To start in a seemingly off-topic place: I like to tell my students that we study Shakespeare in an adapted format more often than we study Shakespeare in his original, intended medium. Shakespeare intended his…
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5 Ways to Teach Young Children With Comics
My earliest memories of holding a pencil were as a 4-year-old, drawing the same stick figure character on recycled computer paper from my dad’s office (probably with proprietary company secrets on them). I was drawing…
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3 Ways to Use Comics & Superheroes to Teach Social Studies
All educators need to be teachers of reading, no matter their class level or subject area. As comics, graphic novels, and superhero movies become increasingly more popular, they become an easy way to engage students…
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Five Empowered Women in Pop Culture
The term “strong female character” gets tossed around so often, but many representations of women in media aren’t necessarily all that progressive or empowering. Women aren’t as frequently represented as men, either: Looking at statistics…
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Game Design for Adults
Beginning in April, Pop Culture Classroom is offering a variety of pop culture themed workshops, designed for a number of age groups (and even a few directed at adults). And speaking of adults, this is…
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Is Pop Culture in the Classroom a Path to Autism Acceptance?
I am sure that most of you by now have heard the term “autism awareness” and you probably know that there is a national autism awareness month every April. It was so declared by the…
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Free Drop-In Times for Students!
Beginning this month, Pop Culture Classroom is offering FREE drop-in times in our new classroom! These drop-ins are a time for students, ages 8-18, to come over to Pop Culture Classroom, hang out and create…
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Are There STEM Comics for High School?
As educators begin to embrace comic books, graphic novels and other aspects of pop-culture as teaching tools, we often get the question about whether any of these materials are useful for teaching STEM. The answer…
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Five Graphic Novels with Social Critique
In the court of the king, only the fool was free to point out His Royal Folly. The jester who juggled and joked for the amusement of the rich and powerful could also point out…
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Six Graphic Novels that Tackle Racism
At Pop Culture Classroom, we know the challenges of discussing social issues with your students in a way that keeps them engaged. As we’ve said before, engagement is one of the key ways that graphic…
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Review of Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
Synopsis Being the oldest child of two and having witnessed the death of her father at a young age, Emily Hayes is accustomed to taking on the responsibilities that go along with taking care of…
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Five Great Graphic Novels for Science
COMICS IN THE CLASSROOM Comics aren’t just for entertainment and casual reading. As you’ve seen in previous articles on this site, they can also be great teaching tools. I’m sure we all remember the cartoons…
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PCC and KidLit TV Team Up to Unveil Finalists for EGL Awards 2018!
Friends, mark your calendars and be sure to visit and bookmark https://kidlit.tv/ExcellenceInGraphicLiteratureAwards2018 so you know exactly where to go on the big day! We’re excited to announce that Pop Culture Classroom has partnered…
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How Can I Start Teaching Comics to Kids?
Growing up, I envied the kids who were allowed to read comics and graphic novels. “How cool is that super-secret reading skill?”, I thought to myself. Since neither my teachers nor my parents valued comics,…