Maupin House and Katie Monnin work with Round Table Companies to develop curriculum for comic book adaptation of The Constitution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Emily Gibbs
Allison+Partners
EmilyG@allisonpr.com

The U.S. Constitution brought to life in graphic novel adaptation from Round Table Companies

New comic book features 100 percent of the document’s original text along with additional narrative and detailed illustrations that further clarifies the founding fathers’ work

CHICAGO (Jan. 9, 2012) – Round Table Companies, a publishing and storytelling company that works with thought leaders to inform, educate and inspire, announces the release of The United States Constitution: A Round Table Comic, a graphic novel adaptation of the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution comic launches in bookstores nationwide, on Amazon.com, and all digital formats in March 2012 for $12.95 (print) and $6.99 (digital).

Scripted by adapter Nadja Baer and illustrated by Nathan Lueth, Round Table Companies created an original storyline to showcase the making of history and communicate concepts from one of the United States’ most important documents. Narratives and illustrations of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine and James Madison, among other historical figures, allow readers to understand and engage with the process and development of each article in The Constitution.

“Whether you are a student or just need a refresher, the illustrated format allows readers to better understand and retain the concepts in the Constitution,” said Baer. “The powerful illustrations coupled with effective narrative and the complete text from the original document helps capture and relive an important part of our country’s history.”

Dr. Katie Monnin, an assistant professor of literacy at the University of North Florida, and Maupin House, a publisher specializing in K-12 teacher resources, developed a tailored curriculum to supplement the comic book in classrooms. The curriculum will be readily available to teachers at no cost in March, when the book launches.

“While the comic book adaptation of The Constitution can be enjoyed at any age, we developed the free curriculum to work together with the comic book to help teachers get students more interested in the framework of our government,” said Dr. Monnin. “The comic itself is fun and easy to read, but students will be able to further comprehend the concepts with the supplemental material.”

Round Table Companies believes in the power of story to impact lives and brings others’ visions to life. For more information about the company, visit www.roundtablecompanies.com/.

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About Round Table Companies

Round Table Companies (RTC) uses a filmmaker’s approach to storytelling to inform, educate, and inspire readers. Founded in 2006 as a writing company, RTC quickly evolved into a storytelling company that uses the talents of artists all over the country to deliver entertaining content that demands attention. RTC’s approach to creating high quality content eliminates the traditional publishing gatekeepers and allows thought leaders to engage in a fully collaborative team approach to distilling their ideas into either word based or illustrated formats. Author partnerships include WIRED magazine founder Chris Anderson, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, childhood cancer survivor Alesia Shute, and Latino author and humanitarian Robert Renteria.

Apply for a literacy microgrant from WeAreTeachers

From the WeAreTeachers e-newsletter:

Literacy is the key that unlocks the gates to the kingdom of knowledge. Take 10 minutes to apply and tell us how you can make reading your students' favorite thing. You could win $200 and the choice between a Flip video camera or  iPod nano with video.

Apply by: January 28th

Click here to learn more and apply.

Teach English language learners about the Holocaust and reading strategies with Maus

ReadWriteThink.org has posted a fantastic, free, and complete unit on using Maus by Art Spiegelman to help secondary English language learners develop reading autonomy, comprehension, and an understanding of the Holocaust. The unit is intended to be broken down into fourteen 15-minute lessons for high school students and utilizes the film The Pianist and various Holocaust websites in addition to Maus I and Maus II. Students will make personal connections with the text as they research the Holocaust, World War II, and human rights issues. Much like the lessons in Teaching Graphic Novels, this unit includes all necessary handouts and lists applicable NCTE/IRA standards.

Two toony tools

Looking for a couple new online tools to engage students?

ToonDoo lets kids create, publish, and share their own comic strips online and, if you're worried about Internet safety in your class, you can subscribe to their ToonDoo Spaces site for private publishing.

GoAnimate lets users create computer-animated stories they can share online and enhance with simple or more advanced features.

Have fun!

EduComics

Educomics is part of the European Union Comenius education project under the Life Long Learning Programme that shows educators how "digital comics can be used in the classroom to enhance learning, engage and motivate students, and use technology in a practical and effective way." Through educator training and workshops, teachers will acquire the strategies they need to create lessons and use comics in the classroom.

To get involved today, download the Comiclab application for making Web comic books.

For further information, please contact Educomics Coordinator Dr. Symeon Retalis via http://www.educomics.org.

Borders Educator Appreciation Week

Borders Educator Appreciation Week runs September 29-October 7. Current and retired educators save 30% off the list price o purchases for personal or classroom use. Now you can buy all the graphic novels you want! Just bring proof of your educator status.

Some other Educator Appreciation Week events/specials:

• Teacher Town Hall Meeting with networking, refreshments, and giveaways: Tuesday, September 29 at 7 p.m.
• Where the Wild Things Are Wild Rumpus Teacher Celebration with activities, crafts, giveaways, and more for the whole family: Friday, October 2 at 6 p.m.
  
• Borders Classroom Discount Card: Educators receive 25% off purchases for their classroom every day!
  

-who can save: Individual teachers, from preschool through high school, as well as school librarians and homeschool educators.
-how you benefit: Save 25% off the list price of books and music CDs and 10% off the list price of DVDs for professional use.
-how to get a card: Applications are available at all Borders stores, and signing up is completely free. You'll need to show proof of your educator status when you submit your application. Homeschool educators will need to document certification in states that require certification.

Inatimate Alice

"Inanimate Alice" is an interactive, online narrative that "tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her imaginary digital friend, Brad." Alice's life spans ten episodes, where readers see her grow from a child into a twenty-something animator/designer with a games company.

According to the website:

Because the level of interactivity starts out low in episode one, increasing with each subsequent episode in order to reflect Alice's own growing abilities, we've found that we can take an audience unfamiliar with multimedia fiction with us. Educators like "Inanimate Alice" because of this; students from primary to post-graduate level find the work engaging.

...But how can teachers successfully integrate new media literacies into the classroom?

"Inanimate Alice" is easily assimilated into learning environments; its use of multimodality (images, sounds, text, interaction) enables students to see storytelling in a new, multi-sensory light. "Inanimate Alice" is a new media fiction that allows students to develop multiple literacies (literary, cinematic, artistic, etc.) in combination with the highly collaborative and participatory nature of the online environment.

Well, you already know that Teaching Graphic Novels embraces this multiple-literacies approach and encourages teaching both print-text and image literacies. So go meet Alice! Teachers can even request a free downloadable education pack to use with the stories in their classroom.

Xtranormal's Text-to-Movie

Want to create cartoons, movies, and greeting cards with the click of a button? Try Xtranormal's Text-to-Movie. Choose the actors, settings, and voices, all for free--or upgrade to a paid account for more variety. In fact, here's a little movie from the Teaching Graphic Novels blog:

Timmy's Tutor

"Timmy's Tutor" is an online comic by Michael Hawkins that honors the special tutors and mentors in children's lives. Download the comics to put on your website, subscribe to the site's feed, or follow Timmy on Twitter! Here's more from Hawkins on his inspiration for creating the comic strip:

Growing up, I took my education for granted. In my wife's and my families, it was just expected that we would study hard and go to college or take some additional career training. After graduating from college and getting out into the work world, I discovered that wasn't the case for everyone. When I read the statistics about how many kids never even finish high school, it saddens me. It saddens me that everyone does not have parents who value education and expect and inspire their children to pursue knowledge not simply for grades, but for the betterment of themselves. Parents who, when they don't have the answers, care enough to find the resources to help their children grow and succeed. EVERYONE needs special tutors and mentors to help them be successful in life, no matter what their age. Ms. Rita is the fictional one I'm making for the kids.

What are kid-safe graphic novels?

Brodart offers some great tips for librarians on choosing age-appropriate graphic novels for elementary, middle-school, and high-school students. If you're a teacher interested in starting or expanding your collection, you might find this list helpful as well. While you're on Brodart's website, check out their core lists and book preview samples.

Free graphic novel classroom kits

Get Graphic!

is a community-wide two year project designed to introduce teens, parents, librarians and teachers to the exciting and extremely popular literary format of graphic novels. All sorts of fun and informative events will be held throughout Western New York including noted graphic novel author visits and graphic novel design workshops. Teens will be inspired to write their own stories in the graphic novel format and their pages will be included in a book to be published in 2009.

Truly a community project, partners include the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, the Nioga Library System, UB Libraries, UB Department of Library and Information Studies, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Buffalo News Next Magazine, Erie I Boces School Library System, Hein Publishing, Buffalo Public Schools Library System and WBFO radio.

In addition to events, graphic novel lists, and other tips for parents, teachers, and librarians, Get Graphic also offers free graphic novel kits for Buffalo/Erie classrooms with 30 copies of the graphic novel, a video, and support materials. Kits can be checked out for six weeks at a time and returned to the Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries. Click here to reserve a kit.