After visiting 1,000 Maryland classrooms, State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick noticed a trend: comic books peeking out of book bags and tucked under textbooks.
Noticing how enthusiastic young children were about reading them, Grasmick said she thought, “Why is there any reluctance to talk about comic books?” as a learning tool.
Maryland Comics in the Classroom was born, and last year comics were used in third- and fourth-grade classrooms in eight schools statewide, including schools in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties.
Grasmick announced Thursday she is expanding the program to 200 schools, and students in grades five through eight will also use the comics. The state education department will work with Disney Publishing Worldwide and Diamond Comic Distributors to develop additional materials.
“We don?t replace the reading materials. This is an enhancement,” Grasmick said.
Initial reviews of the program show positive results. In a study of the program conducted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, nearly 70 percent of the students involved in the program said it helped them become better readers.
According to the study, researchers said they could not “definitively say” the program increased students? motivation to read, but they concluded students found it motivating.
“It?s like you are watching a show, but you?re with the characters,” said Frank Jiogo, a fifth-grader at George D. Lisby Elementary School at Hillsdale in Aberdeen.
Victoria French, a fourth-grader at George D. Lisby Elementary, said her favorite comic story featured Donald Duck using a time machine.
“[The comics] have lots of detail in them, and you feel like you are right there,” she said.
And teachers say the program has helped students develop crucial creative skills.
Tara Sample, a third-grade teacher at George D. Lisby Elementary, said using the comic books has helped her students learn vocabulary, idioms and character development.
“They are excited. You don?t have to say, ?let?s read,? ” Sample said.
