Last year, at the high school where I currently teach, I dedicated an entire half module (4 weeks) to studying comic book art and creating comic books of our own. And I say “our own,” because I was creating my own along with my high school students. I brought in my own personal collection from home. It was a mix of classic superhero Marvel and DC comics from the 1990’s as well as indie comics, zines, and manga inspired graphic novels. I loved comic books when I was younger. Also, I had taught the most amazing comic book class to a group of boys ages 5-6 some time in 2009 back in New York. So I figured it was high time I tried it with my older students. We learned about layout, spacing, timing, speech bubbles, and read online comics, as well as my own personal collection. It was a very well received curriculum, and I was surprised at how many of my students had read comics as young children. I shouldn’t assume it’s all computers and TV, some children are still choosing to read.
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