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Review by Erin Brereton, Common Sense Education | Updated May 2013

Bitstrips for Schools

Safe site where students can make and share easy-to-create comics

Subjects & skills
Subjects
  • Arts
  • English Language Arts
Skills
  • Communication & Collaboration
  • Creativity
Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.
6–8
Great for:
Common Sense says (See details)
Teachers say (5 Reviews)
Platforms:  Website

Take a look inside

5 images
The comic creation tool lets kids choose background images, props, and other items.
The Bitstrips for Schools site provides teachers with virtual classroom capabilities and activity ideas.
Users can choose how many panels they want and insert their avatar into the scene.
Teacher activity ideas cover more than dozen subjects.
Bitstrips for Schools’ activity ideas are labeled to show what topics each lesson covers.

Pros: It's easy for artistic kids, as well as those who don’t like drawing, to practice self-expression and communication.

Cons: Some artistically inclined students may wish for more creative freedom than the program's simple tools provide.

Bottom Line: Teachers can easily assign comic-making activities for kids with varying artistic ability.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

The Bitstrips for Schools activity lists make it very easy for teachers to use the site. Once you've set up a Bitstrips for Schools space for your class, you'll be able to send Bitstrips assignments to your students within minutes. Students can even comment on the lesson or ask questions, and teachers can respond to them individually. 

Activity ideas for teachers include numerous subject areas: English, math, science, history, social studies, civics, business/law, health, and art. Teachers will also find information on anti-bullying activities, as well as suggestions for using Bitstrips for Schools in non-mainstream settings, such as an ELL or special education classroom. Each activity is labeled with tags that identify the types of skills kids can learn.

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Standards:

Editor's Note: Bitstrips is no longer available, but the developer now makes a new product, Bitmoji.

Kids can use Bitstrips to create cartoon versions of themselves (or fictional characters) and integrate the characters into shareable online comic strips. Bitstrips for Schools is an education-based version of the original site where teachers can create a virtual classroom, add students, and encourage them to make comics. The educator's version is more private and safe than the original; students join using a class name (with a code) distributed by their teacher. To make things even more secure, teachers can opt to view and moderate student-created comics before they’re shared with the class.

The Bitstrips for Schools site has activity ideas for more than a dozen subject areas, including English, social studies, history, and math, just to name a few. Teachers can directly assign these activities to students with just a few clicks. Alternately, teachers can reword the instructions if they want to customize the lesson. The site gives students detailed instructions as they get started.

Both Bitstrips and Bitstrips for Schools provide a self-guided but somewhat structured experience that can help kids who are creative, even if they aren't as talented in digital art and design. In short, students don’t need drawing experience to use the site, yet they can create some great-looking comics, which is a big plus.

Students can customize comics with different design templates, including characters' face shapes, different frame layouts, pre-loaded backgrounds, and lots of other visual elements. Overall, the site keeps the creation simple, and sharing comics is easy. Unlike its consumer counterpart, Bitstrips for Schools restricts the overall viewer base to just fellow classmates. Students control with whom they share and from whom they'll allow comments. The site can be a fun way for students to get practice with narrative structure, communication skills, or even fun projects. It's yet another engaging way for kids to create or present what they've learned.

Overall Rating
Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Bitstrips for Schools gives students a fun, simple way to create comic strips. Because it doesn't require drawing or illustrating skills, the site is accessible and enjoyable.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Kids can practice storytelling, learn about narrative structure, and express themselves with easy-to-create digital comics. While some of the activity ideas are quite clever, teachers would do best to bring their own creativity in using the site.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

The site keeps things basic, and therefore it's very user-friendly. It's easy for students to get feedback from classmates in a safe way, if teachers act as moderators.

Common Sense Reviewer
Erin Brereton
About our ratings and privacy evaluation.

Key Standards Supported

Language

  • L.6.3

    Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

  • L.7.3a

    Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy.*

Reading History/Social Studies

  • RH.6-8.7

    Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.7.5

    Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.

  • RI.7.3

    Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

  • RI.8.5

    Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

  • RI.8.6

    Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints.

  • RI.8.3

    Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).

Reading Literature

  • RL.6.4

    Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

  • RL.6.1

    Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

  • RL.7.6

    Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

  • RL.7.2

    Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RL.7.3

    Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).

  • RL.8.2

    Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • RL.8.3

    Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Speaking & Listening

  • SL.6.1

    Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

  • SL.6.2

    Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.

  • SL.7.1

    Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

  • SL.8.1

    Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Writing

  • W.6.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.6.5

    With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

  • W.6.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.

  • W.6.2

    Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

  • W.6.2c

    Use appropriate transitions to clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

  • W.6.2d

    Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

  • W.6.3a

    Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

  • W.6.3d

    Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.

  • W.6.3e

    Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.

  • W.7.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.7.2

    Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

  • W.7.2a

    Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

  • W.7.2c

    Use appropriate transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

  • W.7.2d

    Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

  • W.7.3

    Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

  • W.7.3a

    Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

  • W.7.3b

    Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

  • W.7.3c

    Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.

  • W.7.3d

    Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

  • W.7.3e

    Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.

  • W.8.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)

  • W.8.5

    With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

  • W.8.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

  • W.8.2c

    Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

  • W.8.2d

    Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

  • W.8.3

    Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

  • W.8.3a

    Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.

  • W.8.3b

    Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

  • W.8.3c

    Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.

  • W.8.3d

    Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

Writing HS/S/T

  • WHST.6-8.4

    Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

  • WHST.6-8.5

    With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.

  • WHST.6-8.6

    Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.

  • WHST.6-8.2a

    Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

  • WHST.6-8.2c

    Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

  • WHST.6-8.2d

    Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

  • WHST.6-8.2f

    Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

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Teacher Reviews

(See all 5 reviews) (5 reviews)
Featured review by
Anthony C. , Technology coordinator
Technology coordinator
Bayview Glen
Toronto, ON
A web-based avatar and comic creation tool, perfect for school-based projects and classrooms
Bitstrips is should be included in collection of excellent sites that allow students to develop 21st century fluencies through creating, collaborating and sharing. Using the activities option is very helpful for assessing students as they can "hand in" when ready and the teacher can "handback" through comments as formative assessment. When complete, comics can be added to an optional class gallery. The class gallery and other class permissions should be carefully considered when implementing this tool. We decided to turn off class comments, and initially the ability to create and share characters and comics privately as well as the optional upload pictures downloaded from the internet. We then shared and toggled on some of these options for peer review with specific criteria and this process became a good opportunity to discuss commenting and digital citizenship. The collaborative options (sharing a comic) are good but only one user can edit at a time. Some room for improvement but certainly some potential for shared projects and ideas.
Read full review

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