Comics in the classroom? The answer is a resounding 'YES', according to panelists and audience members at the Friday afternoon panel discussion sponsored by ORCA (Organized Readers of Comics Associated) at the Pittsburgh Comicon.
Educator Mary Stronach unveiled a sample comic book curriculum guide, featuring the new CrossGen title, Crux. The guide, she said, is aimed at helping teachers integrate comic books into English, Social Studies and Creative Arts curricula at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
Describing the packet as a work in progress, the high school teacher said guides could be developed for other comic books, and depending on the book, designed for specific levels.
Harold Buchholz, who operates a comic book printing service, held up his copy of the guide and shouted from the audience: "This is just incredible. It's amazing!"
"This is a wonderful idea," echoed audience member Christina Corwell, a student teacher studying secondary English education at Pennsylvania's Edinboro University who was attending the Convention with her math teacher friend, Kerrie Rynd.
The guide is designed "to help children and students develop thinking and communication skills," Stronach said. The learning unit, she explained, builds from vocabulary skills to more complex exercises "which allow the student to explore concepts, compare and contrast, analyze, determine cause and effect, and even make connections to real world situations -- historical, scientific and social."
Activities are targeted to different age groups and arranged in order of complexity of skills, said Stronach, who teaches at Whitesboro High School in upstate New York. From exploring character studies to in-depth discussions, she said, the unit can prove to be an effective approach to helping children think critically.
Stronach described several applications for the curriculum guide/activity packet:
- as a unit for teachers, with comics as art and literature.
- as a classroom launch for a longer literary work, or as an art unit on drawing action figures.
- as a "culminating activity"; that is, a project that fulfills curricula objectives and school performance outcomes.
- as a senior project for graduation requirements.
- as a school comic book club activity packet.
The packet includes tips for teachers on how to start a school comic book club, and tips for creators and publishers on marketing to education circles.
The Panelists
Panel moderator Ezio Poccia, a teacher from Utica, NY, opened the discussion by mentioning that he "teaches a lot of at-risk kids."
"One of the biggest things they're lacking is skills for reading." He described how he caught several poor readers copying comic books during class. Instead of confiscating the comics, "I made a deal with them. 'If you read them word for word, I'll buy you more comics."
Next came John Simcoe, "Comics on the Brain" columnist for The York (Pa.) Dispatch/Sunday News and for www.CaptainComics.net. "One of the key things about comic books...is they develop vocabulary and a strong value system." As an example of how comics can be an educational tool, he held up a copy of Clan Apris by Jay Hosler. It's "basically a comic book about bees," he said. "The thing is, it's educational and it's funny."
Panelist Al Dorantes, small press publisher and moderator of ORCA's online Small Press Forum, said that "by getting kids to read comics, you're opening up a gateway" for them to learn and explore. One comic book series can lead to discovering another writer, a related genre, and on and on.
If comics can get kids "hooked on reading, it can lead to the next step."
Added Poccia: "This is obviously something good for kids to be hooked on."
Acetylene Comics Publisher/Writer John LaFleur was a last-minute substitute for the panel.
"I thank Mark Waid for being sick," he said of the Crux author who was scheduled to appear. He mentioned how he has donated comics to disadvantaged kids in Boston.
"The kids talk about them, they make up their own characters," he said. "...It's exciting to see their creativity."
Corwell, the student teacher, wondered about parent resistance to their children reading comics in the classroom.
Stronach and other panelists pointed to the curriculum guide, with its structured learning activities and expected outcomes, as a way to win over administrators and parents.
Chris Watkins, who publishes the BorderWalker comic web site (www.BorderWalker.com), wanted to know how to reach the educational market. Stronach pointed to two direct avenues: mailings to schools, panels and booths at teacher conventions. Foreign language teachers in New York have a big convention coming up in October, she said. A national convention of English teachers takes place the following month in November, added Corwell.
Each curriculum area has national and regional conventions. "If it's something kids can sink their teeth into," Corwell noted, "English teachers are dying for this" type of curriculum unit.
Bron: http://orcafresh.net/Comicons/pcc/class
