In fact my book Awesome Alphabets was the direct result of an idea some 5th graders gave me. AA is a book that shows kids how to do really cool lettering. It was the result of some work I was doing as the Author in Residence at a school. Ginny - I teach 8th grade reading, English and Civics. Ginny - I have illustrated the rights listed in the Bill of Rights.
Cartoons are great for anything that has to do with language.
Most people think that cartoonist have to be good artists, but that's not true. Scott Adams can't draw a lick, but he's a brilliant writer. Because they only have a little caption balloon in which to write. Try taking cartoons from the newspaper and cutting off the captions, then have your students write their own captions. That keeps them busy reading Newsweek.