[etni] MakeBeliefsComix.com Unveils New Feature to Help Special Needs Students and Teachers
- From: wmz@xxxxxxx
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:00:47 -0400 (EDT)
MakeBeliefsComix.com Launches Special Needs Section to HelpDisabled Students
Communicate, Express Themselves by Creating Comic Strips
MakeBeliefsComix.com, the free online comic strip generator,has launched a new
Special Needs Section to help educators, educationaltherapists and parents use
the site to enable children with a wide array ofdisabilities communicate more
effectively and express their ideas by creatingcomic strips online. (See
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Special-Needs/)
Creating comic strips is a fun way to encourage writing andreading. The new
section provides examples of how educators use the site withchildren who are on
the Autism Spectrum, who are deaf/hearing impaired, who have head
injuries/brain tumors, stutter,are struggling writers, or have physical and
mental disabilites. The content isbased on suggestions and input from users who
share what they have learned inusing the site.
The free web site, selected by the AmericanLibrary Association as a ''Great Web
Site for Kids,'' offers youngsters 100characters with different emotions to
choose from, blank talk and thoughtballoons that they can fill in with text,
background scenes, storyprompts and printables. Completed comic strips can be
printed andemailed.
The site also provides a Teacher Resourcessection
(http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/How-to-Play/Educators/) that offers educators
21 ideas on how to use comic strips in theclassroom to improve student writing
and English skills. There are blank comictemplates that can be printed and
completed by hand, in addition to more than100 printables on a variety of
subjects. In addition to English, comic stripscan also be written in Spanish,
French, Italian, Portuguese, Latin, German andItalian, offering and a useful
tool for students who know or are learning newlanguages.
More than 200,000 educators and English Language Learnerstudents from over 180
countries visit MakeBeliefsComix.com each month toimprove their English and
writing skills. UNESCO and Google selected thesite as among the world's most
innovative sites to encourage literacy andreading.
The five year-old site was created by author/journalist Bill Zimmermanwho for
many years created and edited Newsday newspaper's nationallysyndicated Student
Briefing Page that was twice nominated for a Pulitzer. AtMakeBeliefsComix.com
there is also a demo on how to use the site as well as aYouTube video showing
how ELL students at City College in New York use the siteto learn English.
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