The more I’m reading and writing comics news via writing blogs, the more I’ve learned how much teachers and organizations really rely on them to build literacy among kids. And, much to my pleasure, there are many more like-minded folks like Stephen Krashen who really get comics better than I ever imagined.
Along that same vein, you may be interested in learning more about The Comic Book Project, a program in which kids “dream up their own superheroes and stories based on an educational theme and then write dialogue and draw their characters,” according to stories from North Jersey.com and the Arizona Daily Star.
The project is the brainchild of Dr. Michael Bitz, Ed.D, senior research associate at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City, in cooperation with Dark Horse Comics. After starting in NYC six years ago, the program moved westward, touching more than 500,000 kids throughout the United States in some 500 schools.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
I quote Steve Krashen a LOT when I do workshops about graphic novels in libraries. Later this year I’ll be speaking to two groups of school librarians, and I’ll be using Krashen’s The Power of Reading yet again, in addition to his website. In addition to Krashen’s continuing support of comics as intro to literacy, here comes the state of Maryland – they’re expanding a pilot project using comics to help students with reading and writing skills.