Thank you for participating in Reading With Pictures Presents: Teaching with Comics, a FREE three-day fully virtual conference for educators and parents who are interested in harnessing the value of sequential art for teaching content, developing social-emotional skills, and fostering creativity among students as young as preschoolers up through university! Here are videos, teaching guides, previews, and more resources to help you engage your students with comics!
Recommended Videos
Manga in Libraries: Why Manga?
NYC School Librarians’ Association (NYSCLA)
Librarians discuss the importance of including manga in the collection, suggestions for purchasing, resources for collection development, and more.
POW! BAM!: Connect with Teens by Starting a Comic Con
2021 Texas Library Association Annual Conference
Comic cons can provide young adults a chance to find like-minded peers and help them build upon their own uniqueness and individuality. Learn how-tos, tips, and tricks from school and public librarians who have successfully run cons, so you too can develop a comic con style.
Real News: Using Comics to Combat Misinformation in the Digital Age
LitX Teacher Cohort
Information is currency, and those who control it control the worldwide narrative. Navigating the treacherous waters of the media is difficult with 24 hour partisan news agencies, memes, “fake news,” social media, and citizen journalism. Fortunately, there are a number of graphic novels out there can can help illustrate the reality of fact versus spin. Books like The Influencing Machine by Gladstone and Neufeld, Journalism by Sacco, Real Fake by the CISA, and Rolling Blackouts by Glidden are just a sample of the great texts that can help to shine a light on the truth. This conversation with creators, publishers, educators, and media professionals will help guide readers on how to step away from the screens and filter the information they absorb.
Comics for the Littlest Readers (K–2)
Comic-Con Education Series
Creators Jenni Holm (Babymouse, My First Comics), Andy Runton (Owly), Dan Santat (Harold and Hog Pretend for Real, The Cookie Fiasco), and Jeff Smith (Bone, Little Mouse Gets Ready) chat with Debbie Huey (Programming Specialist for San Mateo County Libraries and creator of Bumperboy) and moderator Tracy Edmunds (Graphic Novels Are Elementary!) about comics for K-2 readers. Find out why comics are a great medium for boosting literacy and practicing comprehension skills, and enjoy fascinating stories about the creation of these fantastic books.
Professional Resources
All resources and previews are free to download. Just click the title of the resource, and when you get to Dropbox, click the Download button.
Preview: Worth a Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal Literacy
Worth a Thousand Words, by Meryl Jaffe & Talia Hurwich, details how and why graphic novels are complex texts with advanced-level vocabulary, and demonstrates how to read and analyze these texts. It includes practical advice on how to integrate these books into both ELA and content-area classrooms and provides an extensive list of appropriate graphic novels for K-8 students, lesson suggestions, paired graphic/prose reading suggestions, and additional resources for taking these texts further. Find the book at Wiley and more from Meryl at her website. Professional resource for teachers of grades K–8
Resource: Title Pairings Poster
From the panel “Dynamic Duos: Effectively Using Graphic Novels as Mentor Texts.” The LitX teacher cohort YouTube channel features straight-from-the-classroom ideas for using pop culture in education.
Elementary Comics, Previews, and Teaching Guides
Preview: Bear
Bear is a service dog who would do anything for his owner and best friend Patrick who is blind. But when Bear suddenly loses his vision, he worries he’s lost his purpose in life—protecting Patrick! Following the misguided advice from some self-serving raccoons, Bear embarks on a transformative journey to regain his eyesight. Out of both necessity and survival, he learns to tap into his other senses and begins to see the world from a new perspective that is at times more rich and colorful than the world he’s always known. Find out more about this Excellence in Graphic Literature Award winner for Best in Children’s Graphic Literature at Boom Studios. Grades K-3
Geeky Fab 5
Preview: Volume 3: DOGgone CATastrophe
Preview: Volume 4: Food Fight For Fiona
Preview: Volume 5: Smoky Mountain Science Squad
Teaching Guide
Lucy Monroe’s first day at Earhart Elementary is one for the yearbook: By recess, she has launched herself off the rusty monkey bars and ended up face down onto the blacktop. The principal closes the rickety playground, and now the whole school is mad! What’s a new girl to do? Create a band of geeky friends to build a cool new playground together! Easy, right? Join Lucy, the gang, Hubble the snarky kitty, and their TV reporter buddy, Suzy Pundergast, to find out if they can prove the meanies wrong because when girls stick together, anything is possible! Kids love these graphic novels about girls who use their skills in science, engineering, technology and math to solve real-world problems while becoming capable young women. Find out more about this fun series from mom and daughter creators Liz and Lucy Lareau and publisher Papercutz at geekyfabfive.com. Grades 2–5
Preview: Kylie’s Little Sister
Light-hearted and adorably illustrated, Kyle’s Little Sister by artist BonHyung Jeong addresses themes that include sibling rivalry, learning to be okay with oneself, and mending friendships. From JY Kids. Grades 3–7
Preview: The Weirn Books
In the Night Realm, vampires, shifters, weirns, and other night things passing for human prowl the streets… but they still have to go to school! Ailis and Na’ya are pretty average students (NOT losers), but when a shadow starts looming and a classmate gets all weird, they are the first to notice. It gets personal, though, when Na’ya’s little brother D’esh disappears–it’s time to confront the secrets of the forbidden mansion in the Silent Woods! Join the acclaimed author of Awkward, Svetlana Chmakova, for an outing into her favorite fantastical world full of magic and adventure! From Yen Press. Grades 3–7
Dinosaur Explorers
Preview: Dinosaur Explorers Volume 7
Teaching Guide
Trapped in the Precambrian Era 570 million years ago by an earthquake, the X-Venture Xplorers find themselves in a fix- by needing a bigger fix for their time machine! Rain, Sean, and Stone are now faced with the challenge of finding electricity in an era where human haven’t even evolved! And to make matters worse, the locals don’t take kindly to them either! Witness all the wonders of our world”s past with these prehistoric pioneers! See all volumes at Papercutz. Grades 3–8
Preview: Lumberjanes
At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together… and they’re not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! Created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooklyn Allen. Find out more about this fan-favorite, Eisner-winning series at Boom Studios. Grades 4–8
Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers
Preview: Seen: Edmonia Lewis
Preview: Seen: Rachel Carson
It’s about being seen. Both for who you are, and who you hope you can become. History is a mirror, and all too often, the history we’re told in school reflects only a small subset of the population. In Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers, you’ll find the stories of the real groundbreakers who changed our world for the better. They’re the heroes: the inventors, the artists, the activists, and more whose stories you won’t want to miss. The people whose lives show us both where we are, and where we’re going. Creators: Jasmine Walls, Birdie Willis, and Bex Glendining, Rii Abrego. Find out more about this series at Boom Studios. Grades 5–8
Middle School, High School, and Adult Previews and Teaching Guides
Berrybrook Middle School Series
Preview: Awkward
Teaching Guide
Word Search
Coloring Page
Meet the diverse cast of Svetlana Chmakova’s award-winning series, as the Berrybrook Middle School students navigate through the precarious and awkward waters of adolescence, learn how to be brave, and maybe even, meet their first crush. Learn more about this series at JY Books. Grades 6–10
Teaching Resource: Batman High School Instructional Unit
This instructional unit from high school teacher Michael Gianfrancesco includes learning standards, student-centered instructional strategies, and assessment. Michael is a founding member of the LitX teacher cohort. Grades 10–12
Preview: Slaughterhouse Five
An American classic and one of the world’s seminal antiwar books, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is faithfully presented in graphic novel form for the first time from Eisner Award-winning writer Ryan North (How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler) and Eisner Award-nominated artist Albert Monteys (Universe!). Find out more about this Eisner-nominated graphic novel at Boom Studios. Grade 10 to Adult