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.

New documentary: Comic Book Literacy

Read this great interview from Diamond Bookshelf with filmmaker Todd Kent about his new documentary, Comic Book Literacy. Creators, fans, publishers, and other industry professionals are interviewed in the film, which discusses the benefits of using comics in education. The comics community is another focus of the film, which aims to showcase the genre in a new light. For more on the documentary, including a trailer, photos, blog, and resources, visit www.ComicBookLiteracy.com.

Cognitive Science and Early Readers

Hi everyone!

My better half sent me this link. Any thoughts? I absolutely think that it gives credence to using new literacies in the classroom. Feel free to weigh in.... :) katie

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!

Some new recommended websites and blogs

Just want to bring your attention to some new comics and graphic novel resources we've added to our recommended list:

ComicsResearch.org
Comics Research & Such
The Comics Chronicles
The Comics Reporter

Enjoy!

Trekking along the graphic novel road

Carol Fitzgerald, co-founder and president of The Book Report Network (TBRN), which includes GraphicNovelReporter.com, recently wrote a great "Report from the Road" on conferences, meetings, and other valuable time she spent with graphic novel creators, educators, and librarians--including Katie Monnin. Fitzgerald's articls is a nice reminder of the wonderful things being done to promote graphic novels in education that we can all take advantage of, whether we teach in the classroom, work at a library, create and illustrate, or just want to share some great books with kids at home.

Comic Artist Jerry Craft Participates in 1st Annual Charm City Literacy Challenge!!!

My friend Jerry Craft just sent me this link to an awesome literacy event sponsored by BMoreFree Programs, whose mission is to:

"The mission of BMoreFree Programs is to educate and empower under-privileged children and families and to provide resources for them to be successful in life." Jerry's AWESOME book Mama's Boyz - Home Schoolin was a featured text!!!