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
It breaks my heart to hear a child say "I hate to read". The natural comic, graphic novel, book progression has always seemed a no-brainer to me, yet has been overlooked by most teachers. I would think that this would be especially interesting to boys, who seem to think it uncool to read a book. I've often said that it just takes the right story to turn a book hater into a lifetime reader. I think you've found the way. I'm looking forward to reading more posts.
ReplyDeleteCan you use comics to teach Grammer too?
ReplyDeleteI found some of my old comic books at my parent's house over the weekend and thought I might start a comic book group and see how it goes. I think you are on to something!
ReplyDeleteIn response to anonymous, no I don't think comics can be used to teach grammer, but I do think they can be used to teach grammar and even spelling.
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