Comic Book Classroom offers a dynamic and constantly evolving graphic literature creation program. Our program is taught by professionals working in the comic book and educational sectors.

Comic Book Classroom achieves this by studying comics through a serious literary and artistic perspective in order to show students, parents and schools that comic art combined with story-telling is a valid form of literature. After discussing how art and words work together to tell a story, the students create a comic of their own. Upon completion of the program, we provide each student with a published copy of a class anthology and a graduation certificate.

By participating in our programs, students of Comic Book Classroom will:

See reading as entertainment first –
We create an engagement with text through activities with an emphasis on reading first. We then create games and activities related to elements of the text which engage its specific content.

Provide an introduction to literature (terminology and use) –
We teach important terms to know and define concepts for broader reading such as symbol, metaphor, simile, plot, character, spectacle and dialogue.

Provide an introduction to the comic arts (terminology and use) –
We cover how to talk about and read images and define basic terms and language pertaining to sequential art such as: line, color, emphasis, frame, dialogue and image ordering. We also cover the basics and practice of drawing, painting, and nonverbal expression.

Obtain language learning skills –
We focus on vocabulary building by going beyond simple terms and concepts and use the actual language of the text(s) being acquired and incorporate them into daily usage.

Provide stated, measurable learning outcomes –
We help students with the ability to read at their current grade level or higher by:

• Explaining the plot, setting and characterizations of the story and anticipate movements of a story appropriate to context cues.
• Using basic terms to describe artwork and discuss it beyond simple responses.
• Conceptualizing the connections between words and pictures in sequential storytelling by creating basic versions of their own comics, either in group or individual settings.
• Providing understanding of figurative concepts such as metaphor, simile and symbolism as it relates to storytelling.
• Defining how a text is conceptually situated next to or near another text in some meaningful way. We help them recognize thematic, symbolic, structural, character or referential connections.