This Issue:

Table of Contents

Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

Comics in Class

Spanish Translation

Kathryn Satterfield

Picture this: You are sitting in class andopow! your teacher has been transformed into Superman. Bam! Your textbook is a top-secret manual on harnessing your own superpowers. Krak! A classmate has turned green and has quadrupled in size. Another is swinging across the room on a superstrong spider web. And Garfield is chasing Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse around a desk. What are comic book characters doing in a classroom?

In some places, they are part of the lesson. Schools around the country are using comic books to teach reading and other subjects. The Maryland State Department of Education has developed a comic book curriculum using classic Disney comics. After a successful test, it is being used in about 200 classrooms, and continues to expand. The state has introduced a new series of original comic books, Toon Books, in first and second grade. The series was created by Francoise Mouly, art editor of The New Yorker magazine, and her husband, Art Spiegelman, a prizewinning comics artist.

Another program, the Comic Book Project, aims to improve kids' reading and writing skills. It reaches 22,000 kids in 850 schools nationwide. The program was started in 2001 by Michael Bitz, of Teachers College at Columbia University, in New York City. Kids write and draw their own comic books. "There is a growing movement in education that's looking at literacy of all kinds," Bitz told TFK.

Should We Take Comics Seriously?

Comic books haven't always made the grade with parents and teachers. They were once seen as a waste of time or a source of concern. "Usually teachers tell us to put comics away," says Deshaun Osborne, a fifth grader at Magnolia Elementary, in Joppa, Maryland. "I was shocked to hear we'd be using comic books." His class is reading about women scientists in a collection written in comic book style.

As teachers seek creative ways to improve reading and writing scores, comic books are seen as a tool to get kids revved up about reading. Nancy Grasmick, Maryland's state schools superintendent, was inspired to use comics, in part, by kids' reactions. "Students would get so excited about reading comic books," she says.

Fans agree that comics help introduce kids to important features of fiction, such as narrative structure, tone and character development. They also include context clues for difficult words. "The teachers love it," says Grasmick. "They think it captures students' interest and contributes to accelerating reading skills." Darla Strouse, the head of the comics program in Maryland, points to one middle school teacher who reported that students who read graphic novels books that are similar to comicsowrite in greater depth.

But not everyone is convinced. Critics see comics as nothing more than empty entertainment. Diane Ravitch, an author and education professor at New York University, in New York City, says comics most often use too-simple story lines and language. "Students are not encouraged to think in complex ways about how language is used," Ravitch says. "(Comic books) are no more educational than watching children's favorite TV programs."

Coloring Inside, and Outside, the Lines

There are no studies to measure whether reading comics boosts test scores or skills. Still, the Comic Book Project is showing teachers how using comic books can help them teach reading and writing. Reading comics encourages "creative and critical thinking," Bitz says. "It touches on the things we're trying to achieve in language arts, but in a unique way."

Sherri Pittard, a teacher in Cleveland, Ohio, says the Comic Book Project has inspired her students. One struggling writer found his voice and created a prizewinning comic two years in a row.

Pittard also points to how much kids enjoy the work. "They don't realize they're learning," she says. "It's a little trick."

Claire Dreis, a fifth grader in Pittard's class, doesn't mind being fooled. "Drawing, coloring, making up stories it's just fun," she says.

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