The School of Comics and Graphic Novels at Miami Book Fair
Educational Sessions for Teachers, Librarians and Other Educators
Thursday, November 17
Room 7128, Bldg. 7, 1st Floor
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
The School of Comics and Graphic Novels is designed to demonstrate how comics, and now graphic novels, can work in your classroom. Attendees will also be shown practical examples of how comics and graphic novels have been integrated into curricula, as well as lists of titles that work in classrooms.
This event is Free. Registration is required.
Please visit www.miamibookfair.com and click on School of Comics and Graphic Novels or call Nicole Swift at 305.237.3023.
Plan to stay the whole day as door prizes, including graphic novel gift baskets, will be awarded at the end of the final session! Participants will be given a ticket for each session they attend, which will automatically enroll them in a raffle. The more sessions you attend, the better your chances to win!
Introduction and Welcome
10:00 a.m.–10:05 a.m.
Carol Fitzgerald, Founder of GraphicNovelReporter.com
Session 1
10:05–10:55 a.m.
Comics about Scientists? What a Dangerous Experiment! With Jim Ottaviani
We'll discuss why comics and science are not an unlikely mix, but are instead an (almost!) obvious one. We'll talk about the role of images in scientific communication, examples of how the mixing of words and pictures work, and the role story plays in expressing complex ideas.
There will be very little math.
Jim Ottaviani holds advanced degrees in nuclear engineering and information and library studies. He is the world’s preeminent writer of comics and graphic novels about science, whose best-known work, Two-Fisted Science: Stories about Scientists, featured biographical stories about Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and Niels Bohr.
Session 2
11:00–11:50 a.m.
Merging Comics and Core Curriculum with Chris Wilson
How do you integrate comics into science, math, social studies and, of course, communication arts? We will examine engaging lesson plans I use in the classroom that leave a real impression on students. We will explore earthquakes, perimeter, science experiments as well as techniques to teach inference, visualization and much more.
Chris Wilson is a K–4 Technology Instructor at Mathews Elementary in Nixa, Missouri, where he teaches 500 students per week. He is also the Editor-in-Geek of The Graphic Classroom, a website dedicated to comic literature in education covering all levels from pre-emergent reader to post secondary. He has a Master's of Science in Education–Elementary degree and is certified birth to grades 6. Wilson is also a nationally certified eMINTS instructor. He is a contributing author to several literacy textbooks, including Teaching New Literacies in Grades K-3: Resources for 21st-Century Classrooms, Teaching New Literacies in Grades 4-6: Resources for 21st-Century Classrooms, and Rationales for Teaching Graphic Novels.
Lunch 11:50–12:50
Session 3
1:00–1:50 p.m.
Classroom Lessons from the Comic Book Project with Dr. Michael Bitz and Nadja Sailesman
The Comic Book Project (www.ComicBookProject.org) has engaged more than 100,000 youths across the United States and around the world in writing, designing, and publishing original comic books. Project founder and director Dr. Michael Bitz discusses how the Project has helped to engage youths in literacy, creativity, and social development. Dr. Bitz will present classroom strategies, research, and lessons learned from over a decade at the helm of the Comic Book Project. Dr. Bitz will be accompanied by Nadja Sailesman, director of services at the PS 175-NYC Mission Society in Harlem, NYC. Ms. Sailesman will demonstrate first-hand experiences with the Comic Book Project, and she will showcase the work of her very talented students.
For more information about the Comic Book Project: www.ComicBookProject.org.
Dr. Michael Bitz is the executive director of the Center for Educational Pathways, a nonprofit organization that establishes creative pathways to academic success for underserved youth. An internationally recognized innovator in education, Bitz has worked to establish creativity at the core of teaching and learning, and he has done so for some of the most vulnerable children in the United States and around the world. He is the founder and director of the Comic Book Project, an internationally recognized educational initiative that has reached more than 100,000 youths. Through the program, students write, design, and publish original comic books that are then distributed to other youths as motivational and literacy-building tools.
Note: Michael is currently searching for South Florida schools and teachers to actively participate in the Comic Book Project, a program that engages studentsin a creative process that fosters literacy reinforcement, social awareness, and character development, and then publishes and distributes their work for other children in the community to use as learning and motivational tools. To get your students involved, and for more information, visit www.ComicBookProject.org.
Nadja Sailesman operates an after-school program for NYC Mission Society in Central Harlem, the goal of which is to increase literacy and develop children social and emotional abilities through the arts. Each year, the school forms a Comic Book club, in which approximately 25 students get to experience the joy of creating their own comic books.
Session 4
2:00-2:50pm
Keynote Presentation by Gene Luen Yang
The Role of Comic Books and Graphic Novels in Today’s Classroom
Drawing on his experiences both behind the teacher's desk and at the drawing table, Yang will make a case for comics in education. Come find out the hows, whys, and whats of teaching with comic books.
Gene Luen Yang began publishing comic books under the name Humble Comics in 1996. In1997, he received the Xeric Grant for Gordon Yamamoto and the King of the Geeks. Since then, Yang has written and drawn a number of stories in comics. American Born Chinese, released by First Second Books in 2006, became the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album–New. The Eternal Smile, a collaborative project with Derek Kirk Kim in 2009, won an Eisner as well. Yang’s 2010 graphic novella Prime Baby was also nominated for an Eisner. In June of 2011, First Second Books released Level Up, a graphic novel written by Yang and illustrated by Thien Pham. In addition to cartooning, Yang teaches computer science at a Catholic high school in California. Beginning in 2012, Yang will also teach at Hamline University as part of their MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.
Door Prize Giveaway and Concluding Remarks
2:50–3:00 p.m.
