Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Comic Books and Learning

More articles discussing how teachers are using comic books in order to reach students.

NPR has a story on a pilot program at Lisby-Hillsdale Elementary in Maryland to improve student performance by using comic books in the classroom. It is short and worth a listen.
The program illustrates an ongoing debate: do teachers give students a challenge, or offer less difficult material that is more likely to spark their interest?

The bottom line will be whether reading scores improve. Getting kids to put down the video games and open a book is the real challenge.

The Daily Collegian investigates the reasons that comic books are so popular with college students.

"It is not just about capes, it is about individuals who have these outstanding powers," said Jorge. Some comic books take on very serious subject matter, such as the Holocaust and Middle Eastern relations. No matter what you are looking for, a story exists about what you want in comic book form.

Comic books do not just depend on the written word. The written word is complemented beautifully with the artwork contained in its pages. These two work together to produce a story, both portrayed by word and visual art.

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