http://readwritethink.org/professional-development/professional-library/trading-cards-comic-strips-20965.html
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us / About Us
Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.
Home › Professional Development › Professional Library
Book
Trading Cards to Comic Strips: Popular Culture Texts and Literacy Learning in Grades K-8
by Shelley Hong Xu
Grades | K – 8 |
Type | Book |
Pages | 208 |
Published | January 2005 |
Publisher | ![]() |
This book is out of print, but may be found at a local library.
Browse other ILA books
Learn more about ILA membership

![]() |
Description |
Incorporating popular culture texts in the classroom can motivate students—particularly reluctant or struggling readers. This resource gives you everything you need to use television, movies, video games, music, magazines, and other media to enhance students' literacy learning.
You'll find a balance of research, theory, and practice, along with numerous classroom teaching ideas and student work samples. Appendices include reproducibles and annotated resources on popular culture texts.
Xu S.H., Perkins, R.S., & Zunich, L.O. (2005). Trading cards to comic strips: Popular culture texts and literacy learning in grades K–8. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Trading Information about Minerals Through Trading Cards
Using the free Trading Cards Mobile App, students create trading cards to share properties of various minerals with their classmates and connect the use of minerals to their own lives.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Gabbing About Garfield: Conversing About Texts With Comic Creator
Students will definitely get animated as they discuss comics' features and designs, and they're sure to enjoy the lesson's punch line assignment: creating a comic strip of their own.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Planning Story Characters Using Interactive Trading Cards
Students use trading cards to examine fictional characters in a story.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Sharing Favorite Books Using Interactive Character Trading Cards
Using selected characters from a text of their choice, students put their literary analysis skills to work by creating fictional character trading cards.
Grades K – 2 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Creating a Class Pattern Book With Popular Culture Characters
Students hit the hallways with their favorite pop culture characters in this lesson to photograph the characters in various situations and then write about the pictures in a pattern-book structure.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Play Ball! Encouraging Critical Thinking Through Baseball Questions
Cooperation and critical thinking are the name of the game as students use baseball facts they find online to create trivia questions for a class Jeopardy game.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Is Superman Really All That Super? Critically Exploring Superheroes
What makes a superhero super? By comparing popular culture superheroes with heroic characters in children's literature, students learn to think critically about character traits, and consider how cultural perspectives influence the kinds of heroes we choose.
Grades 2 – 4 | Lesson Plan
Engaging With Cause-and-Effect Relationships Through Creating Comic Strips
Students demonstrate their knowledge of cause-and-effect relationships by creating original comic strips and sharing their completed work in an oral presentation format.
Grades 5 – 6 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Introducing Basic Media Literacy Education Skills with Greeting Cards
In this lesson, students examine and create holiday/event cards, analyze holiday elements, and create their own. The activities help students focus on the reasons for composing messages as they do.