Graphic Novels & Comics

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Comment by katie monnin on January 18, 2010 at 8:06pm

you got it :)

http://teachinggraphicnovels.blogspot.com/

Comment by Ryan Goble on January 18, 2010 at 7:00pm

Katie, can you give everyone the URL of your blog? I'll start a blogroll uptop with all comics teaching blogs if people pass post their fav. blogs!

RRG:)

Comment by katie monnin on January 18, 2010 at 3:38pm

awesome bill!!! i am going to blog about this on the teaching graphic novels blog right now!!! :)

Comment by Bill Zimmerman on January 18, 2010 at 3:37pm

MakeBeliefsComix.com Unveils New Features
to Help ESL, Literacy Students Write, Read and Tell Stories
Online

Dear reader,

Some good news to share with you! MakeBeliefsComix.com has launched a new version of its educational comics web site with added features to enrich the experience of students as they write, read and tell comic strip stories online.

.We have increased the number of diverse fun comic characters to 20. Each character has four different emotions – happy, sad, angry, worried --that can be deployed in stories, for a total of 80 different faces and expressions. Users can select the ones they want and write words for blank talk and thought balloons to make characters talk and think.

.We have added a new function that displays 25 objects and environments that can go with the characters as stories are created. These objects include foods, hobbies, toys and sports equipment. In addition, there are trees, flowers, buildings, sun and moon. By adding these objects to the comic panels, students can create more complex, interesting stories and in so doing, practice new words. Seven languages, including English and Spanish, can be used on the site, and a teacher’s guide is provided.

.We have linked MakeBeliefsComix.com to our other web site, http://www.billztreasurechest.com, which features many free activities and idea prompts from my books to help reluctant writers express themselves. The activities range from providing subject prompts to encourage story and personal writing, to keeping a diary, to recording family oral histories, to creating paper memory quilts that depict students’ lives and achievements. Also featured are a writer’s prompt blog and many printables and templates for creating comic stories.

Since we launched MakeBeliefsComix.com three years ago, more than 1.6 million people from 180 countries have visited. We were selected by Google and UNESCO as among the world’s most innovative web sites that encourage reading and literacy and won Parents’ Choice Foundation Recommended Award.

Our site is used by educators to teach language, reading and writing skills, and also for students in English as a Second Language programs to facilitate self-expression and storytelling, as well as computer literacy. Some educational therapists use the online comics with deaf and autistic people to help them understand concepts and communicate. Parents and children can create stories together, print them to create comic books or email them to friends. 

Our site is free.

Please try the new features with your students and children and send us your feedback. We want to be the best educational web site we can be for you. We hope you will share what we are doing with your colleagues.

Sincerely,
Bill Zimmerman
Creator, MakeBeliefsComix.com
wmz@aol.com

Comment by Ryan Goble on January 5, 2010 at 6:08pm

Yeah - we'll I'm really Wolverine - I just didn't want to tell anyone :)

Thankfully you've got game - I just know the characters - sounds like it should be a fun movie! Keep sharing your awesome insights!

As much as I'd like to move a lot of this stuff up to the discussion forum, the comic group seems to have a nice comment wall pulse...

Comment by Sean on January 5, 2010 at 6:01pm

Oh, Ryan, it's time you know--I'm a Marvelite. Anything about Marvel, I'll respond to. And I'm superpumped about the Thor movie--Natalie Portman (who will also star and produce the Pride and Prejudice Zombies movie!!!!) and Kenneth Brannaugh! The world keeps getting better and better haha!

And Refresh Refresh sounds amazing! Can't wait to check it out!

Comment by Ryan Goble on January 5, 2010 at 5:48pm

How about a hyperlink and image for anyone who wants to check it out? I added it to my infinite Amazon wishlist.

Refresh, Refresh (Paperback) ~ Danica Novgorodoff, James Ponsoldt, Benjamin Percy

Looks like it is a First Second publication - sample text is here

BTW - Sean - impressive Thor listings! FWIW - There is a new Icelandic animated film about Thor that I hope gets US distribution.


Also, they are working on the big Marvel Thor feature film with Kenneth Branagh directing!

Comment by Louann Reid on January 5, 2010 at 3:13pm

Refresh, Refresh sounds wonderful. It's going on my list right now!

Comment by timothy shea on January 5, 2010 at 2:32pm

Over break (while on a train from Manchester to London) I read Refresh, Refresh by Danica Novgorodoff, Benjamin Percy, and James Pinsoldt. I was blown away by the power of this graphic novel about fathers and sons - teen sons who admire their fathers who are fighting in Iraq. As the tagline says, "Fathers, sons, and the war that comes between them." What struck me the most about this book is how each author has a different composition perspective. Ponsoldt is a filmmaker, Danica, an artist, and Percy a short story writer. Together they create a work that plays out like a movie and has incredible depth. I can envision many ways it can be used in a secondary classroom context.
Has anyone on here also used this work?

Comment by Sean on January 4, 2010 at 11:37am

Any of the following one-shots are good for Thor background and its Norse mythology. They are written by Matt Fraction, who can write a mean solo book, but a terrible team book.

Thor: Ages of Thunder #1
Thor: Reign of Blood #1
Thor: Man of War #1

If you're looking for a TPB, these are collected in Thor: Ages of Thunder TPB (http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=188378).

And someone has compared the Norse myth Thor and the Marvel Thor in his blog. Seems pretty good and chalked full of goodies for you to discuss with the class. http://fangsandhammers.blogspot.com/

The Incredible Hercules is maybe one of the most enjoyable comics right now, and you can ask any critic. Right now Zeus is a child, and he's protecting him. But his familial relations are pretty accurate. Athena is awesome. But I would choose something like The Labors of Hercules (with a modern twist, in which Herc re-enacts the 12 labors for a reality show): http://comicbookdb.com/issue.php?ID=186260

But there's also apparently a pretty good version of the Thracian Wars by Radical Comics if you want to check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Hercules-Thracian-Wars-Radical-v/dp/0980233518

Hope I've helped!

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