This study examined the impact of cartoon technology on third grade reading comprehension. A class of 23 students were given pre- and post-tests on two passages, with one taught traditionally and one incorporating a teacher-made Pixton cartoon to review sequencing. Both methods improved comprehension significantly, but there was no significant difference between the two. However, students were engaged by the cartoon supplement, which appealed to multiple learning styles. While not conclusive, cartoon technology shows potential as a teaching tool.

1. By: Emily Davis
Jess Morgan
Lin Muilenburg

2.  Animation Technology is a rapid display of
a sequence of 2-D or 3-D images to create
the illusion of movement.
◦ Automatoon is a free, web-based Program that allows
users to create original animations online. The user can
easily share their animations online or download them to
a web-site! To access this program, simply go to
Automatoon.com and create a free account using our
email.

3.  Cartoon Technology is form of two-
dimensional visual art.
◦ Pixton is a free, web-based program that allows its
users to create original cartoons online. However,
unlike from Automatoon, Pixton allows users to create
comics using generic templates as well as the
incorporation of one’s own images and sounds. Pixton
cartoons are not animated; however, they can be
printed, downloaded, embedded, and shared online.

4.  Both animation and cartoon technology are
excellent tools to utilized in all subject areas
as a teachers aid as well as a project option
for students.
◦ Animation technology is a wonderful tool for
teachers to demonstrate intricate concepts,
rather than learning from static diagrams.
◦ Cartoon technology is a wonderful tool for
teachers and students to use as a during or after
reading strategy to map what is happening in a
story.

5.  Animation and Cartoon technology appeals to the
digital preferences of the 21st century student
 While still allowing them to demonstrate their
understanding of the content knowledge.
◦ Animation technology allows students to gain understanding
and skill, while staying in their digital comfort zone.
◦ Cartoon technology

6. Chemistry!
 Animation: A teacher could create an animation to explain
what happens inside of a chemical reaction or the students could
use this program to demonstrate their understand of a concept,
such as how elements combined and why.
 Cartoon: Teachers and students could use Pixton to aide and
encourage understanding through visual learning. Students could
create a cartoon demonstrating how hydrogen and oxygen met
and what happened when they bonded.

7. Language Arts!
 Animation: Automatoon could be used by both the teacher and
the students to animate any written work that is confusing or
difficult to understand.
 Cartoon: After reading a classic work, such as A Midsummer
Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, students could create a
personalized, modern cartoon comedy based on the classic tale.

8. Biology!
 Animation: A teacher could use Automatoon to demonstrate
the carbon cycle, how enzymes work, or the impact of global
warming. Students, on the other hand, could use this program to
demonstrate their understanding of difficult concepts, such as
the cell division cycle.
 Cartoon: Students could use as a way to assess understanding
of the water cycle, each student could construct a cartoon
demonstrating the water cycle as it happens in his or her
neighborhood. This project would provoke student thought of
their surrounding environment as well as how they interact with
it.

9. Math!
 Animation: Automatoon could be used by both the teacher and
the students to understand the details of graphing. The class
could work together on an animated project to understand how
slope changes, both graphically and numerically.
 Cartoon: Students could demonstrate their understanding of
fractions through the creation of a cartoon pie shop and
owner. The student would start by selling one piece, a few
pieces at a time, etc. This would allow the students to create
and understand the use of fractions.

10.  We decided to focus our study on the reading comprehension
of third graders due to the SIP’s extensive discussion low
reading scores for 3rd- 5th grade.
◦ The mid-Atlantic region elementary school believes that the root cause of
these low reading scores is due to the students’ inability to read and
comprehend grade level text.
 The study originally was going to incorporate animation
technology as a way to increase reading comprehension;
however, due to the elementary public school firewall system,
we were unable to access the Automatoon website. The study
was then adapted to incorporate the use of Pixton.

11.  The sample size consisted of a third grade
class of 23 students, 9 girls and 14 boys.
 The lessons consisted of two third grade texts
of similar type from the Houghten-Mifflin
reader, Grandma’s Records and The Talking
Cloth.
 Pre- and post-tests were administered for both
texts in order to determine if there was an
increase in text specific vocabulary, story
sequencing, and overall content
comprehension.

12.  The first text: Grandma’s Records was taught using
traditional instruction strategies, with the assessment of
content comprehension consistently developed and
determined through informal discussion and verbal question
and answer sessions.
 The second text: The Talking Cloth, was taught using the
same level and type of instruction. However, the review of the
content and vocabulary was conducted using the supplement
of a cartoon created through Pixton.
 The cartoon, constructed by the teacher, incorporated main events
from The Talking Cloth text that were in non-sequential order (see
Figure 1). The students then put the images in order based on the
events that occurred within the text.

13. Figure 1: A teacher-generated cartoon showing elements of a story sequence.

14.  The pre-test and post-test reading comprehension scores were
compared using paired T-Tests for both the traditional classroom
strategies and the cartoon technology.
 The results of t-tests indicated that there was a statistically
significant increase in reading comprehension from the pre-test to
the post-test for both texts.
◦ Grandma’s Records t(21) = -8.89, p < .001
◦ The Talking Cloth t(19) = -6.19, p < .001
 This shows that both methods of instruction were successful in
helping students to comprehend the texts.
Table 1 shows the means and
standard deviations for each of the
four tests and the mean difference
between the pre-test and post-
test scores.

15.  However, a statistically significant increase in reading
comprehension was not found when comparing reading
comprehension scores for cartoon technology with reading
comprehension scores for traditional classroom strategies,
t(19) = -0.90, p = 0.38.
 Even though our small-scale study did not show that cartoon
technology significantly improved reading comprehension
over traditional teaching methods, students were engaged in
the cartoon supplement.
 Including technology in instruction appealed to students with
multiple learning styles as well as differing skill and ability
levels.

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Velazquez-Marcano, A., Williamson, V., Ashkenazi, G., Tasker, R., & Williamson, K.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation