This Saturday is Free Comic Day, which means that if you have a comic book store in your area, they will probably have a boatload of free comics to give you when you walk in the door. No catch. Just free comics. Now, to be honest, they’re not usually the best comics out there, and often, they have short story lines and agonizing cliffhangers. BUT, for teachers, it is a way to get free comics for your classroom and most stores will sort them out for appropriateness of age level (mine does, anyway).

Last year, I grabbed about 25 comics and used them for lessons around figurative language and use of dialogue with my sixth graders. They ate them up!

The Free Comic Book day is another reminder that graphics and words can be a powerful incentive for young readers. (see The Graphic Classroom for reviews on graphic novels for the classroom — I am one of the reviewers there, keeping a focus on appropriateness for age levels).

And, just to make it exciting, here is Hugh Jackman in support of comics (and also promoting the Wolverine movie, of course, so really, just watch the first 30 seconds or so if you are not interested in the movie):

Peace (in free comics!),
Kevin