Be A Habitat Superhero Lesson by Shakira Frazier * image used by permission from

Brief Description Students become the hero when they show the reader how they can stop doing harmful thins to our habitats in this comic strip they will create using bitstripsforschool.com. The story line will explain what we can do to protect our endangered species within the habitat they create. *Image used by permission from bitstripsforschool.com

Virtual Classroom image used by permission by

Lesson Plan  Subject: Science, Technology  Topic: Environmental Responsibility  Grade Level: 6 th grade  Created by: Shakira Frazier *image used by permission from

Technology and Resources  An internet-connected computer, a popular web browser such as Firefox (version 3.0 or higher), Safari (3.0 or higher) or Internet Explorer version 6, Adobe Flash Player plug-in version 10.1 or higher. * image used by permission from clipart

Prior skills, knowledge or procedures needed  Teachers must create their classroom after logging into their address and personal password. Once they have gained access, they are to design an avatar of themselves to begin comic strip. After completion, they are to add students name to the classroom so they can login to begin their activity. Prior knowledge of Bitstrips would include preaccessing the website before inviting students to start activity.  Students do not need any prior skills or knowledge to work with this website. They will be led to a demo on how a feature works by hovering their pointer over the item or by use of a video using the Help Tab. *image used by permission from

Instructions  Students are to create a comic strip explaining how people do thins that aren’t good for the earth and how we can do things better. It is suggested that students brainstorm with each other on paper first, so that when they begin the comic, it will not be so time consuming. After they are content with their ideas, they are to log into their virtual classroom.  Students will go to and click class activity. *image used by permission from

Instructions continued…..  Assuming their avatar has been crated already, they will be allowed to create their comic immediately. The first 4 panels should show the type of things that humans do to destroy the earth everyday. The bottom panels should show their avatar as the hero, explaining how we should take care of the earth and how to protect our endangered species within that habitat.  All of the background tabs are drag and click design so it is easy to use, and its as simple to add clip art from the gallery. Once they have completed their comic, students can save their work and submit it to the teacher for review for comments and/or feedback. *image used by permission from

Samples of Avatars

Sample of Panels

Procedure  Students will navigate through the website to get a glimpse of what the activity has to offer; -The Comic Builder tab at the top of the page allows students to choose the amount of panels they would like for their comic to have -The Art tab gives characters character, and the text bubbles that can be used are various according the avatars feelings -The Control tab uses a scroll feature to create color in the background and on the ground and the filter compares and contrast different features contained within the panels. *image used by permission from

Procedure continued…..  At the bottom of the page, are the undo, edit, copy, paste, delete, draw, lock, add, and remove and save tabs in which students can use for changes in their comic. If the instructions are not explanatory enough, students are to refer to the student support if they are having trouble maneuvering around the website. *image used by permission from

Advantages -The advantages of this lesson is to allow students to create from a higher order thinking capacity where they can recreate an idea from their brain directly into a comic. -It promotes inference in which students have trouble inferring information from what is given. *image used by permission from’

Instructional Strategies Collaborative learning is effective and essential to the thinking process. It improves reading literacy, creative thinking, and motivates students to create avatars in a positive forum. Image used by permission by

Closure/Summarizing/Linking  Teacher-made lessons can be rated and shared with other teachers through Bitstrips online library. It is an excellent tool to use for all subjects and curriculums.  It is a great way to motivate students about learning by requiring them to organize, plan and create a product using technology. Innovation is limitless.

Reflection  This lesson takes a lot of preparation before class and can be confusing for some students. The hardest part of this lesson was for them to follow step by step directions to create panels on their own in a timely manner. The easiest part was having the students create their own avatar. Students like to develop images that reflect who they are in comic form.  Next time, it might be advantageous for this lesson to become a flipped classroom where I can assign the activity for homework and then we can collaborate inside the classroom because of the disadvantage of the length of the lesson or maybe some unforseen internet issues.

References   Exerps of information, content and images used by permission from the website:  Images used by permission from clipart