Encouraging children and teens to get hooked on reading, the rich and accessible content of comics, graphic novels and picture books is giving international schools the edge in literacy and literary skills. To kick off the new reading year, here are 10 reasons to subscribe to add compelling digital libraries of these to your collections: seven benefits for students and three for schools.
1 How they like to read best. The more comfortable students are, the more they will be motivated to read, including print versions. Digital comics, graphic novels and picture books get young readers reading, improving word and visual literacy, all on their preferred and familiar digital platform and device. Importantly, readers are given a diversity of genres and titles to choose from.
2 Improved word and visual literacy. Presenting visuals alongside words enables students to interpret both visual and linguistic information, not to mention the interplay of the two (consider manga) that can engage higher order thinking skills and increase accessibility to all learners. Reading comprehension becomes easier when students are engaged. Vocabulary is learned effortlessly.
3 All levels of reading engaged. While reading visual texts, students naturally employ skimming, scanning and close reading as they make sense of the story. They get a good idea of the big picture and the details of the story structure.
4 Learning to love learning. The collection provides input for learning of all school subjects, getting students to look forward to and have greater confidence in their lessons. Students become curious, critical, creative and imaginative thinkers.
5 Global intelligence. Since comics were first published, young readers have learnt about the world from them, giving them factual and cultural information in an entertaining way while expanding their creativity and imagination. Students apply critical thinking and problem solving that can extend to solving in their school subjects and to tough, global issues.
6 Vocabulary builder. The visually appealing texts make learning new words and expressions easier, as well as reinforcing vocabulary learnt in core subjects. In turn, reading promotes better production skills (speaking and writing).
7 Character and socio-emotional development. Reading opens not only the world but also makes young readers more aware of their own and others’ feelings, promoting confidence and social skills.
ComicsPlus is an unlimited, simultaneous access digital library with thousands of digital comics, graphic novels and manga from a variety of library-friendly publishers.
Right now, you can get a demo account for your school which will give you enough time to convince your school management of the richness of the content. Go to: https://digitalcontentassociates.com/school-libraries/
With Comics Plus, your readers can have 24/7, unlimited, simultaneous access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from a variety of library-friendly publishers.
And here are the top 3 reasons for school libraries to add digital to their collections:
8 More titles, less cost. Digital comics, graphic novels and picture books in the collection can be simultaneously accessed, allowing class and school-wide reading projects. Digital collections save on library space, duplicates are not needed and there are no torn or damaged books to replace.
9 Growing library. New titles in all genres are added over the year to feed the hungry readers and to keep the library a place of discovery and adventure.
10 Comics in the classroom. The collection is designed not just for young readers to enjoy on their own but also for classroom activities that enhance school subjects and whole-school events. Teachers will love the suggested activities and projects to leverage the books to motivate students to love their subjects.
DCA’s Barney Allan would love to tell you more about the digital collection. Click on the link above to request a demo account for your school. Happy reading!