It’s Official!!!

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Reading With Pictures is proud to announce that we have received our official 501(c)3 non-profit status from the government. All donations to our organization are now tax deductible, and we can apply for major grants. There are many new and meaningful relationships to be forged, so please, spread the word. You never know who’s listening!

If you’d like to be part of our story,  here’s how you can participate:

  1. Send proven lesson plans, intriguing articles and testimonials on your experience with comics in the classroom.
  2. Volunteer to assist with developing and importing resources to our website.
  3. Make a financial donation.
 

 

 

COMICS-IN-EDUCATION 2.0: TIME TO LEVEL UP

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The Graphic Classroom
By Chris Wilson
Editor-in-Geek

The Graphic Classroom will be changing soon as we have forged a partnership with the national non-profit comics-in-education agency, Reading With Pictures. Josh Elder, award-wining graphic novelist and nationally syndicated cartoonist, founded RWP in 2009 to revolutionize the role of comics in education.

Sound familiar?

That is the same goal as The Graphic Classroom and TGC is not alone in that endeavor. There are many experts out there fighting to change the way education approaches reading, writing and discovery. I consider many of them friends. Our efforts, all our efforts, can at times feel very fragmented and disjointed –– worker bees writing, speaking, influencing educators to significantly impact students lives using comics as a tool in the teacher’s arsenal, but doing so more independently than collectively, at least most of the time.

This fragmentation is changing. Those of us in the movement are talking, sharing, and collaborating on books and speaking engagements. We are becoming friends. Through those friendships, it is becoming apparent that we must become more united in our efforts and supports. It’s time for comics-in-education experts to level up and meld our efforts more officially than tangentially.

After all, there are those who oppose our efforts, despite the academic research demonstrating that comics significantly and positively impact the reading motivation, reading skills of students and leads to reading of other modes such as novels, short stories, poetry and the like. As I have stated before:

“Not reading never leads to reading. Reading leads to reading.”

I look forward to forging more friendships and partnerships so we can stand united behind what we know changes the lives of our students and prepares the for the 21st century. I see that vision coming true and accepted Elder’s invitation to partner with Reading With Pictures. More details on the changes are on the way in January and February. Stay tuned and stay strong. Your willingness to use comics to help your students is research based, innovative, exciting, and beautiful.

The Graphic Classroom and Reading With Pictures stand with you.

Busy Elves (2009 to RWP 2.0)

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Since our founding in 2009, Reading with Pictures has been at the forefront of the educational comics movement.

We have visited hundreds of schools, libraries, universities, conferences and conventions across the country offering workshops, professional development seminars and consulting on best practices. We created critically acclaimed classroom content with our Reading With Pictures Anthology. Now we’ve taken the final steps in becoming a full-fledged non-profit organization by submitting our 501(c)3 application and hiring Laura Harper, an experienced non-profit professional, as our Executive Director.

In early 2012, we’re launching the next major phase of Reading With Pictures, and we invite you to be a part of it. We call it RWP 2.0, and the focus will be on creating a central hub of online dialogue and resources for educators, publishers, academics, cartoonists and parents. This includes:

  1. Developing a discussion board hosted on RWP’s website
  2. Building online databases that aggregate white papers and academic research abstracts as well as lesson plans and curriculum guides, book reviews, recommended reading lists and links to external resources.
  3. Taking what we did in the Reading With Pictures Anthology to the next level and laying the groundwork for a game-changing study conducted by researchers at Northwestern University.

And we’re very proud to announce our formal partnership with Chris Wilson of The Graphic Classroom, Chris will be bringing his energy, expertise and enthusiasm to Reading With Pictures where he will be tasked with overseeing all our educator resources. We couldn’t be more excited to have Chris on the team, and we know you’re going to feel the same once you see him in action! 

Will you be part of our story? Here’s how you can participate:

  1. Send proven lesson plans, intriguing articles and testimonials on your experience with comics in the classroom.
  2. Volunteer to assist with developing and importing resources to our website.
  3. Make a financial donation.
All donations will be retroactively tax deductible upon approval in early 2012.

Together we will spark an education revolution. Thank you for your contribution and happy holidays!

Sincerely,
Josh Elder
President and Founder

 

Reviews for Reading with Pictures

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“It’s hard to find quality kid-friendly titles that are as delightful to read as this one is.”
- Jeff Marsick, Newsarama

A lot of reviews have gone up for the Reading with Pictures anthology in the first year it’s been available. The book has sold out in the direct market, but still has some distribution through amazon.com and at comic conventions with some of the contributors.

The organization has been featured in Wired, Publishers Weekly, iFanboy, G4, and many more news sites.

The book was called one of Chicago’s most innovative ideas by Time Out Chicago, and continues to generate press and reviews.

The book makes a great gift for teachers, librarians, parents, and kids of all ages. The suggested reader level is 7-12, and the content is appropriate for all ages.

With Volume 2 in the works and many more projects in the pipeline, be sure to check out what everyone’s talking about.

“an excellent classroom accessory.”
- Greg Baldino, BleedingCool

Kollision Con 2011

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RWP contributors Russell Lissau (Shrek, Strawberry Shortcake, and Trevor Mueller (Junkyard Chase, Albert the Alien) will be attending Kollision Con on November 18-20, in St Charles, IL.

They will be providing a series of panels throughout the weekend, as well as selling their books in artist alley.

Trevor’s Panel Schedule:

FRIDAY:
Making Webcomics – 10-11pm

SATURDAY:
Reading with Pictures – 3-4pm
An Evening with Trevor Mueller – 10-11pm

Russell’s Panel Schedule:

SATURDAY:
Breaking into Comics – 9-10pm

SUNDAY:
Writing Comics –A Q&A: 2-3pm

Be sure to swing by the show and talk to these amazing creators about their latest projects.

RWP Origins – TEDx PeachTree – Josh Elder

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As we continue to transfer over a lot of the content from the old site to this new site, wanted to provide a series of “origin stories” for Reading with Pictures.

Josh Elder, founder of RWP, was speaking about comics in the classroom long before the organization became a non-profit. Over the course of the next week or so, we will be updating the media section of the site with some of the informational videos and interviews the board members have given about RWP.

Below is one of the first speeches Josh gave about the foundations of what would become Reading with Pictures at the December 4, 2009 TEDx PeachTree event, titled: What if we brought comic books into the classroom, and it changed everything?


LINK

About TEDx, x=independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.*
(*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Reading with Pictures 2.0

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Reading with Pictures 2.0 (Updated 10/28/11)

Thanks for visiting! We have much in store for the coming new year, and are diligently working towards a redesign and launch of a brand new interactive website. We are calling this launch RWP 2.0.

This site will become a place to network with teachers, librarians, school administrators, parents, and other interested parties. We hope that it will be the go to place for all discussions on reading with pictures including curriculum ideas, suggested reading, student experience, testimonials, lesson plans, etc.

We intend to make this site a clearinghouse of resources on the subject of comics in the classroom including white papers, research, lesson plans, curriculum guides and more. You will be key in making this site a success and we invite you to return often to view our progress.

-Laura Harper, Executive Director