Toyo Gakuen University Special Reading Lesson: Romeo and Juliet.

Hi!

Today we will have a special reading lesson made by a great teacher in Thailand called Brian Boyd, also known as Grammarman. Brian has simplified a Classical Comics version of the romantic story Romeo and Juliet. Click the link to download a pdf version of the comic.

Read the comic and do the tasks on your worksheet.

After, post a comment. What do you think of the story Romeo and Juliet. Can you think of any stories like it? Can you name any examples of Shinju (心中) in Japanese literature. What do you think of these stories.

Cool tools for back to school

Well school starts again on Monday! So, let's review some cool tools for making cartoons and animated videos. We will be using these tools in Semester 2.

First, look at the cartoon below. I made it with ToonDoon.

By mickstout | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

You can see more of my posts about comics. Click this link: Comics

Next, look at the video below. I made this video using GoAnimate.



Finally, look at the video below. The video below was made by a Toyo Gakuen University student called Marina K.



See you on Monday!

Toyo Gakuen University FE2-Reading: Grammarman and Comics made by Students!

Today was the midterm exam. You must be tired. Let's finish the lesson with something fun!
Here are some videos of a cartoon character called Grammarman.  We have visited the Grammarman website before. We read the Frankenstein comic on the Grammarman website. Watch the videos. There are eight grammar mistakes in the first video. Can you find them?



Now let's read some comics made by students from around the world. These students are learning English - just like you! Some are Brian Boyd's students in Thailand. Brian Boyd is an English teacher in Bangkok and the creator of Grammarman.
Click this link: Student Comics Galleries. Read the comics in Gallery 1 and answer the questions on the Study Gallery Quiz. The Student Gallery Quiz is in the lecture folder.

OK! Go for lunch. See you next week!

Toyo Gakuen University FE-2 Special Halloween Lesson: Frankenstein

Frankenstein: a comic adaptation by Classical Comics

Happy Halloween! Today we are going to have a special lesson.
Click the link to learn about Halloween: http://www.grammarmancomic.com/factshalloween.html

Next, we are going to read a comic adaptation (改作) of Frankenstein.

Who was Frankenstein? (a) a monster (b) an alien (c) a scientist

Let's find out! Open the lecture folder. Click "FE2SpecialFrankensteinIndepStudyTasks.doc". Save the document and do the tasks.

Finally, please leave a comment. Did you like this comic? Do you think Frankenstein was a good man? Why do you think he regretted making the creature?

You can read more great comics on this website: http://www.grammarmancomic.com/
You can read comics made by students too: http://www.grammarmancomic.com/sscom2.html

Another Cool Comic Website

Thanks to Patricia Donaghy of International Edubloggers Directory, I found another website for creating comics. The website is called ToonDoo. I made the comic below.

Enjoy!

More comics YOU can make!

I found another great website called Pixton. Pixton was created by someone in Vancouver, Canada. Please visit Pixton. You can make comics! It's easy!
I made a comic. This comic shows a typical Monday morning in one of my classes.

Click to see larger image

Click to see larger image

Click to see larger image

I hope you will make a comic. Please send me your comics. I will post them on my blog.

Note to teachers: Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for introducing me to Pixton through EFL Classroom 2.0.

Comics made by students and teachers

In my post called "You can make your own English comics", I introduced you to a website called makebeliefscomix.com. My student Kenji made the comic below.

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Kenji's comic made me smile. I think Kenji was thinking of the Toyo Gakuen Listening class when he made this comic.

My friend Paul Carr has also made some comics. Paul is a teacher at Sakuragaoka Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo, and he is the creator of ESLpodTV. He has started a new series using makebeliefscomix.com. It's about English idioms. Please visit ESLpodTV. You can download a pdf textbook and learn more about the idioms shown in the comics.

Click to see larger image

Click to see larger image

I discovered another interesting website called Historic Tale Construction Kit. I found this website through another great website called Educational Origami.
I made the comic below using Historic Tale Construction Kit.

Click to see larger image

Try it. You'll like it. Send me your comics and I'll post them here.
Enjoy!

You can make your own English Comics

Click on the image to make it bigger

My friend Steven Nishida introduced me to a really cool website called makebeliefscomix.com. You can make your own comic using this website. I made the comic above. Try it! It's fun and easy.

Super Heroes

The picture here is the cover of the first issue of Captain Canuck. I bought this comic in 1975 when I was 12 years old. I wish I still had it because it is a collector's item now.