Comics in Education: Graphic Novels Help Immigrants
March 13, 2012 by gene
Filed under Gene's Blog
Lillian Mongeau reports on using graphic novels to teach in immigrant communities for NPR’s California Report. She interviews Thi Bui who is both a teacher at Oakland International and a cartoonist. She also interviews me. Listen to the whole thing here.
Hi Gene -
My English as a second language students and I just finished reading American Born Chinese and have some thoughts on using comics in the classroom.
Edgar says:
The pictures in a comic book help me get a picture in my mind of what is happening. Seeing Chin-Kee helped me understand about how he embareses Danny.
I think using comic books in class is a good idea to read because some are funny and most comic books have pictures which gives me a idea in my head of what is happening.
Viviana says:
I think it’s ok to read comics in class because the pictures describe how the action was going so you can imagine it.
The words and pictures helped me figure out how Jin, Danny and The Monkey king had a hard time with things.
Jin doesn’t accept him self because Greg won’t let him date Amilya anymore because Jin is Chinese.
I would say no if someone asked me not to date a person because people shouldn’t get involved with whoever your dating. Also Greg told Jin not to date Amilya because Jin is Chinese and Amilya isn’t.
Fabian:
The comic American born Chinese is good for our class because you understand more because of the pictures and you can see what’s happening. Jinn and Monkey King have the same problem. They don’t accept who they are. If someone told me I couldn’t date someone I really liked I would probably tell him no!! And just walk away. I would change the story by Monkey King accepting who he is and not be rude to other people and not marking his territory on other people’s hands.
Hi Joan!
Thank you so much for reading American Born Chinese with your students! It’s an honor to be invited into your classroom. It sounds like your students read my book with care and thought. An author couldn’t ask for anything more. Please say hi to Edgar, Viviana, and Fabian for me!
Thanks for the reply, Gene! Viviana, Fabian, and Edgar liked reading it and all say “Hi” back!