Schools superintendent endorses Mickey, Donald

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck could become regulars in elementary and middle school classrooms: Maryland’s top educator on Thursday encouraged teachers to use comic books to inspire students to read.

The state worked with Disney Publishing Worldwide and its educational division last year on a pilot project in eight third-grade classrooms. Disney took Maryland’s reading standards and created comics-based lesson plans, incorporating skills such as how to understand plot and character.

The students loved it, educators said.

“Reading is such an important activity for all children, and using comic-book-related lessons offers teachers an important new tool to draw students into the world of words,” said state Supt. Nancy S. Grasmick. “This project enhances other work ... in the reading class.”

Comic books and graphic novels should not replace other forms of literature, but they can be an entry point for some reluctant readers, Grasmick said.

Most of the participating teachers liked the program too, said Susan Sonnenschein, a psychology professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who helped evaluate the program. Researchers found that 80% of the teachers wanted to continue using it in some form.