Holy classroom revolution! Comic books as a teaching tool?

[Francis Hult]

The Beacon News

 

Holy classroom revolution! Comic books as a teaching tool?

 

Students are struggling to read and write and are turned off by the traditional academic curriculum. Why aren't we reaching them? It's not because we aren't trying, but because we are not communicating to them in the language with which they are the most familiar. 

 

[...]

 

Before you dismiss this idea as ludicrous, know that historically comic books have been used to engage a wide range of learners. Many students first learn to love reading by reading comics. I remember as a child, I would bike to the local drugstore each Saturday, where I would buy the newest Batman, Superman and Fantastic Four Comic books. I was thoroughly addicted, and would spend hours poring over these books, happy as a clam. 

 

Fact: The average comic book introduces children to nearly twice as many new words as the average children's book and more than five times as many as those in the average child-adult conversation. (1993 study, The Journal of Child Language.)

 

Full story:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/lifestyles/1079629,2_5_AU30_VVGALL_S1.article

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