ARTICLE: How I use comic books as a learning tool in my social studies classroom

[Ryan Goble]

From PBS' teachers' lounge.

A couple of years ago, I decided to share a Spider-Man comic with a young African-American teen with whom I was struggling to connect. In that issue, Peter Parker was replaced with Miles Morales — a character who looked like my student. He asked if he could borrow the comic which gave us a something to talk about together. I began to regularly share each new issue and his engagement, both in the class and with me, changed dramatically. I began to see how comic books could not only convey historical topics, but also help students to see themselves in our lessons.

Later, as I completed my master’s program in reading, class discussions often focused on expert claims that boys don’t read. Having been a boy myself, I remember often not wanting to read the assigned books. It wasn’t until I was inspired by the words of Pulitzer Prize author, Art Spiegelman, writer of the graphic novels “Maus,” who said, “Comics are a gateway drug to literacy” that I started to think how I could teach social studies using comics.

Full article HERE.