Contributed by: Jason Nisavic
Pop Culture Classroom is excited and proud to announce its newest program, Comics Education Outreach! Organized and managed by veteran teachers from across the United States, Comics Education Outreach (CEO) is dedicated to providing innovative and practical resources that help educators successfully incorporate comics and graphic novels into their classrooms. We offer professional development, lesson guides, comic/graphic novel reviews, and the CEO Lending Library. We believe that comics are more than just a gateway to literacy; they can be the vehicle for deeper engagement.
Who Are We?
The Comics Education Outreach (CEO) is made up of a group of veteran teachers who are passionate about the educational value of graphic novels and comics. In addition, the CEO works with a growing network of educators from all subject areas and varied backgrounds.
What Do We Do?
Every day, teachers from all grade levels and subject areas are discovering new ways to make their classrooms more engaging with comics. With a rapidly growing market for graphic works, time-stressed educators can have trouble sifting out useful material from the rest. To help out with this effort, CEO promotes this new approach to literacy in multiple ways:
- We develop graphic novel & comic reviews across the spectrum of subjects and grade levels to bring attention to the educational potential of these unique texts.
- We share stories of our successes and failures using graphic works in the classroom, helping you to start strong and avoid common mistakes.
- We host panels and workshops at comic and educational conventions across the United States, joining together with other educators, artists, publishers, and authors to spread the word about the teaching and learning potential graphic texts offer.
- Most excitingly, we’re running a graphic novel/comics lending library of several popular graphic novels — complete with lesson plans! Starting in April 2017, classrooms anywhere in the country can apply to borrow both classroom sets (30 copies) and smaller “Lit Circle” collections (7 copies).
The available titles in April 2017 include:
- The Lumberjanes
- March
- Ghost/Sisters/Smile
- Persepolis
- The US Constitution: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
- American Born Chinese
How Can I Learn More?
Connect with us on Twitter, to learn about how you can use and discuss comics in the classroom!
Michael Gianfrancesco – @tryingteacher
Eric Kallenborn – @comics_teacher
Ronell Whitaker – @MisterWhitaker
Jason Nisavic – @Teaching_Humans
In addition, CEO is continually searching for exciting artistic works that have educational value and educators from all subjects and backgrounds. For any questions or suggestions, please email info@popcultureclassroom.org.