Engage, create, and thrive
as bilingual Quebecers.

OPTION 2

Comic
Zine
Connect
cz-photo-girl-R

A BILINGUAL ADVENTURE
IN ART AND STORYTELLING

Students create Comic Zines, either entirely in French or in both French and English, that explore their personal experiences and reasons for learning French. Teachers work with bilingual comic artist Laurence Dea Dionne or graphic novelist Scott MacLeod to guide students through the creative process over 3-7 weeks. The project culminates in a celebration showcasing the students’ finished work.

who can apply

timeline

Project Requirements

  1. The creation process is done mostly or entirely in French.
  2. Teachers participate in a 75 minute orientation session with LEARN at the onset of the project and report back online to share outcomes and artifacts as projects wrap up.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT

1

Teachers participate in a 75 minute orientation session with LEARN.

2

Teachers use or adapt LEARN’s List of Guiding Questions to explore students’ personal experiences and reasons for learning French.

3

Teachers collaborate with artists to guide students in creating comic zines about their personal experiences and motivations for learning French. Artists provide three in-person workshop sessions, each lasting 60 to 90 minutes.

4

Students reflect on their experience and use of French, then celebrate and showcase their completed project with the school and/or broader community. 

5

Teachers share project outcomes and artifacts with LEARN.

Teacher Resource Kit

Collaborating artists

LAURENCE DEA DIONNE shares their time between three loves: drawing, stories, and family. In their life, and through their works (among others: Nuances, Zen & the Ephemeral, and the Homeward series written by author Francis McNamee), this artist promotes bilingualism, a testament to their Montreal origin, in addition to wellness; most notably mental health and gender identity. Equipped with a bachelor’s degree in art education from Concordia University, Laurence teaches comics in the public system and in the community; sharing the magic of art and speaking to the importance of wellness throughout the world.

SCOTT MACLEOD was born in Canada and is of Norse, Irish and Scottish lineage. Scott is a multimedia artist and filmmaker, he received a D.E.C. in Fine Arts at John Abbott College, a BFA and MA from Concordia University.

He attended The Banff Centre on the Tevie and Arliss Miller scholarship, studied master works at The Uffizi Gallery in Florence on the Elizabeth T. Greenshields Scholarship. He is a fellow at The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico and a recipient of the William Blair Bruce European Travel Fine Arts Scholarship from the Canadian Scandinavian Foundation and an affiliate at the COHDS at Concordia University.

His work has been collected by corporations and museums. He teaches privately, consults and lectures on better business and creative art practices. His company MacLeod 9 Productions has collaborated on seven film projects with the National Film Board of Canada to produce educational films, graphic novels and web content as teaching tools for schools, libraries, Parks Canada, museums and the public. His work can be seen at www.macleod9.com.

In June 2017, July 2018, August 2022 and July 2023 he attended the SIM Residency in Reykjavik Iceland. His current film and graphic novel projects are on the Hiberno-Norse settlement of Iceland.