Comic Books in the Classroom

By

JENNIFER KATHRYN CONSIDINE

Bachelors of Arts in English, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 2004

A Paper Submitted to

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree

MASTER OF ARTS IN INSTRUCTION

WINONA, MINNESOTA

2010

Copyright  2010

Jennifer Kathryn Considine

Abstract

Today comic books are becoming popular young adult literature found in public and school libraries and the homes of many adolescents but rarely in the classroom. Because of their popularity and potential to engage readers, comic books have the potential to be useful classroom materials. Incorporating comic books in the classroom involves complex multimodal literacy, which combines audio, visual, and spatial modes. When comic books are used in the classroom, literacy engagement and interpretation is strengthened.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Overview

Comic books, cartoons, manga (a Japanese graphic novel), and graphic novels are popular young adult literature all over the world. Today, many Asian students, especially in Japan and South Korea, read, study, and dream of writing manga (Callahan, 2009). Americans are flocking to see Hollywood's movies originated from comic books (Weiner, 2004). The popularity of the graphic novel is expanding in that they are found in public and school libraries and the homes of many young adults. Yet, no matter how popular, comic books are, they are rarely found in classroom curriculum (Carter, 2009). Because of their popularity and possibility for engaging readers of every level, comic books have the potential to be useful classroom materials (Yang, 2008).

The Research Question

Comic books have many stereotypes. Many believe that they are not real literature. Some believe that they cannot enhance literacy. Others believe that they are a genre not included in classroom curriculum (Carter 2009). Due to a lack of familiarity and availability of resources, teachers do not use comic books in their classrooms, according to Callahan (2009). They fear inappropriateness and some perceive comics as popular literature, instead of 'real' literature.

Yet there is real value to using comic books in the classroom. When they are used in the classroom, Liu (2004) found that comic strips enhance the performance of low-level students. Edwards (2009) found that comic books combined with free voluntary reading positively affects students' motivation, vocabulary, and comprehension ability. Educators can teach students to become conscious and critical of the ways in which they interpret a text. Teachers can teach students to become more literate with a wide range of multimodal texts, such as comics, but these are not typical classroom materials (Jacobs, 2007). Can comic books as a genre of multimodal literacy be effectively integrated into school English classroom curriculum?

Personal Connection

From 2004-2008, I taught English Language Learners (ELLs) in South Korea. During that time, I also had the chance to teach two one- week ELL camps in Japan. These two countries have a long history and culture with comic books. University students have the chance to study the language, writing, and drawing used to produce comic books. Living in Asia, I watched many of my students read manga during their free-time and even hope to be graphic novel artists. Personally, many of my close friends grew up reading and continue to read comic books.

In the United States adults are flocking to the theaters to watch movies made from their favorite comic books: Superman (2006), Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009) and more. Many young adults are reading the epic graphic novel, Bone by Jeff Smith or following the Maximum Ride mangas by James Patterson.

Recently, I attended a Japanese manga book club, Club Otaku, at the Portage Public Library (in my hometown). Otaku is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interest, particularly in anime (Japanese animation that has also been adopted by some artists in America and other countries), manga, and video games. At the meeting, I had the chance to ask many members about their interests and why they attended while Miyazaki’s Oscar winning Spirited Away (2001) was playing in the background. While talking, students regularly told me to notice specific creative aspects of the movie. I heard: “This artist is amazing,” “This character is my favorite,” “This scene is so creative.” The students were actively watching the movie and critiquing various parts. That is when I realized that learning and teaching graphic novels is not just reading; it is studying a language, learning to draw, and enhancing vocabulary. With the help of the public library, the members of Club Otaku have recently had Japanese language and graphic artist guest speakers. I, personally, saw the potential of comic books in the literacy of adolescents and believe comic books have the potential to introduce literacy in a new light.

Significance of the Question

Chun (2009) references the PISA 2000 report (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2004) “that surveyed 15-year-olds in 43 countries [and] found that students’ levels of reading engagement were more important than their socioeconomic backgrounds in predicting their literacy performance. The implication of this is all too clear—'cultivating a student’s interest in reading can help overcome home disadvantages'” (Chun, 2009). Visual literacy is one of many options in creating reader interest. When given the choice, many students choose visual literature like comic books and graphic novels; text that is not often used in a classroom. Teaching a comic book requires multiple methods and strategies not used with typical textbooks. In researching new teaching strategies for integrating comic books into the classroom, I hope to inspire teachers to instill a love of reading in their students; as well as, provide students with exciting reading.

Terms: Before examining specific research on this topic, it is important to clarify the meaning of important terms that relate to this topic.

Captions: boxes in a comic containing a variety of text elements, including scene-setting, description, etc.

Cartoon: a sketch or drawing, usually humorous, as in a newspaper or periodical, symbolizing, satirizing, or caricaturing some action, subject, or person of popular interest.

Comic Book/ Graphic Novel: There are a variety of definitions used for graphic novel and comic book. Yang (2008) says, “I define 'graphic novel' as simply 'thick comic book.' Basically, a comic book is a a magazine with one or more comic strips, while a graphic novel is a longer compilation. For the purpose of this paper, the term comic books will refer to both.

Comic Strip: a sequence of drawings, either in color or black and white, relating a comic incident, an adventure or mystery story, etc. They are often serialized, typically having dialogue printed in balloons, and usually printed as a horizontal strip in daily newspapers.

English Language Learners (ELL)/ English as a Second Language (ESL) Learner: a student studying English when it is not his/her first language. For the purpose of this paper, the term English Language Learners (ELL) will refer to both.

Frame: The lines and borders that contain the panels.

Gutter: The space between framed panels.

Manga: a Japanese graphic novel, typically intended for adults, characterized by highly stylized art.

Multimodal literacy/ Multiple literacy: the many, varied, and often, combined ways in which people read and write, academically and in daily life (Hammond, 2009). For the purpose of this paper, the term multimodal literacy will refer to both.

Panel: A distinct segment of the comic, containing a combination of image and text in endless variety.

Speech balloons: These enclose dialogue and come from a specific speaker’s mouth; they vary in size, shape, and layout and can alternate to depict a conversation.

Visual literacy: the ability to apprehend or interpret pictures or other visual images.

Limitations

The research on integrating graphic novels into the classroom is recent and somewhat limited (Callahan 2009). There are many reported benefits but only a few empirical studies. These studies focus often focus on a particular group of readers, such as English Language Learners or deaf. The studies show comic books as a way to differentiate for remedial readers but not for every student in the classroom. Due to today's popular culture, fans, authors, illustrators, and librarians are starting to collect information making some reviews and resources easier to find (Callahan, 2009, p. 5). Due to the lack of studies, visual and multi-modal literacy research is introduced as an overarching strategy to the use of comic books.

Summary

A new literacy in the form of multimodal literacy will be introduced. Multimodal education incorporates audio, visual, and interpretation literacy. Educators have tried using comic books as part of a multimodal literacy and have experienced success (Callahan, 2009; Edwards, 2009; Hammond, 2009; Liu, 2004). Comic books are popular forms of literature attracting audiences from a variety of age ranges and cultures. Yet most teachers feel uncomfortable teaching this medium in their classroom. Chapter Two of this paper will outline methods for integrating multimodal literacy, in the forms of comics and comic conventions, into the English classroom with the goal of improved literacy.

CHAPTER 2

Literature Review

Overview

Multimodal literacy is the many, varied, and often, combined ways in which people read and write, academically and in daily life (Hammond, 2009). There are key ways for educators and students to strengthen their understanding of multimodal literacy (Sheridan-Thomas, 2007). Educators have tried using comic book curriculum as part of a multimodal literacy with the intent incorporating complex multimodal literacy into their classroom (Jacobs, 2007). Reluctant readers and kids love comic books, but researchers are increasingly finding that comics increase library circulation, create new readers, help English Language Learners, motivate male readers, and assist gifted and talented students. (Carter, 2009) Visual learners' literacy and engagement increases when comic books are used in the classroom (Chun, 2009; Edwards, 2009 ). Audio learners' literacy and interpretation is strengthened by comic books read-alouds (Ranker, J. 2007).

Research Question Restated

Potentially, researchers are finding that educators can teach students to become more literate with a wide range of multimodal texts but fear incorporating an example like comics into the classroom (Callahan, 2009; Sheridan-Thomas, 2007). Engaging students in multimodal literacy and comic books has the potential to increase vocabulary comprehension, reading engagement, literary interpretation, and more. Because of the vocabulary, literacy, and engagement enhancement, the research cited in this chapter attempts to answer this research question: Can comic books as a genre of multimodal literacy be effectively integrated into classroom curriculum?

New Literacy

Multimodal education incorporates visual, audio, and interpretation into literacy. The visual component is not a regular component in Language Arts curriculum and so deemed “new.”

Defining Multimodal Literacy. Multimodal literacy is the many, varied, and often, combined ways in which people read and write, academically and in daily life. Multimodal literacy includes print texts, such as novels, magazines, schedules, food containers, etc., and non-print media, such as music, the visual arts, film, and television. Multimodal readers rely on a combination of modes, thus multimodal (Sheridan-Thomas, 2007). Examples of combinations can include words and images to make meaning of illustrations, stories linked to other books and media, personal connections to readers' lives, experiences from fictional to real world, and bridges to theatrical play. Multimodal literacy is more than just sharing information or multiple texts (Hammond, 2009). This literacy extends to include interpretation making it varied, situated, and socially constructed. This type of literacy looks at how cultural identity is expressed through dress, body language, and actions that signify underlying beliefs and values of a community. Thus, multimodal literacy is far more than understanding the words in a text (Sheridan-Thomas, 2007).

Teaching multimodal literacy. As people's literacy changes and adapts with their cultural identity, some argue that education has to adapt to accommodate to the new varieties of literacy. To incorporate the curriculum of multimodal literacy into classrooms, Chun (2009) explains, “The PISA 2000 report (OECD(Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2004) highlighted that a key indicator of reading engagement and achievement among the 15-year-olds surveyed is the diversity of their reading content” (p.145-146).

Combining multimodal literacy into educational curriculum requires an extensive shift in mentality. Benson (2008) studied how students responded to a multimodal Language Arts course in an urban eleventh and twelfth grade during the 2004-2005 school year. The teacher created assignments that blurred the lines between print and nonprint. Benson found that students did not respond positively to every multimodal assignment but also did not reject every multimodal assignment. Students struggled in understanding assignments of nonprint. For example, one student, Cassandra, thought that literacy should be somewhat painful and include extensive reading from textbooks. She had very limited expectations for a Language Arts course. Cassandra enjoyed film and media projects, like creating a storyboard for her writing, but did not consider it educational. With many different responses Benson concludes, “The cases illustrate a need to not only articulate course goals for students but also to articulate the place of all texts, print and nonprint, in students' lives” (p.666). Educators need to modify their own thinking and expectations about multimodal literacy before incorporating it into their classroom (Benson, 2008).

In researching student beliefs of multimodal literacy, Sheridan-Thomas (2007) found key ways for educators and students to strengthen understanding. For example, focusing on multimodal literacy from the course beginning opened up a perspective that extended throughout the course. Also, educators' understandings of multimodal literacy was enhanced by regular interaction with current adolescents. From these findings, Sheridan-Thomas expects that modeling of multimodal literacy practices will help educators move towards application in their classroom. By providing numerous opportunities for educators to create, deliver, and reflect on multimodal lessons, students will most likely improve their ability to apply it to their own teaching. Since multimodal education includes interpretation, teachers have the opportunity to shape the lens in which their students view literacy. There are numerous benefits to implementing a solid multimodal view (Sheridan-Thomas, 2007).

Teaching literary interpretation involves careful classroom planning. One such example is the Ghiso and McGuire (2007) research. They observed a kindergarten teacher read books with sparse verbal text aloud to students. While reading the picture books, the classroom teacher supported the development of visual analysis strategies, read all available print, discussed character relationships, expanded on links to students' lives, and helped develop coherent narratives. Over the course of one year, data was collected through student responses to picture books. Much was required of the reader (in this case the kindergarten teacher): determining relationships, inferring emotional states, and pulling together plots. When this was happening in the classroom, picture books with sparse verbal text support the development of an active literary response. The students can, in turn, extend their acquired interpretive skills to all varieties of texts. This multimodal strategy of interpreting, viewing, and discussing develops an interactive and engaging form of literacy (Ghiso & McGuire, 2007).

Comics as multimodal literacy. Sequential art narratives are not new to education considering cave drawings, hieroglyphics, tapestries, and stained glass. From newspaper comic strips in the 1880s, to the debut of Superhero comics in 1938 with Action Comics #1, to the expansion of mangas in Asia, comic books also have a long history. Today, reluctant readers and kids love comic books, but their audience is not remaining limited to these two groups. Researchers are increasingly finding that comics increase library circulation, create new readers, help English Language Learners, motivate male readers, and assist gifted and talented students. Educators should consider implementing this multimodal material into their curriculum (Carter, 2009). When doing so, teachers should realize that comics are not a separate genre but an art form in every genre expanding beyond the stereotypes of merely text-based reading material and popular entertainment to involve complex multimodal literacy (Carter, 2009; Jacobs, 2007).

Regularly, educators are seeing comic books stimulate critical, engaged readers. When reading the comics aloud, vocal inflections (caused by reading bold words and emotional reactions) and character voices add an audio element to the material. The layout of panels, gutter space, colors and images add a visual element. Dialogue, narration, and monologues all present different sets of language offering many possibilities for teaching writing and grammar. If multimodal reading is a process in which there are multiple ways to make meaning, then using comic books to engage students in linguistic, audio, visual, gestural, and spatial modes is clearly a multimodal strategy. Reading comics is not merely word-based literacy, but a material to teach cultural awareness and interpretation. This multimodal strategy is essential in a classroom that emphasizes the need to read the world in which we live (Jacobs, 2007). Comic books are an engaging element in a multimodal classroom (Carter, 2009; Chun, 2009; Jacobs, 2007).

Comics in the classroom

This next section aims at showing the reactions educators and researchers are finding when comics are incorporated into the classroom.

Teacher’s response to comics. Gene Yang (2008) is currently an educator and graphic novel author. He personally discovered how the comic medium can be a powerful, educational tool in his Algebra class. Because of his school technologist position, he was absent every two to three weeks, requiring that a substitute come into his classroom. Yang started creating comic strip lecture notes and asked the substitute to pass them out to students. The comic notes were a powerful educational tool because the comics were visual and students love visual media. In comparison to other educational tools, like film and media, comics are permanent, and the students could reference back to them over and over again (Yang, 2008).

While Yang has explained some of the benefits, many Language Arts teachers are reluctant to engage students with this new medium. In a study, Callahan (2009) interviewed eleven 7th-12th grade Language Arts teachers about their perceptions of graphic novels. The results revealed that the participants are not using comics as educational tools mainly because of their lack of familiarity and availability of resources. The participants also explained their fear of inappropriateness and outside perceptions that graphic novels are not ‘real’ literature. Teachers can misunderstand that all comic books are produced for children thinking that cartoon images or drawings signify age- or grade-level appropriateness. Yet such examples refuting this stereotype would include Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Maus by Art Spiegelman. Persepolis is the true story of Satrapi's childhood in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution. Maus is a graphic interview with his father about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Spiegelman portrays the figures as animals (the Jews are mice, the Germans cats, the Poles pigs, the French frogs, etc.). These are just two examples of comic books requiring advanced historical background and mature readers. Researchers and educators are not suggesting that teachers give up existing curriculum or teach comic books in isolation. Carter (2009) recommends adding comic books as a feature to current classrooms when looking for genre connections (Callahan, 2009; Carter, 2009).

Student response to comics. While teachers may fear adding such new material into the classroom, the student response is much in favor of the addition. In Hammond's (2009) reader response study, twenty-three 12th graders read American Born Chinese by Gene Yang in their Political Science class. During the class, students were emotionally engaged to images, especially when discussing stereotypes. More specifically, the characters Chin-Kee, Wei-Chen, and American teenagers were discussed and appreciated the most. This response to image stereotypes could not be elicited from a text novel. On one hand, students did not make connections between Yang’s images and parody in literature or extend it to work in other classes. However, they were able to make connections to the current classroom subjects of immigration, racism, and identity. The evidence from this study supports teaching comic books and conventions to supplement curriculum in improving multimodal literacy (Hammond, 2009).

Educational benefits of comics

The following section presents research showing that comics improve student engagement, reading comprehension, vocabulary enrichment, and interpretation skills in students of all learning levels.

Comics and student engagement. Chun, (2009) advocates for comic books as a method of introducing multimodal literacy and their potential to engage students. Chun quotes, “PISA 2000 report ([OECD], 2004) that surveyed 15-year-olds in 43 countries found that students’ levels of reading engagement were more important than their socioeconomic backgrounds in predicting their literacy performance” (p.145). The use of comics is one recommended strategy of engaging students. A middle school study (Edwards, 2009) measured whether reading comics while participating in free voluntary reading time (FVR) impacted the intrinsic motivation, reading comprehension, and vocabulary development of seventh graders. The findings suggest that reading comics and free voluntary reading positively affects the intrinsic motivation, vocabulary, and comprehension ability of seventh graders. Chun reports on another field study in which an ELL teacher designed a unit using the comic book, Maus, by Spiegelman. Chun explains that although the teacher still had a difficult time getting her students to read independently, students’ reading engagement drastically increased. Comic books are high-interest stories aiding literacy development, and, with a multimodal strategy on essential topics, they can deepen student engagement (Chun, 2009; Edwards, 2009).

Weiner (2004) explains that because of the popularity of superheroes, educators, in the past, have used comics to entice reluctant readers. Well-done graphic novels can enrich student experiences as a new way of imparting information by transitioning to more print intensive works, essentially leading readers into prose books. Literary adaptations of classics can also be used as an introduction or compliment to works, or merely provide worthwhile reading material on their own. Weiner gives examples of engaging students in such strategies as deleting the dialogue and letting students visually create their own story. Or for a verbal approach, delete the images and let the students orally discuss the actions of the characters that go along with the dialogue. Carter, (2009) teaches students the conventions of comic book scripting in which students create a script based on a generic prompt and pass their scripts to partners across the room who must draw panels guided by nothing more than the authors’ written words. Essentially, comics provide a new and engaging approach for reading and writing. These engaging multimodal strategies using comic books and sequential art bridge the gap between school and life, between the narrow notions of literacy and the broad ideas of success in today's society (Carter, 2009; Weiner, 2004).

Effect of comics on visual learners. Comic books incorporate a visual element that attracts an audience of students often deemed reluctant readers. English Language Learners (ELLs) and students requiring American Sign Language (ASL) learn to read and write in English without a basis in oral language (Smetana, Odelson, Burns, & Grisham, 2009). ASL is a visual language that does not even have a written component. When deaf students learn to read in English, they must learn a new symbolic system without a spoken definition. Like ELLs, they must learn the language as they learn to read and write without receiving the support of oral interactions or hearing the sounds of the spoken language. Comic books with their visual interpretations offer meaning to the written language that mere text cannot do (Smetana, Odelson, Burns, & Grisham, 2009).

Liu (2004) at the University of Arizona gathered data on the effect of comics on English Language Learners' reading comprehension. Researcher, Jun Liu, discovered that if the text and the illustration were well integrated, together presenting the information twice, performance was enhanced. Liu's results show that using comic strips significantly enhanced the performance of low-level students but had little impact on the performance of high-level participants. The visual component thus added an extra support for some ELLs (Liu, 2004).

Four educators (Smetana, Odelson, Burns, & Grisham, 2009), two university teacher educators and two high school teachers of the deaf, wanted to try a new approach for an English summer school class for deaf students struggling with age appropriate literacy skills. Together they created a multimodal curriculum entirely of comic books. The teachers had high expectations but were initially disappointed when in-class discussion remained limited. After close evaluation, the teachers realized that the ASL students chose to read during all of their free time and form impromptu reading groups outside of class to recommend and discuss what they were reading. Comic books provided them with the opportunity to read, reflect, and interact. The teachers highly recommend that all English teachers take a look at the advantages provided by a unit on comic books and graphic novels. Smetana, Odelson, Burns, & Grisham (2009) explain, “Comics and graphic novels appeal to today’s visual learner because they provide unique and interesting combinations of text and graphics that engage large numbers of students” (p.239). The components in comic books are beneficial to visual learners (Smetana, Odelson, Burns, & Grisham).

Effects of comics on audio learners. There are many multimodal strategies when considering teaching comic books. Ranker (2007) followed a first grade teacher of English Language Learners as she read aloud comics in her classroom. Before opening the pages of the comic, the teacher discussed problems and solutions. During the reading, the teacher talked through the dialogue and pictures helping the students to understand the central problem of the plot. She also paused at key points to ask students to identify the conflicts. The students learned about story structure and dialogue while following along. After the reading, students were allowed to include drawings into their writing. Talking though the comics, gave the students in the classroom interesting, motivating reading material that engaged them in reading, thinking, and discussing. Ranker recognized that reading aloud, interpreting, and lessons all represented multimodal literacy (Ranker, 2007).

Using comics to teach interpretation. Multimodal literacy expands texts to include interpretations of cultural identity and community values. Perret (2004) argues that comic interpretations can be a convenient and enjoyable means of helping students grasp how text may be interpreted several ways, that the text itself is an interpretation, and that the culture of the time or place influences shaping and understanding. Perret analyzed multiple comic representations of Shakespearean plays, including Othello, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, for art used on the covers and incorporated pictures. Students often focus on the story line when reading comic interpretations of Shakespeare, but by looking at the color, composition of a page, and shape of panel, comics have the potential to teach the art of interpretation. Shakespearean plays were meant to be seen and heard- something that a comic interpretation offers. Used imaginatively, comic books can help students begin to recognize multiple interpretations of a specific text (Perret, 2004; Sheridan-Thomas, 2007).

Summary

Multimodal education involves curriculum that engages students in a new type of literacy. Multimodal literacy combines audio, visual, and spatial modes. It includes what people read and write, academically and in daily life (Hammond, 2009). Potentially, educators can strengthen their own understanding of multimodality and teach students to become more literate with a wide range of multimodal texts (Sheridan-Thomas, 2007). Strategically using comic books in the classroom involves complex multimodal literacy (Jacobs, 2007). Today, comics increase library circulation, create new readers, help English Language Learners, motivate male readers, and assist gifted and talented students (Carter, 2009). Visual learners' literacy and engagement increases when comic books are used in the classroom (Chun, 2009; Edwards, 2009). Audio learners' literacy and interpretation is strengthened by comic books read aloud (Ranker, 2007). With such examples of benefits, comic books have great potential for a Language Arts classroom. With all of this in mind, an action research proposal is presented in Chapter Three. This proposal includes engaging readers in multimodal literacy and comic books through classroom activities.

References

Benson, S. (2008). A Restart of what language arts is: Bringing multimodal assignments

into secondary language arts. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(4), Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb.

Callahan, R. B. . (2009). Perceptions and use of graphic novels in the classroom [A

Master's Research Project Presented to the Faculty of the College of Education

Ohio University]. (Digital Editions version), Retrieved from http://www.coe.ohiou.edu/resources/documents/callahan.pdf.

Carter, J. B. (2009, March). Going graphic. Educational Leadership.

Chun, C.W. (2009). Critical literacies and graphic novels for English-language learners: teaching maus. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2).

Edwards, B. (2009). Motivating middle school readers: The graphic novel link. School Library Media Activities Monthly, XXV(8), Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb? did=1684145591&sid=2&Fmt=6&clientId=39448&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Ghiso, M.P., & McGuire, C.E. (2007). "I talk them through it": Teacher Mediation of Picturebooks with Sparse Verbal Text during Whole-Class Readalouds. Reading Research and Instruction, 46(4), Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb? index=0&did=1312331991&SrchMode=2&sid=4&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&V Type=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1263164210&clientId=39448.

Hammond, H.K. (2009). Graphic novels and multimodal literacy: A reader response study [A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota].

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Liu, J. (2004). Effects on comic strips on l2 learners' reading comprehension. TESOL Quarterly, 38(2).

Perret, M.D. (2004). Not just Condensation: how comic books interpret Shakespeare. College Literature, 31(4).

Ranker, J. (2007). Using Comic books as read-alouds: Insights on reading instruction from and English as a second language classroom. The Reading Teacher, 61(4), Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?. did=1397136521&sid=1&Fmt=6&clientId=39448&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Sheridan- Thomas, H. K. (2007). Making Sense of Multiple literacies: Exploring Pre- Service Content Area Teachers' Understandings and Applications. Reading Research and Instruction, 46(2), Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdwebdid=1233395911&sid=1&Fmt=6&clientId= 39448&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

Smetana, L., Odelson, D., Burns, H., & Grisham, D. L. (2009). Using Graphic novels in the high school classroom: engaging deaf students with a new genre. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(3).

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Yang, G. (2008). Graphic novels in the classroom. Language Arts, 85(3).

The Adventures of Willy the Worm and Friends

Chapter 1- The Grotto (Only time will tell if there is another chapter... )

The beginning of our adventure started during fall break. Mom and Dad were in Hawaii. My dad is a scientist and he was there to give a presentation; mom was there to soak up the sun. Sun that my brother and I hadn't seen in days. We were staying at Grandma's house in Wisconsin for three weeks. We missed our parents … and the sun. The first week it had rained every day nonstop. Each morning Grandma and Grandpa went to the barns to feed the sheep and milk the goats, but we stayed inside. My brother and I read books and painted pictures and worked on indoor art projects. After a week inside, Jeremiah, my brother, and I were starting to get on each other's nerves. Both of us were getting sick of eating Grandpa's oatmeal.

On Saturday morning, exactly one week of staying at our grandparent's house, I was painting a picture to go into my book of rainbows, and Jeremiah was making me really angry. He was also painting, but sitting next to me. He was painting my hair with his paintbrush!

“Stop touching me!” I screamed.

“I'm not touching you!” he laughed. “My paintbrush is touching your hair. Did you know hair is not living? So technically, I am not touching you.”

When Grandma walked inside there was colored water all over the table and my hair was shades of blues and greens. She just laughed at us and told us that it was time for us to go outside. “The rain is gone for awhile, kids! Enjoy the weather!”

Yes! Suddenly our attitudes were gone and we were running outside! The sun was shining! We headed straight for the grotto a place full of flowers and trees and funny looking rocks. It was our favorite place because there was always something new to find in the grotto, a kind of magical place. As soon as we stepped inside, I was the princess and Jeremiah was the prince or the knight or the warrior. Basically, he needed to run around with a sword.

When we entered the grotto, the stream was gushing from the week of rain. Some flowers were still left from the summer and the leaves from fall were starting to change colors. The trees and leaves and grass sparkled like diamonds. The sun filtered through the leaves and ahead of us we could see a rainbow! It was just like a real palace!

I don't think that Jeremiah and I were talking but suddenly I heard someone say, “excuse me!” I looked at Jeremiah. He looked at me.

“I didn't do anything,” he said.

“Me either,” I said. I was confused.

“Down here!” yelled something. We looked down but we couldn't see anything. Again Jeremiah and I looked at each other still confused.

“Hey, excuse me!” it said again. “Your feet are coming dreadfully close to my head!”

Jeremiah and I looked down at our feet. We could see the mud and leaves and rocks of the grotto... but with a closer look there was a small pink worm. Was it talking?

“Let me introduce myself. I am Willy the worm.” He was talking!

“We know Willy the worm!” Jeremiah shouted. “Remember, Esther? Dad tells us stories about Willy the Worm all the time!”

“Yes, that's right,” said the worm. “Your dad and I were great friends. I feel proud that he should remember the stories of our youth. But I haven't come for your father. I need the help of both of you.”

“What?” asked Jeremiah.

“Well, you see that the worms in this grotto have been around for years and no one really knows or cares that we're around. We hear things that you wouldn't believe. What I need to tell you is that the rat king and his surrounding kingdom have decided to move into your grandparents house. They are going to take over.”

“Rats? EWWW!” I screamed.

“They can't do that!” yelled Jeremiah.

“Well, actually they can, and they have a plan. The worms are going to try to help you because we know your family, but there's only so much we can do. Now, I need to take you somewhere, but I need you to get over your squeamish ideas right now. The snakes are actually really helpful animals and quite nice, but if you can't handle me, then you definitely won't be able to handle the sssssssssssing of a snake.”

“Snakes! And rats? And talking worms! I can't do this, Jeremiah!” My attitude had quickly changed from excitement of the sun to a feeling of dread at talking rats and snakes. “Why can't we just go and tell grandma and grandpa?”

“Because your grandma and grandpa cannot do anything to prevent the rats,” said Willy. “Your courage and bravery is needed to talk to animals. You are going to need to convince the rats to stop. It's the only way to stop the rats.”

“This is a real adventure, Esther. Let's just meet these rats. It couldn't hurt.”

“I don't want to go...”

Jeremiah raised his branch and said, “I have my sword, and I'll hold your hand. It will be a real adventure. Besides, if we go back inside, what are we going to do? Paint some more? I am tired of being inside.”

I regretfully agreed with him. “Alright, but those rats need to keep their distance. I don't want them coming anywhere near me.”

Jeremiah raised his sword in the air and said to the worm, “Off! Let's go kill us some rats!”

Jeremiah and I had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into that day, but I think I heard Willy laughing in front of us. It was the beginning of an adventure. A real adventure.

Well.. never much time for writing unless I have to do it for class. So I did this for class. haha. This is for my horticulture prof. that I didn't like so much. :)

Things I meant to say
(but since I quit, you never heard them)

I can't sleep at night because I slept through your biology class.
I don't why we have to look at ten types of grass.
I can't understand the difference between grafting and propagation.
My plants all died from contamination.

I skimmed the textbook but I don't know anything about hybrid corn
or how rid the roses from a thorn.
If I get a degree in horticulture,
do I have to work in agriculture?

I just wanted to grow a pretty flower
but in examination hour...
it's dead.
And you gave me a grade instead.

I quit studying.
My mind is muddying.
I give up on this degree.
There is nothing here to see.

Christmas in South Korea

After college I traveled to South Korea as an English teacher. I ended up spending three Christmases abroad. One of my favorite holiday memories was going out Christmas caroling. See, Christmas caroling for your neighbors is not something that you do over in Korea. But one holiday season, my foreign friends and I really wanted to show our Korean friends how special some Christmas traditions could be: we made cookies, listened to Christmas music, and made our favorite holiday food- burritos!

That night, as we sat down to eat our burritos, my ceiling started to leak water. Quickly, my friend MiJung called the building maintenance, and two plumbers immediately arrived at my door. When they arrived the first thing that they noticed was not my leaking ceiling but the delicious buffet of burritos on the table. So we invited them to join our dinner! After dinner, the plumbers worked on fixing my ceiling while my friends and I practiced our Christmas songs for caroling. After a short time, it was concluded that the leaking ceiling was actually a problem with the pipes in my upstairs neighbor’s apartment. After the plumbers went on their way, we decided that the upstairs neighbors would be the best place to start our Christmas caroling. We put on our warm clothes, filled a bowl with holiday candy (sent from my parents in the United States), and set out.

My friend MiJung knocked on the door and when it opened, everyone started singing “Deck the Halls”, but before we finished the first line of the song, the neighbors slammed the door in our faces! We didn’t expect that at all, but we didn’t give up.

Our next stop was the security guard on the first floor. Our group of carolers gathered outside the door and started singing. Even though the security guard could see us through the glass doors, he just sat and looked at us like we were crazy. So once again, my friend MiJung knocked on the door and motioned that we would like to share some Christmas candy with him. The security guard opened the door a little, reached his hand out and took the candy from my hands- all of the candy, including the bowl!

With no candy left, we decided to stand out on the sidewalk and sing Christmas carols. We were freezing cold, but still enjoyed the night. And at the end, maybe out of sympathy or just hoping that we would go home, the nearby convenient store brought out free coffee for all of us.

Some of the pictures I have from that night include a group shot under a leaking ceiling, a plumber downing our burritos, and a group of freezing cold carolers standing on the sidewalk. And every time I look, I start laughing. We had so much fun together! And that’s really what Christmas is all about. Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love to share with the people around us. For some people Christmas has turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. But it’s not about that. Christmas is about sharing the love.

Make Your Own Bouquets, Corsages, Boutonnieres, and Centerpieces

Make Your Own Bouquets, Corsages, Boutonnieres, and Centerpieces (Look at those FLOWERS.. and not my weird face- haha!)



Over this summer I had the chance to participate in some wedding preparations. In the attempt to save some money, two of my friends decided to make their own bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and centerpieces. It might be helpful to know that you DON'T have to be Martha Stewart (although we might want to be), to create a masterpiece and save some money. I am not a professional, but I am experienced!

Here are the directions along with some pictures.

1. Order flowers in bulk. This was done by going into Sam's club and placing an order in the floral department.

2. Flowers will be delivered the day that you specify. Usually, people order them to be delivered one day before the wedding. That means that the flowers will still look really fresh, but you're going to need to set aside a good 3-4 hours the day before the wedding.

3. When the flowers arrive, open the packages. (Side note: if you ordered Gerber daisies the floral shop might have netting on the petals to keep them closed. Don't take this off until a few hours before the wedding. There might also be plastic tubing on the stems. You never have to take this off so as to support the stems.) Cut the stems and lower leaves off and run the flowers under cool water. After running the stems under cool water place them in vases (the vases should include a kind of plant food/powder that was sent with the flowers as well water that is the same temperature as what you were running the stems under).

4. Leave the flowers in the vases in a cool room for one hour. We turned the air-conditioning on high in the bedroom. If they fit in the refrigerator, you can put them in there too.

5. After letting the flowers sit for one hour, you can now cut and arrange the flowers.

6. Select flowers for bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and centerpieces. If you're making centerpieces than those should go in a vase and back to the cool room/refrigerator. For bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres cut them slightly longer than you want them (since they will need to sit in a vase overnight).

7. Wrap the stems or arrangements with green floral tape. For wrist corsages a standard elastic florist wristlet is used for making wrist corsages. They can be found in most craft stores or a local florist shop.

8. After everything is cut, arranged, and wrapped, place back in a cool area.

9. On the next day (the day of the wedding), you will wrap the bouquets with ribbon (and cover the green floral tape). Start with a hot glue gun and hot glue the top of the ribbon to the very top of the bouquet stem, and then wrap the ribbon to the bottom of the stem. At the bottom, you may choose to glue or pin the ribbon (depending on how you want it to look). After this you're ready to walk down the aisle!

Embarrassing Moments Retold -hehehe!

This last weekend I was in my BEST friend's wedding (and it was really beautiful), but I had this sort of embarrassing experience. At the rehearsal during the 1^st practice walking down the aisle, the groomsman said, “So, we're getting married.” And, I thought.. “Oh! He's making a joke out of us walking down the aisle together.” Although I didn't think it was that funny, I laughed. A couple more practices later, the same groomsman says it again! I smile, but in my mind I am thinking, “Why did I even laugh the first time? It wasn't that funny and now he said it again!” The next day at the end of the wedding, the groomsman says, “So we just got married.” Now I think, “This guy is crazy/weird/awkward- just walk away!” And so I walked off. Later that night outside, I say to the groomsman and a friend, “So, he thinks we got married today.” Silence. (I thought I was funny?) And the groomsman says, “I think I said so THEY just got married.” AH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY HEARING? The whole time he had said “they” not “we.” Now, I am the awkward/crazy one! HAHA!

And then it made me think of all of the other embarrassing moments in my life. This one is definitely not even close to the top ten and so I felt much better. :) Hopefully, this will make someone laugh or someone feel better (or maybe just me?), but I have decided to retell my embarrassing experiences.

2^nd grade – After watching the movie A Christmas Story (which we were definitely not supposed to be watching), my brother and I decided to see if licking a metal pole in the middle of winter really would make it stick. Fortunately, right after we did that our bus came and we were able to rip our tongues off and get on the bus. As we got on the bus, I told my brother that my tongue was bleeding, but that I thought I was okay. Later that night after school and after dinner, my whole family was doing Advent devotions (just a few weeks before Christmas!), and my brother started crying! My parents finally got him to confess that we had stuck our tongues to the metal pole and he had been worrying about me all day because he knew that my tongue was bleeding. Oh!

3^rd grade- In third grade, my family moved to the country, and so I changed elementary schools. During practice for the Christmas program, my teacher explained that we would all need to use a microphone to say our parts in the play. I raised my hand and told her that I didn't need to use a microphone because I could say my parts nice and loud. She then told the whole class that everyone needed to use a microphone. On the day of the Christmas program, I walked up and screamed my lines right into the microphone. The entire crowd leaned back like they'd been hit by a tidal wave. After that my class nicknamed me “blow-a-mic.”... And the name stuck with me until I moved on to middle school.

7^th grade – I started middle school and went to my first middle school dance at the end of the year. My friend decided that since I had never danced with a boy before, she was going to set me up. She found a really nice kid and told me to go dance with him. I was so nervous that I couldn't look at him and halfway through the song I ran off the dance floor and out of the gym. (That “kid's” name is Josh- there are many more embarrassing stories involving him.)

8^th grade – I decided that I liked a kid named JD. My middle school had a fund-raiser selling and delivering flowers on Valentine's day, and I decided to send JD a flower with a note. I went into the teacher's classroom and asked the teacher if I could leave a note to go with the flower that I was sending. The teacher misunderstood and delivered my love note to JD that day (in front of his entire class)- who didn't talk to me for an entire month after that. Ah! Oops.

9^th grade – During the summer before, I took a trip with some of my friends and my friend's older brother and his friends. At the end of our week stay on Lake Michigan, one of the older brother's friends kissed me and everyone found out. Throughout the school year (I was in middle school but the older brother and all of his friends were in high school) whenever the older guys saw me, they sang “the kissing song”.

10^th grade – Josh, the kid that I had my first dance with, asked me to go on a date. On our first date at the movies, he tried to put his arm around my shoulders. When he did that he caught my hair and was pulling my hair back and hurting my head. I didn't know what to do so I jumped up and told him that I had to go to the bathroom. Later I found out that it had just made him more nervous.

Traveling to new countries and experiencing new cultures always adds to my nervous/embarrassing experiences... And, I have traveled a lot! :)

In Cologne, Germany my class and I were visiting the cathedral and then had some free-time. My friend and I who didn't have a watch decided to walk downtown. Later, we were walking to the next shop when our buses drove right by us and stopped on the side of the street. My teacher came running out of the bus saying that they had left the cathedral 20 minutes ago.. without us. My friend and I had to walk on the full bus as everyone laughed at us for getting lost and being late in Cologne.

When I was in Paris, France with a group of college students, I was trying to say goodbye to one of the French students. I told him “au revoir” except that I said it exactly how it looks “oh revere!”. Unfortunately, everyone heard it and repeatedly used my pronunciation every time they said goodbye to me!

After college I moved to South Korea to teach English. Asian culture has so many “rules” that's incredibly easy to accidentally “disrespect” an elder. Most of those rules have something to do with eating. My first week in Korea the school where I was working had an employee dinner party (this happens at least 2-3 times a semester, but this was MY first one in Korea). At these parties there are long tables set up perpendicular to a head table where all of the head teachers, principal, and vice principal sit. There is one seat open in front of the principal and one-by-one every teacher goes up and talks to the principal and drinks with him (since I don't really drink I was told that I could dump my alcohol in a special bowl sitting on the ground). When it was my turn, I went up to the front and used my few Korean vocabularies to introduce myself to the principal. After that he picked up a piece of meat and my co-teacher told me that he wanted to feed me. Not really understanding, I opened my mouth and tilted my head back like a baby bird. The principal started laughing really hard which prompted all of my co-workers to turn and see the situation and laugh at me. (Apparently he just wanted to put the meat in my bowl- not my mouth! Haha!)

Oh I could go on and on and on about the funny things that happened to me in Korea, but there's one more that I think is especially funny. I was showing some co-workers the pictures that I had taken when one of them looked at me and said, “Jenny, do you have a dick-a?” I was a little shocked, but I asked her to repeat what she had just asked me. Again she said, “Do you have a dick-a?” I told her very plainly that I was a woman and so no, I did not have a dick-a. She then explained to me that Koreans sometimes combine and shorten words to make what they call Konglish. Dick-a was Konglish for digital camera. Oh! Haha!

During a trip to Macau, my friends and I were waiting for our dinner and we ordered a pitcher of sangria. We started to drink it on an empty stomach. 1 hour later our food still hadn't arrived and I was absolutely drunk. One friend (who was also videotaping the scene) asked me where our hotel was. I said, “Our hotel is over there.” And then, I proceeded to make circles over my head pointing everywhere. My friend still has this video and is threatens to show everyone that knows me. Hehehe!

I hope that reading this made you laugh. Or helped you get over a embarrassing situation! Take Care!

What's new?

Wow that last post was 4 MONTHS ago. So, what happened in 4 months? A lot!

I was waiting and waiting and waiting for an acceptance letter into the New York City Teaching Fellowship. I got in. And then, so many things happened that made me realize that I didn't really want to be in the program. I had a backup plan .. and it turned into plan A. I start St. Mary's University in Winona, MN on August 24.. in less than 2 weeks!

Since April I have worked for a textbook publishing company, two different elementary schools, a summer camp, and continued my other jobs part-time positions in ESL. Also, both of my roommates got married. I learned a lot (especially reception hall setup/take-down and how to put bouquets together - which will be a later post with pictures). 4 months ago I was really bored and really anxious! But now I see how many awesome things have happened! Yeah!

Looking for a Job - Who do YOU know?

How do you get that call back? These days people are searching everywhere for jobs monster.com, craigslist.com, etc. For an English major with a really random job history (lifeguard, swimming instructor, waitress, teaching English in South Korea, broadcasting, and now office management), finding a full-time job with benefits is seriously DRAINING! Looking online, writing cover letters, filling out 16 page applications only to get an hourly job. I'm even "in" with a staffing company, and I call them every Monday morning at 9:30. Two weeks have gone by and they still ask me the same questions each time I call (What kind of job are you looking for? How much would you like to get paid?). Why don't they keep these things in my file???I am tired of drinking a cup of coffee, getting my hopes up for that one email to come, only to sit at my computer in disappointment and look through jobsites everyday. I could look through my email and tell you the exact number, but I have applied for over 500 jobs. And less than half have even replied. Which leads me to this...

It's NOT what goes on your resume or even your education.

I think it's all about who you know. So, hmm.. who do YOU know? And, well part of it is knowing God, right? As hard as all of this is, without His patience, I wouldn't be where I am today. But after 500 jobs and all of the part-time work.. what is God showing me? Am I supposed to wait for the perfect job? Is this struggle to find out where I am really supposed to be? Is God showing me yet one more way I am supposed to trust Him in every situation? Or, is it something more.... Maybe I'll never know, but if I do I'll let you know. In the meantime, WHO DO YOU KNOW?

Intro to "The Rain Slug"

I wrote "The Rain Slug" wanting to write a story that incorporated some of my time in South Korea into a childrens story. This story is actually very near and dear to my heart and I hope that it inspires many more to travel/write/explore their creativity but most of all to live their life for God.

~Sparkly Fusion

*Chapter 15* New Friends

Mrs. Mathews looked at her children, “These people saved this building from the destruction that you caused. You know how important food is in the Korean culture. Tonight I want you to cook and serve these people your favorite food. Tonight, you will be making them tacos.” The children knew exactly what to do and went off to the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Mathews cleaned up the burnt floor and water and chatted with the firemen. The old Korean woman quietly left their apartment. Nobody said anything but thought that she might not want to try their western food. Maybe she was leaving out of politeness?

One hour later the taco buffet was set up and everyone was starving. Mr. Mathews asked everyone to gather around the table so that they could pray before the dinner started. Before Mr. Mathews started, the old neighbor woman walked in with a pot and a bowl on top. She talked to Mrs. Mathews and told her that she had prepared some food as well for them today. The children looked in the bowl and saw rice, but the pot contained the same brown liquid that she had tried to feed them earlier!

Daisy thought quickly, “Is this woman trying to poison us again?” She looked at her mom and whispered, “Mom, we smelled this awful smell all day. This soup is that smell! I think she’s trying to kill us!”

Mrs. Mathews laughed hard and then turned to her children, “Did you kids try the soup?”

“No,” said Max, “We spit it out so that we wouldn’t die!”

“This soup might smell really bad,” said Mrs. Mathews, “but this is a Korean specialty. It’s called ‘Daenjang Chigae’. The bean paste makes the soup smell really uniquely, but the taste is actually really great!”

“I see,” said Leo. “We thought we were in danger more than three times today, but actually, it was our own fault. I guess this country might be a little safer without us.”

Everyone laughed hard and patted him on the back.

“Kids, I tell my students that the only way to live abroad is to make a lot of friends,” said Mr. Mathews. “Everyone should make friends that can support you physically and spiritually. I think you need to make a new friend. Let me introduce you to our neighbor- Kang, SaRang. Her name literally means ‘love’ in Korean, and I think today that we have all seen God’s love in her today.”

The children all gave her a big hug and Kang, SaRang gave them a big smile.

“Now, I think it’s time that we pray so that we can enjoy this delicious food!” said Mrs. Mathews. “I’m starving!”

*Chapter 14* God’s Promises

Once people were calmed down a little, Daisy finished the story. She explained how they were thinking about Noah and Mr. Mathews had asked them to do some research about the devastation of animals during a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Somehow they had gotten to the website about Indonesian flood stories and everyone walked over to the computer to read the story.

Their father silently reached out to the bookshelf and opened his bible. “Kids, we only started the story about Noah today,” said Mr. Mathews. “I think that it’s time that we read the rest.”

Curious, everyone sat on the floor as their father read the story of Noah from the book of Genesis. Mrs. Mathews pulled out her Korean bible and helped the firemen and neighbor understand the story.

Mr. Mathews read how all of the animals had come to Noah and they had boarded the ship. Everyone listened intently. Mr. Mathews read how God closed the door of the boat while it rained 40 days, how Noah had to stay on the boat with all of the animals for over a year waiting until the water went down, and using a raven and a dove to determine when they could get off.

And then Mr. Mathews came to the end and said, “This is the most important part. Listen carefully.” He read, “The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease’.”
Mr. Mathews looked over at his kids. I asked you to look up the volcanic eruption in Krakatoa, not because I wanted you to know about the other natural disasters on earth, but because I wanted to know that even though this devastating thing had happened, today there is a thriving community and even a National park with the most beautiful animals living there. God put those animals there- just like you were asking, Leo. God promised that He would never destroy living creatures again the same way that He did during the time of Noah. And God doesn’t break his promises.”

“So screaming slugs don’t cause floods?” asked Leo.
“There are many natural disasters these days, but He won’t wipe the human race off of the face of the earth,” said Mr. Mathews. Only God can make the thunder and the lightning and the rain. God definitely loves each of you. When bad things happen (and they will!), we have to trust that God is there to take care of us.”

After Mrs. Mathews translated the conclusion, the old woman nodded and said “amen.”

“Oh, she’s a Christian?” asked Max.

“Yes,” said Mrs. Mathews. “She goes to church nearby and she loves God with all of her heart.”

“Really?” asked Daisy wondering why this woman had tried to poison them earlier today.

Mrs. Mathews asked the old woman something in Korean and the woman nodded quickly and then replied. Mrs. Mathews translated, “She goes to morning prayer everyday to pray for her family and she says that when we moved in she also prayed for our family too!” The old woman talked a little more and then Mrs. Mathews said, “She also says that she needs to pray harder for the strength to keep putting out your fires!”

“What?!?!?!” asked Daisy, Max and Leo at the same time.

Mr. Mathews answered, “That’s right kids. She said that she smelled the smoke and when she saw you coming out of the apartment with such a scared look she got really worried. She opened our door and saw the fire still burning on the floor so she dumped a bucket of water on it. She saved this apartment from burning and the homes of so many families in this building. You should be really thankful for what she did.”

The children stared at her curiously, but thanked her using their limited Korean vocabulary, “Kam-sa-ham-ni-da!” Thank you.

The old woman smiled and nodded in reply.

*Chapter 13* The Slug DID IT!

Max started the story with the challenge to eat the slug and how they went to find it. Their mother, who knew some Korean translated for the firemen and their neighbor. Max talked very seriously, but as their mom related the story to the Koreans, they couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, Max got to the part about the screaming slug, blowing up and how they ate the insides of it. At this point the firemen were rolling around on the floor laughing so hard that they could hardly believe. Their old neighbor women went over to the garbage bag and opened it. Seeing the pieces of dead slug, she also started laughing.

The old woman explained to Mrs. Mathews how to cook sea slug. First, you have to squeeze the slug so that liquid comes out of the inside. Then you put the slug into a boiling pot of water to boil it- NOT to fry it. After the slug has been boiled, the slimy outside of the skin turns rough. People only eat the outside of the slug and NEVER the inside. The old woman went on to explain that Max and Leo ate the wrong part. They ate the dung of the slug.

“Ewwwwwwwww!” screamed Max.

“I think I am sick,” replied Leo.

The firemen went on to explain to Mrs. Mathews that people don’t usually eat sea slugs until winter. Just like raw fish people usually stayed away from the sea slugs caught during the summer. That’s probably why the kids had gotten the sea slug for free. Everyone laughed and laughed until tears were coming from their eyes.

*Chapter 12* Putting Out the Fire

“What?” asked their mom. Their father quickly turned around and ran over to the firemen. He also didn’t know much Korean, but he pointed rapidly and motioned for the fire fighters to follow him up the stairs. He would lead them to their apartment and the fire.

Mrs. Mathews didn’t know whether to be mad or worried or just happy that her children were safe. After Leo had started crying, Daisy and Max had also started crying and so Mrs. Mathews just tried to hold them all together. “There, there. It’s going to be alright,” whispered Mrs. Mathews. She looked up to their apartment window on the seventh floor, but she couldn’t see any fire or even smoke coming from their window. They waited and waited together. After a time the children’s tears stopped, but they were still too worked up to tell their mom how they had started the fire.

Ten minutes later, the firemen came out of the building with Mr. Mathews and … the old neighbor woman living next to them! One of the firemen spoke to the crowd and the people started walking inside. The crowd didn’t seem worried, but were quite happy that they could go back to their homes, away from the rain.
Mr. Mathews looked at his children and then said, “Well, I think that you need to explain to me, your mother, these firemen, and our neighbor what went on today.” The children turned embarrassedly red and followed their father back up to their apartment. When they walked into the apartment there was a large puddle where the fire had been. The three children sat on the couch and the adults sat on the floor with their backs against the wall facing the three.

“Daisy, you are the oldest, and I put you in charge of your brothers,” said Mrs. Mathews. “Why was there a fire here?”

Daisy looked over to the computer and saw their Indonesian flood story left still on the screen. She remained silent for a little while, until Max spoke up.

*Chapter 11* Fire

Daisy, Max and Leo had moved to Korea less than a week ago and now they had started a fire in their apartment. No one could speak their language or understand what they could possibly be trying to do.

“Well, we can at least go outside and try to warn them,” said Max. “Maybe we can point at the mountain and show them that they need to head up there to stay safe from the fire and out of reach of the flood.”

Max and Daisy and Leo put on their rain coats and went out the door. Their neighborly old woman came out at the same time as them and tried to look inside their apartment.

“She knows what’s going on,” thought Daisy. “She’s reading our minds.” Max quickly shut the door and they all walked to the stairs while the old woman was locking her door. When the three of them got to the stairs, people were going down and chatting rapidly in Korean. The kids didn’t know what they were saying but could only guess that everyone was wondering why the fire alarm went off. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, everyone was standing there with the umbrellas and raincoats. In Korea, people rarely go outside without protecting themselves because of the acid rain.

The fire trucks came and asked the people some questions, but no one seemed to know what was going on. Everyone was shaking their heads and looking at the building. From the parking lot, you could see each apartment’s window of every room in the twenty-one story building, but nothing seemed to be going wrong.

The three children were huddled together to keep warm and try to stay dry when their parents came running through the parking lot. They had heard the fire alarms and seen all of the people when they got off the bus. Mr. and Mrs. Mathews were shouting their names trying to see if the kids had made it safely out of the building. Daisy shouted, “Mom!” and Mr. and Mrs. Mathews ran over to the three children. Their mom and dad hugged them in a big group hug and then asked if the kids knew what happened.

Leo looked at them and then started crying. “We started the fire, mom and dad.”

*Chapter 10* Dead Screaming Slug

“We killed a screaming slug and now it’s raining just like this story,” said Daisy.

“We share the same ocean as these women. We killed the screaming slug and now it’s raining. What if we killed the same kind of rain slug those women did?”

“Ah! That’s why that man didn’t want to sell it to us,” said Leo. “How about we make a fire? We’ll do the same thing that that woman in the story did!”

“Right! And since there’s nothing dry outside, I am sure that we can just burn a few notebooks and garbage. I know where mom keeps the lighter for the candles. I’ll go get them!” said Max.

Leo and Daisy collected some paper and old newspapers and piled it up in the middle of the living room floor. “It’s not too big, it won’t get out of hand,” thought Daisy. “Plus, I don’t want these Korean people knowing that their city is flooding because we killed their sea slug.”

“We can do this,” said Max. “No one will notice the flood if we start the fire right away. Hurry up!”

After they piled everything up, Max slowly lit the pile with the lighter. Slowly and carefully, the children watched as their pile burned. They didn’t think about the fire reaching the fire alarm. And unlike American buildings when the fire alarm goes off in just one room, when their apartment alarm started, every alarm went off in the whole building. The kids stared blankly at each other not knowing what to do.

*Chapter 9* Indonesian Flood Stories

The boys were not happy to stop their video game, but Daisy seemed distraught. They came and looked at the same page that Daisy was looking at. They read the Indonesian flood story together.

A long time ago some women were sitting on a log chopping a large stalk. As they were doing this, the Indonesian women noticed some bleeding from the cuts they were making. They looked down at the end of their stalk and saw that it was really a giant, sea creature. Instead of letting the animal go the women decided to kill it and eat it. When they were frying the pieces, strange screaming noises came from the frying pan and a torrential rain began pouring down on the village. The rain flooded the entire city so people had to move to higher ground. One smart woman noticed that if you rubbed some stones together it would start a fire. She was the first one to ever make fire and eventually the water in the village dried up.

*Chapter 8* Eating the Slug

“That wasn’t a sea slug at all! That was a bomb!” exclaimed Daisy.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Daisy,” said Tom. “Get up. Look in the pan. There’s still a piece left. I bet that’s the part that you have to eat anyways!” They all looked inside the pan. This time more cautious not knowing what the sea slug would do to them again. In the middle was a long brown, meat-like piece leftover from the screaming slug.

“This is nasty, Max,” said Leo. “That lousy slug spewed its pieces all over me. Look I even have little burn marks where it landed on me!”

“Go wash it off then,” said Max. “There’s still a piece left and I really want know what it tastes like.” One by one they went to the bathroom and used a rag to wipe of the spewed pieces of slug. Max picked up the chunks left on the floor and Daisy wiped up the rest with a towel. Finally, when it was all cleaned up, they sat back at the table and stared at the remains of the slug. Daisy sliced it and put a small chunk onto a piece of bread.

“You’re first, Beaver” said Max. Leo looked at it, took a big breath, and then a bite.

“How is it?” asked Daisy.

Leo made a face and then said, “Disgusting!”

“I want to try it,” said Max. Leo handed over the piece of bread with brown sea slug smeared on it. Max smelled it and then took a bite. “EWWWWW! That is awful!” Max threw it in the garbage and Daisy tied the bag worried that they might make her try it too.

“We should take it outside before mom or dad sees this,” said Daisy. “They’re going to be so mad!” But at that point the rain ominously started.

“Let’s just wait until the rain stops,” said Leo.

“Alright, let’s not forget. Mom and dad will be back by 4 pm,” said Max. “You know what that means right? NINTENDO!” Leo and Max ran off to the TV leaving Daisy alone to play on the computer.

But when she got to the computer, she found that Leo had left up some interesting sites. There was one on Krakatoa explaining what their dad had talked about earlier in the day. Krakatoa was a volcano that erupted a long time ago and killed over 35,000 people. For many years after it erupted, no one or thing lived on the island, but today it is full of villages, people and a wide variety of creatures.
“Wow, that’s really interesting,” thought Daisy. She looked at the next page. Her brother had searched for “Indonesian Flood Stories”. She read slowly and carefully over this page. Her eyes got wider and wider and mouth started to drop. She turned and looked outside and then to the garbage bag containing the lifeless dead slug, but could not believe what was happening. “I’ve started another flood,” thought Daisy. Her mind raced faster and faster. “Boys, get over here. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!”

*Chapter 7* Cooking the Slug

“What do you think they feed this? Do you think that we could make it bite?” said Leo.

“It has no mouth,” explained Daisy.

“I think it does. See that hole there?” said Leo.

“How do you know that’s not the other end? Can you even guess that there are teeth in there?” asked Max.

“Listen! It’s making a purring noise. It sounds like a cat. I bet there is some kind of tongue in there!” said Leo.

“That’s ridiculous. An animal doesn’t need a tongue to make noise!” said Daisy.

“How do you know it’s an animal? Maybe it’s a sea CUCUMBER!” exclaimed Daisy.

“Daisy, come on! Everyone knows the difference between a sea cucumber and a sea slug,” said Max. “This is definitely a slug. Beaver, go research sea slug on the computer. We can compare it with a picture on the internet and maybe even figure out how to cook it.”

“Well there are no ovens to bake it, so I am going to grill it like a grilled cheese sandwich,” said Daisy. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out two pieces of bread and buttered each side. Then she turned on the gas stove and put one piece of bread on the pan. Max intently carried the slug platter over to the stove and turned it over- dropping the slug into the greasy pan. Daisy and Max watched as the slug started moving faster and faster around pushing the piece of bread with it.

“This is disgusting, Max” said Daisy hardly able to watch. “I can’t believe we are going to watch this slug die like this.” And if that wasn’t enough, the slug started screaming with such a high-pitch that Leo came in thinking that it was his sister.

“Wow, that noise is awful!” exclaimed Leo. “Whoever knew that a slug could make that kind of noise?”

“Really! Take it off the burner, Daisy. I have no idea what this slug is going to do!” yelled Max over the high pitch scream of the slug. But just as she was reaching over to turn the heat down there was a loud popping noise and the sea slug went flying through the air! All three of the children dropped to the floor and covered their head as pieces of the flying sea slug fell all over them.

*Chapter 6* Poisoned

“Just put it in your mouth, but don’t swallow it,” whispered Max. “Poison only kills you when you swallow it. We can spit it out as soon as we get inside.”
Bravely, Daisy opened her mouth and the woman pushed the spoon in. Daisy held the food in her mouth as she turned to open the door while her brothers opened their mouths.

“ke-kot-en ma-shi-sin-ka?” asked the woman.

The three stared blankly at her with their mouths full of the brown liquid. They had NO idea what she was telling them. She looked at them confusedly and then went back to her apartment. Quickly they opened the door and ran to the bathroom to spit out the poison.

“We gotta tell mom what that woman did to us!” Max said excitedly. “Maybe finally mom will take our side!” Max went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of coke to get rid of the flavor in his mouth.

Daisy and Leo nodded enthusiastically, as they passed the coke around, taking turns sipping from the bottle. Max had dropped the slug on the floor when they got in the apartment and it was rolling around, still alive, but wrapped in the paper.

“Man, we almost got poisoned today. Isn’t that enough of a challenge, Max?” asked Leo. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You can’t chicken out on me now, Beaver. Besides, I want to know what it tastes like. I think we all have to try it,” said Max.

“Yah, I’ll cook, it Beaver, and then I am sure that it will be fine,” said Daisy as she unwrapped the paper surrounding the slug and placed it on a platter. The three children stared intently at the object still moving slowly around.

*Chapter 5* The Slug Goes Home

“That was really nice of him to give us free sea food,” said Daisy. “I thought that you usually had to buy something in Korea before they gave you something free. Now we can use the money to get something normal for lunch.”

“Well, you know, they were probably confused why in the world there were three foreign kids here in this market. We definitely don’t look like their average customers. Maybe they thought that we were monsters? Hahaha!” laughed Max. But Max was right. The three children did not look anything like the people that populated the streets of their small Korean market. Max and Daisy had blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin. Leo had light brown hair and green eyes, but was especially recognizable because he was covered in freckles. If that wasn’t enough to make the Koreans stare at them, Max was carrying a brown paper package that was still moving.

As they walked back to their apartment, they talked excitedly about their plans for the rest of the week. Tomorrow was Saturday and their parents had promised to take them to the nearby amusement park- Seoul Land. And on Sunday, they would attend church in downtown Seoul. Even though the bus ride was quite far, the whole family looked forward to going. Many foreigners attended the service including children the same age as Daisy, Max, and Leo. But one of their favorite parts about going into Seoul was the chance to eat Tacos. Western food was not popular near their Korean apartment, but near church there was a taco restaurant that everyone loved.
When they got back to their apartment building, the old woman next door was still cooking and the nasty smell was still coming out of her apartment. Daisy stood in front of their door and was looking through her bag for the keys. Their old neighbor woman came outside with a bowl and spoon. Inside the bowl was the smelly thing that she had seemed to be cooking all day.

“Hurry up and get inside, Max, I think she’s trying to poison us,” said Daisy. But they were too late. The woman was holding out a spoonful of brown liquid with a big white chunk floating in the middle. Daisy hadn’t found the keys to the apartment yet so they were trapped. “What are we going to do?”

*Chapter 4* The Slug

Daisy was shocked at what Max was making Beaver do, but she knew it wouldn’t kill any of them. She had seen numerous Korean people buy live seafood from the tanks and take it home for dinner. Plus, after the live octopus, Daisy thought nothing could be worse. It wouldn’t killed them. “Don’t worry, Beaver. I’ll cook it, and we can all try it together.”

With confidence, Leo asked for the money and walked up to the cash register. They had all learned a few Korean words, but knew that pointing with their finger was usually the best way to get what they wanted.

“Anyung-ha-say-yo,” said the cashier. Hello.

Leo pointed at the tanks outside and the cashier followed him out. Daisy and Max pointed at the pale orange sea slug swimming around in the tank. The cashier looked at them and shook his head.

“I don’t understand. I see people do this all day!” Daisy whispered angrily. “Sir, we want to buy that sea slug!”

Max kicked Daisy. “Dude, they don’t understand English. Yelling at him is not going to help.”

Daisy tried again pointing at the orange slug and Leo showed him the money. The cashier looked extra worried, but reached over for the fish net. At first he tried to catch one of the other fish in the tank, but Max stepped in next to him shaking his head and pointing again at the slug. The cashier talked to them quickly and excitedly in Korean, but they had no idea what he was saying. Finally, the man sighed, caught the orange slug, and put it on a piece of wrapping paper, rolled it up, and handed it to the kids.

Max took the slug which was still moving in the paper while Leo tried to give the man some of the money that their mom had left them.

The cashier looked at the three kids and said, “Ah-ni-o. Service.”

The kids stood silently looking at each other for answers. They didn’t know what he was saying. “Well it was enough money right?” Leo asked Daisy.

“Yeah I think so.”

“I think he’s giving us a present,” said Max. “Let’s just walk away and see what he does.”

They turned slowly and started walking. Leo looked over his shoulder to see what the man would do, but he was just standing there smiling at the three kids.