Black identity and honors achievement, published by Peter Lang, explores the myth that Black students’ underachievement is attributed to cultural deprivation and/or genetic deficiencies. He will shed light on how we think about race, achievement, and social engagement through a discussion of several case studies. ***There will also be a post-panel discussion on Wednesday, May 25 from 8:45-9:45 at our Teacher Ed SIG meeting. If anyone is interested in exploring how we can expand or revise this session for our 2012 conference, please stop by and we can begin constructing next year’s event.

Another new initiative stemming from the Teacher Education SIG will be the First Annual Graduate Student Forum on Wednesday, May 25th from 1:30-3:30. BJ Franks, Gladys Scott (WPU), Beth Wassell (Rowan), and I worked on drafting the first invitation that went out to graduate students in programs across the state of New Jersey. Students are eligible to take part in this session if they are in the process of working on or have completed projects in ESL and bilingual education. Beth Wassell, Betsy Rodriguez-Bachiller, and Victor Ortiz nominated graduate students whose Masters’ Projects were rated outstanding. Our goal is to encourage our graduates to publish their work in books and peer review publications.

For our inaugural event, we have two graduate students from Rowan University, Marybeth Hegel and Jennifer Murphy, who will discuss a co-authored project they are working on titled: Embracing technology in the ESL Classroom: Creating engaging and challenging standards-based ESL lessons using multiple technologies. We also have Sandra Nahmias, a graduate student in Kean’s TESOL Program, who will present the results of her thesis: Derivational Morphology as an Instructional Tool to Enhance the Depth and Increase the Breadth of Vocabulary Knowledge in Third Grade English Language Learners and Sonia Nobre, a graduate student in the Bilingual Education Program at Kean discussing her work: The Effects of Teaching Math Content to ELLs Using Technology.

We hope that you will join us in supporting and celebrating the work of graduate students who are doing important projects in bilingual and ESL classes. We also invite you to consider self-nominating, or nominating a graduate student, for our 2012 graduate student forum. See you at the conference.

Gail Verdi is the Teacher Education SIG Representative. You can contact her if you have a program or an initiative you would like me to feature in Voices.

---

Of the Web 2.0 applications, comic creators motivate students to use English by providing a creative outlet for all levels of ELLs to express themselves. The options are numerous although all are not suitable. Many have been created for the general public, the language may or may not be filtered, and the final product is open for comments from anyone. However, there are a number of online sites or downloadable software choices that are acceptable for students. Among those are the following:

MakeBeliefsComix, https://makebeliefscomix.com/, is well-known, easy to use and appropriate for children. Choices of characters is limited, but the benefit is time is not wasted looking through endless choices. Once created, the comic strips can be printed, emailed, linked on a website, and posted to Facebook. There are also instructions for making the image into a picture that can be uploaded anywhere.

The ReadWriteThink website also has a comic creator. The comics are easy to use and edit have just a few characters, so students can focus on the task. There is a planning sheet and lesson ideas, but the comics can only be printed if a screenshot is used. https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/comic-creator

Myths and Legends is another popular educational comic creator with teacher controls and with new additional features of read aloud and sound effects, but there are so many choices of backgrounds and characters that time can be wasted just browsing the options. In addition, since it is based on legends, unless these are being studied, students from other cultures may not be familiar with the characters.

If your students are older, the Dvolver movie maker is also fun and very easy to use. There are just a few basic backgrounds and the choices of characters such as a typical mobster or past- president are limited, but they are animated and walk in and out of the scenes to music. However, the site is likely to be blocked by most schools so permissions would have to be requested to access it. Once finished, the comic strip has an embedding code which makes it easy to view in a blog, wiki, or website.

Pixton is an online program available monthly or yearly by subscription. There is a 14 day free trial and the cost for 31 users, students and teachers, is $89. Teachers can upload the names of students in their classes and set permissions and features for their students. They can also moderate and comment on the comics and use the rubrics for grading purposes. Students can design their own characters and change their poses, customize backgrounds or props, or upload their own pictures. There are also options for voice-over and background music. Each class has a private site where students can comment on their classmates’ work. The comics can also be embedded in a wiki, blog, or website. https://www.pixton.com/welcome

Bitstrips is another online program with all of the features of Pixton as well as lesson plans organized by grade, subject, as well as specific populations such as ELLs. It has a 30 day free trial and the monthly subscription is $9.95 for the first class of one teacher and forty students, and $4.95 for any additional classes. Of the Web 2.0 applications, comic creators motivate students to use English by providing a creative outlet for all levels of ELLs to express themselves. The options are numerous although all are not suitable. Many have been created for the general public, the language may or may not be filtered, and the final product is open for comments from anyone. However, there are a number of online sites or downloadable software choices that are acceptable for students. Among those are the following:

There is also downloadable comic creator software that uses photos. Comic Life is the best-known of these. The price is reasonable: $199 for 25 computers and it has a 30 day free trial. Version 2 is available for Mac, and will be soon for PC. It has numerous features that enhance creativity and make it easy to use. Comic Life is available from https://plasq.com/apps/comiclife/macwin/ For samples of activities, lesson ideas, and instructions on using comics, see: https://plasq.com/education/take-comic-life-to-school/

While purchasing good products is recommended, if free downloadable software is your only option for creating comics with images from the web or with photos, you can try www.comicstripcreator.org. It comes with three characters, a girl, a boy, and a dog showing different poses and emotions. These can be downloaded to a picture file folder for easy viewing. The instructions are somewhat helpful, but they are not step-by-step, so it takes some trial and error to learn. The final product is saved as a picture file, so it can be printed or uploaded anywhere.

Comics are successful tools for motivating and engaging students, and worth the time to learn how to use them.

Marilyn Pongracz is the Technology Coordinator for NJTESOL/NJBE and the English Language Resource Center Supervisor at Bergen Community College.

---

Spring 2011 Features / About

Voices Home Page