Comics in the Classroom

I found a great website titled "Comics in the Classroom". It has lesson plans using comic books, reviews of recent comic books, independent comic book titles (comic books not published by the four major companies) and several more great items concerning comic books and their use as a tool for literacy

http://comicsintheclassroom.net/

Comics Can Motivate Reluctant Readers

Here is another good article on how comics can motivate reluctant readers. It is also another article from the Univ. of Alabama database, so SLIS students may be the only ones who can access it.


The Motivating Power of Comic Books: Insights from Archie Comic Readers
Bonny Norton
The Reading TeacherVol. 57, No. 2 (Oct., 2003), pp. 140-147
Published by: International Reading Association
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205333

Using Comics to Teach Multiple Literacies

Here is a good article on using comic books to not only teach literacy in English but also in other languages. The article is part of the Univ. of Alabama database so my fellow SLISers will probably be the only people who can view it. It didn't have a text only format, and I have no idea if a PDF file can be attached to a blog post.


More than Words: Comics as a Means of Teaching Multiple Literacies
Dale Jacobs
The English JournalVol. 96, No. 3 (Jan., 2007), pp. 19-25
Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30047289

What comic books are currently available (and suitable) for children?

I've posted about what comic books I read as a child, but anyone interested in the topic of Teaching Literacy with Comic Books will want to know what comic books are currently available (and suitable) for children. I add "suitable" because there are many comic book titles that are probably not suitable for children, so I have narrowed down the options to a list I like.

KidsComics.com puts out an excellent list of comics that have been recently published or are soon to be released. The four major comic book companys I think have made an effort to continue to publish comic books for young children are DC Comics, Ape Entertainment, Archie Comic Publications and Boom! Studios. Below are links to the various websites I have mentioned and also some recent comic book covers from each comic book company.

www.kidscomics.com


www.boom-studios.com

Boom! Studios has several good titles for children but they also have several good titles not necessarily for children. Their website doesn't seperate the two genres, so anyone interested would need to exercise caution when picking titles from their website. When you go to the main website, just click on the "series" tab and it will show what series they currently publish.

www.ape-entertainment.com

Most of Ape Entertainment's titles are "kid-friendly" They are in the process of re-vamping several titles I enjoyed as a kid such as Richie Rich and Casper.


www.archiecomics.com/index

Archie Comic Publications has the old main staple of all the Archie titles along with some newer Archie titles that spotlight the regular characters in the series. The company also has some new popular mainstream titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog and MegaMan.

www.dckids.kidswb.com/

DC Comics' collection is also more structured toward more mature children. However, they have more "kid-friendly" titles than Marvel Comics. DC Comics bought the rights to publish the Looney Tunes comic book (Bugs Bunny, Sylester and Tweety, Yosemite Sam, etc) and also the Scooby Doo comic books.

Another good article on Comic Books and Literacy

Here is an article (actually a blog post) on the subject of comic books and literacy. The author's blog isn't entirely on the subject of comic books and literacy, so I thought I would include it as part of mine. She has done some good research on the subject.


http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2010/08/the-comic-book-steps-up-as-an-aid-to-literacy/


Martin, Wendy. "The Comic Book Steps Up as an Aid to Literacy". From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors(Blog). www.fromthemixedupfiles.com. retrieved March 24, 2011

Article on Comics Being Essential for Literacy in Boys

Here is another great article from School Library Journal. It says comic books are essential in teaching literacy in boys because statistically boys are more reluctant readers, and comic books help to promote reading.


http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newsletters/newsletterbucketextrahelping/886042-443/comics_are_key_to_promoting.html.csp

SLJ staff. "Comics are Key to Promoting Literacy in Boys, Study Says". School Library Journal newsletter. July 23, 2010. retrieved March 24, 2011.

University Professors support Using Comic Books to Teach Literacy

Here is a short but excellent article from the School Library Journal about Deborah Ford, a librarian in Canada, who speaks and is writing a book about the use of comic books to teach literacy. In a speaking engagement at a ComicCon, she had three university professors that also supported the subject and helped with her presentation.


http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/886080-312/comic_books_put_the_pow.html.csp


Barack, Lauren. "Comic Books Put the POW Into Literacy". School Library Journal. 3 August 2010. retrieved 24 March 2011.

Book Source Supporting My Blog

Here is an excellent book which supports my reason for making this blog. The title is Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills written by Nancy Frey and Douglas B. Fisher. It was published in 2008 and contains 208 pages. I haven't actually read the book, but the reviews on Amazon.com gives some details about what is included in the book. It seems like a great book to give the background on the subject and also different ways to use comic books to teach literacy.

Frey, Nancy and Douglas B. Fisher. Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills. Corwin Press. 2008. 208 p. ISBN-13: 978-1412953122

The Comic Book Project

The Comic Book Project is a project implemented by Dr. Michael Bitz that not only teaches literacy, but also grammar, art, comprehension and other skills. Students learn these skills by not only reading comic books but also by creating their own comic books. The web address to the comic book project website is

http://www.comicbookproject.org/

A good article about the project was published in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Only university students will probably be able to access the article unless you have a subscription to the journal


Source Citation
Bitz, Michael. "The comic book project: forging alternative pathways to literacy." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 47.7 (2004): 574+. Professional Collection. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
Document URL
http://find.galegroup.com.libdata.lib.ua.edu/gtx/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=SPJ.SP00&docId=A115497819&source=gale&srcprod=SP00&userGroupName=tusc49521&version=1.0

A Source of Information on Using Comic Books to Teach Literacy

Diamond Comics has a great newsletter called Bookshelf. On their website they have collected several good articles supporting the use of comic books to teach literacy and encourage reluctant readers.

http://www.diamondbookshelf.com/public/default.asp?t=1&m=1&c=20&s=182&ai=37742

Back in the Day----The Comics I Read as a Child

Since I'm waxing nostalgic, I thought I would post some of the comic books I read growing up. I had great titles like Richie Rich, Richie Rich "team-ups" with Casper, Wendy and several others, the Superfriends, Scooby-Doo, Hot Stuff, Classics Illustrated and many more

I Believe in Comics !!!!

     Welcome to my very first blog----Teaching Literacy with Comic Books.  Do you remember reading comic books as a kid? I do. I would read comic books for hours. I enjoyed comic books so much I wanted more and wanted to have a wide selection to choose from. Why did I like comic books so much? Why did I want to read them all the time? Because comic books made reading fun.  What made them fun for me was the simple plots, sometimes simple and sometimes fantastic artwork, the great colors, trading them with other kids, the fantasy aspect, the humorous puns and jokes and going to the drugstore to get new ones each month. I fell in love with comic books.  My parents never read to me as a child, and I never really enjoyed reading till I picked up that first comic book. Characters such as Richie Rich, Scooby Doo, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Little Dot, Popeye, the Superfriends and countless others let me go to a place where I could just read for the simple enjoyment of reading and not reading something for the purpose of learning something. However I was unaware I was learning by reading the comic books. My vocabulary, spelling and reading retention and comprehension increased dramatically. I realized this because I watched other kids in my classes at elementary school and middle school and saw them struggle with reading things that I read with ease.

     My learning and reading experience isn't unique. Numerous studies have been done praising comic books as tools for teaching literacy. Through this blog, I will share various articles and books on the subject, tell about the comics that influenced me as a child, show what comics are available to children today and show how children can transition from easy reader picture books to comic books to graphic novels and the similarities and differences of each. 

     I hope you enjoy my blog, and I encourage you to post comments about the subject, a particular post or a critique of the blog !!!!!!!!!!!

John C. Awbrey