When Voice magazine (from ETFO), arrives at my door I typically do a quick run through and skim the articles before I place it in the recycling bin. I read the reccent issue (April 2008) however, from cover to cover. The theme was Teaching with Technology and as a computer/media literacy teacher I lapped it up.

One of the articles I was most impressed with was written by TDSB’s own Cindy Mathews an Instructional Leader for Library. Cindy’s article centers on the computer program Comic Life which is now licensed for both Windows and Mac within the TDSB. Comic Life is an intuitive program that lets users insert pictures into a vast array of comic panels allowing them to create their own comic masterpieces in a variety of styles.

Cindy lays out some planning ideas and also highlights a number of comic book terms and conventions that will help during both deconstruction and construction of comic books and graphic novels in the classroom. I thought I knew comics..but Cindy’s article gives us the “meat” and resources needed to do justice to this topic.

Cindy’s article is graciously available for download in the sidebar with permission from ETFO.