Imagine the cult comic book character Archie Andrews entering the classroom or the forever agile and amazing Spider Man taking school kids on a day out. Whoa! That would be a treat to the world of education and elementary learning.
There can be numerous similar instances where the youngsters would happily carry out their academic responsibilities in the lap of their favourite comic book characters. Sadly, such scenarios are far from reality. Never mind, we can still make things work differently.
The realm of academics is expanding with each passing day. From private tutors to the emergence of online assignment helpers, we have come a long way over the past decade. So, how about introducing comic book characters and other elements in school syllabus to entice students to take more interest in their academic chores?
Here are some exciting ideas that can transform the realm of conventional education for the better.
- Implement digital storytelling techniques
This is, by far, one of the most effective teaching methods that can be clubbed with comic books. Here’s how you can use comic strips in digital storytelling.
- You can harness the potential of the Make-Belief Comix tool to create beautiful comic strips with speech bubbles, props, backgrounds, objects and other elements.
- Encourage students to brush up their storytelling skills by creating interactive storyboards.
- Using tools such as StoryboardThat will allow students to choose from scenes, characters and shapes and use them in academic illustrations.
- With Comic Creator, students can design their comic strips. The tool offers designs, backgrounds, props and other components required for visually appealing illustrations.
- Brushing up reading and writing skills with comics
You can always aim to brush up the reading and writing skills of your students with comics providing narrative experiences. It would act as a scaffold to student analysis and theoretical understanding of a particular concept, lesson or other key areas in academics.
Reading and writing are the two pivotal elements when it comes to instilling the basics of knowledge acquisition among students. What else can be more engaging than introducing comics in reading and writing practices?
Here are some ideas that will come into play.
- Introduce Comic books on elementary science topics to help students engage and learn about the different facets of earth’s movement, the universe and other aspects.
- Interestingly, “Earth’s Movement – Created on Comic Life” by Rene Ann is one such comically enriched and well-illustrated book that offers a great visual representation of knowledge.
- Representing textbooks in the form of comics will allow students to leverage the potential of both words and images in acquiring knowledge on a particular subject matter.
- For example, Sean’s “I Wrote about Sharks” is a beautifully composed book that gives us a visually engaging description of sharks and their whereabouts.
- If such books are introduced in the classroom, the young minds would automatically engage through visualising, thinking, reading and creating at the same time.
- Teachers can also introduce graphic novels. At times, reading through the pages of long, convoluted literature chapters can get boring. Including visual relief in books will make it easier to remember character analysis, plot or conflict containing key information.
- Ask students to read and analyse the comic textbook thoroughly and urge them to jot down their understandings in bullet points.
- Introduce comics to teach moral lessons
The Superhero comic series such as Thor, the Avengers, Wolverine and Spiderman are strongly bound by the notion of moral awakening. Avengers taught us unity is strength. Spiderman taught us to be responsible, smile and keep serving others. So, the Superhero comics can teach students the basics of life and morality in an informative yet graphically enthralling way.
Here are some recommended superhero comics and characters you can introduce as points of reference while going about moral science lessons.
- Take references from the Batman comics and put across the message that “anyone can be a hero” with the right zeal, will power and expertise.
- Use the X-men series reference to teach “Be proud of who you are”. Be it racism or getting bullied for being different than others, mutants like Professor X and Magneto face such conflicts like real pros.
- You can always pick slants from here and teach how to confront the odds of racism, bullies and body shaming just like the X-men do.
- The Hulk has taught us to turn your flaws into good qualities. You can teach how to control anger and channel the negative energy into positivity instead.
You can bring more of such Superhero comics into play and help the young minds learn values of life and moralities with the caped crusaders guiding them through.
To End With,
Using comic books for students as a teaching tool can be a breakthrough in conventional classroom education. So, gear up for a better tomorrow and educate the younger generation with comical elements to pave the perfect avenue for reading and writing. To end with, in the words of Edward Said,
“I don’t remember when exactly I read my first comic book, but I do remember exactly how liberated and subversive I felt as a result.”
You can pretty well gauge its reach and effect. Cheers to that!
Author Bio
Charles Jones is an experienced academic assignment helper, working on behalf of the digital platform Essay Assignment Help. Also, he is a passionate travel blogger, soccer enthusiast and freelance photographer, coming from Adelaide, Australia.
