Internet Safety & Awareness Comic Book Creation in ToonDoo

Be sure to follow each step below IN ORDER!  You need to get a copy of the Research Guide FIRST, then start researching the answers to the Internet Safety Research Guide!  If your teacher does not give you a copy of the Research Guide, you can easily print one out below.

1.  Open Up and save a copy of the Internet Safety and Awareness Research Guide in the link below.  You can type your research straight into the guide or print it and take notes with pencil and pen.  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BpzZh7FS2WTASOgttVpdTlHENiWPQY-yO7ut2HyvCg4/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1 

2.  Complete all 3 sections of the Research Guide to help you get a background on each Internet Safety Topic.  Use the links posted below in the RESOURCES below to help you find the information you need to complete the Research Guide.  Be sure to use all of the websites below so you find the most valid and accurate information.

3.  When you have finished completing the Research Guide, pick one specific Internet Safety Topic you would like to be the focus of your Comic Book.  Check with your teacher to make sure this is a good topic for your to promote awareness for.  You don�t want every student in your class creating a comic about the exact same topic. 

4.  Now you are ready to create your StoryBoard.  A StoryBoard is the rough draft of your comic.  You can open up the and print out a Storyboard Guide by clicking this link.   Simply write a rough draft of what is going on in each frame of your story.  You will need to list the characters that will be in each frame, where it will take place (the setting) and what is going on in that particular frame.  You can use stick figures to doodle what that frame will look like in your finished comic book. 

5.  Once your teacher has checked your StoryBoard, you may move on to creating your final comic book draft in ToonDoo.

4.  Go to the site http://www.toondoo.com/and click on SIGN UP FOR FREE , in the upper right hand corner of the screen, then click SIGN UP FOR TOONDOO.  You will need an email account to sign up.

5.  You must first click on TOONS, and then CREATE TOON. This will allow you to create each frame of your Comic Book.  You must create each frame of your story, before you can add the frames to create a book.   Click on TRAITR at the bottom of the screen to create your characters.  Don't forget, you must create yourself as a character in your comic. 

6.  The best comics have images from around your school.  You can also use props, or images of computers, cameras, cell phones, etc. to make everything more realistic.  Click on IMAGER at the bottom to upload your own images.  I have images from around our school and images of props you can use in the following web album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109688671763491259368/GMSInternetSafetyComicImages?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLqQtveP8cj_Jg&feat=directlink

7.  When you have created all your frames, click on BOOKS, and then CREATE BOOK to add each of your frames in order to make your comic book. 

Tips for creating an awesome story/comic:

�       Every good story has an Introduction/Beginning, a Rising Action, a Climax a Falling Action, and a Resolution. 

�       Every comic should start with a �Caption Box�.  The Caption Boxes detail/describe the setting, the time, the place, what happened before, what is happening somewhere else, etc. Remember, use caption boxes to give details that the characters do not say or think. 

�       You can resize the background to make it look different in every frame of your comic.  Make the background picture bigger and move it around so the background is not the exact same on every frame.   You can even �flip� the background image left or right for a mirrored image. 

�       You can flip any picture left or right so you can make a speech bubble, character or prop face a different direction.

�       Use the �Thought Bubbles� to detail or describe what your characters are thinking.  This would be what your character is saying in their head, but other characters cannot hear them.

�       Not every frame has to have a thought bubble, speech bubble, or caption box.

�       Use props!  Props add little details to your comic.  Even if the prop is not a part of your story,you could still have a car pass by in the background or have a  cup, keys,and/or magazine laying on a desk.  Props help make your comic world look like it has been lived in.

�       Save often!  If your computer shuts off, you will lose all of your work.