Use of Cartoons and Comics to Teach Algebra in Mathematics Classrooms 230 USE OF CARTOONS AND COMICS TO TEACH ALGEBRA IN MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS Tin Lam Toh National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Literature abounds in using cartoons and comics, instead of the usual textbooks to teach students reading. However, little study has been undertaken on using cartoons and comics to teach mathematics. It has always been a challenge for secondary school teachers to teach algebra to under-achieving students. In this note, the author proposes the use of cartoons and comics, which are usually enjoyed by school-going children, in teaching algebra. Feedback rom teachers showed that their students became more motivated to learn the subject through the use of cartoons and comics in algebra lessons. he teachers were able to engage their students in the process of learning elementary algebra. Introduction Modern education programs generally disadvantage less academically inclined students. his group of students are oten visual and kinesthetic learners (Amir & Subramanian, 2007; Rayneri & Gerber, 2003), while modern education programs are more theory-based than skill-based (Glass, 2003), compounding their disadvantage. hroughout this chapter, the term “under-achieving students” will be used to refer to those students whose performance in the national streaming examination is ranked among the lowest 30% of the entire cohort in Singapore. Teachers have been involved in various innovative ways of teaching mathematics to these under-achieving students (Lui, Toh & Chung, 2008).