It is a general assumption that comic books are for children and are good for nothing more than rotting young minds. The fact is this statement is very far from the truth. Many, including myself, have learned much about reading, and how to read, from these graphic novels. Now, it pleases me to say I"m not the only one who realizes this. A relatively young comic book company named CrossGen has started supplying schools with comics as a way to teach literacy to the children.
As part of a radical new program called Bridges, comics are used as teaching tools in classrooms today. The comics Meridian and Ruse are shipped with exercises such as comprehension questions and vocabulary lists. Meridian is for grades 4-8 while Ruse is used for grades 9-12. More than just stories with pictures, these books are genuinely great reads for entertainment value alone. Meridian is a tale of high fantasy involving a young girl who is faced with the decision of what to do with the strange new power that has found her. Ruse is a new, witty take on Sherlock Holmes.
"Child literacy is in a real crisis situation today. Kids just aren't reading. As a literacy coach, I wanted to find materials that would really engage the students," says Michelle Tregoning. Comics turned out to be an ideal solution.
I for one am amazed that people finally stopped and thought of a better idea to do something. Most people would just brush off this idea as nonsense and go back to trying to shove Shakespeare down student's throats. It would be their loss, though. For those educators who are open minded enough to try teaching with comic books, the results don't lie. .
