By Jason Nisavic (@Teaching_Humans) My fifth year as a teacher almost began with a strike. As the contract negotiation process between our union leaders and the administration stalled out, whispers of greed and corruption began to poison the community on both sides....

By Michael Gianfrancesco @tryingteacher Over the last 20 years or so, I’ve watched as a renaissance has taken place in the graphic novel medium. Educators and institutions have realized that these books can be a valuable resource for inroads to skills based lesson...

Written By: Patricia C McKissack and Frederick L McKissack Jr. Illustrated by: Randy Duburke REVIEW Each era of American history has a distinct color and feel to it – from the black and white clad puritans, to the green camo of the boys in World War II, to the...

  By Hannah Jorgensen REVIEW As I read Solution Squad, I had a vivid flashback to little 5th grade Hannah sitting in a classroom learning math. I can clearly remember learning about prime numbers and factors out of the workbooks that we always had to use and...

Between June and August of 2017, PCC conducted over 100 hours of programming at 24 different libraries, schools and community centers across the Front Range. Below are some of our favorite highlights (part 2) from our summer 2017 workshops. A tremendous thank you to...

This past summer, Pop Culture Classroom was hard at work developing and running pop-culture based workshops for diverse sites and students all throughout Colorado! These workshops are all part of PCC’s educational mission to inspire, engage and ignite students’ love...

For all but the most financially sound school districts, it can be a struggle to convince penny-pinching department chairs to make a heavy investment in a hard copy set of graphic novels or student-wide Comixology access. Luckily, the internet can still surprise with...

Educator’s Day 2017 Offers Exciting Opportunities for Teachers Over the past four years, Educator’s Day has given over 1,000 teachers, librarians, administrators and other educators the opportunity to receive a free Friday pass to Denver Comic Con. The goal of...

At this year’s Denver Comic Con, Pop Culture Classroom celebrated diversity, fun and education through a variety of exciting and unique programming. Our guests, volunteers, students, teachers and programmers created and participated in a fantastic line up of...

  By Michael Gianfrancesco   REVIEW The brainchild and signature book of author/artist Gene Yang, the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, the graphic novel American Born Chinese has won its share of awards. For students and educators alike,...

  By Michael Gianfrancesco   I have been doing this whole “teaching with comics” thing for nearly 15 years and I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with teachers all over the country. During panels and workshops, I find that I often hear (or...

  By Ronell Whitaker Written & Art by Raina Telgemeier Appropriate for grades: 2nd grade and up   Review When I first read Raina Telgemeier's 2010 graphic novel Smile, I had trouble relating. As a high school teacher, I couldn’t shake the fact that I was...

At Pop Culture Classroom, one of our primary missions is to show that comics and graphic novels are more than superheroes in tights and capes. We believe comics transcend their typical associations as "lowbrow" or "simplistic" texts, offering educators new and...

By Michael Gianfrancesco Brian K. Vaughan’s and Niko Henrichon’s 2006 masterpiece Pride of Baghdad combines fact and fiction in a way that not only creates an impactful and poignant story, but also makes serious and complex themes accessible to just about any reader....

Pop Culture Classroom’s Director of Education, Illya Kowalchuk, M. Ed., is speaking at TEDxCU! As part of the event, Mr. Kowalchuk will give a must-see talk about PCC’s innovative program LEAD With Comics, a unique project that educates inmates at jails and prisons...

  Written by Johnathon Hennessey Art by Aaron McConnell Appropriate for Grades: Middle School and up REVIEW In interesting times such as these, the laws and traditions of the United States are finding themselves hotly debated on a daily basis. Coming of age in...

By Michael Gianfrancesco, Comics Education Outreach "Comics are a gateway drug to literacy." —Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus, A Survivor's Tale When I first began teaching comics in the classroom over a dozen years ago, one of the most...

Calling all educators! Pop Culture Classroom is looking for participants for a focus group! PCC is starting the Graphic Novels Lending Library, a program where educators can rent graphic novel libraries for instructional purposes. We want graphic novels to be...

Written by Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis Art by Brooke Allen Appropriate for Grades: 3rd grade and up REVIEW Full disclosure: When I was growing up, I was obsessed with all things related to summer camp. I loved Meatballs, and Salute Your Shorts, and sadly, even...

Contributed by: Jason Nisavic - 2/1/2017 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...

We are excited to announce the 2017 winners of the first-ever Pop Culture Educator of the Year Award! Each of the award-winners below has demonstrated innovative use of pop culture as an educational tool in their classrooms to engage and inspire students, as well as...

Experience the Comix was created through a partnership between Illegal Pete’s and Pop Culture Classroom. Each year, tickets to Denver Comic Con—a program of Pop Culture Classroom—are given to middle and high school students with the goal of helping these students...

We are excited to announce the winners of the 3rd annual Pop Culture Classroom Kids’ Comics Contest! These young comic creators submitted excellent original works displaying the ideas of strength, justice, courage, and unity through exemplary storytelling and art. We...

LEAD (Literacy Education in Adult Detention) With Comics is Pop Culture Classroom’s ongoing project in jail systems and detention centers across Colorado. It’s a six week course for incarcerated adults, with the goal of helping to improve their literacy and art skills...