Looks like some really nice course material. Had to set the font to the max to see the writing on the page properly when I got to the site.
Really liked the literature links.
In case you or Sam are interested, I checked for one of my favorite public domain books and there's a copy at Librivox:
http://librivox.org/flatland-a-romance-of-many-dimensions-by-edwin-abbott-abbott/
I think it's a great book for understanding certain math and physics concepts.
If Sam's into mysteries, some of the Charlie Chan comic books and movies are in the public domain:
http://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Charlie%20Chan%22
Not as old as Sherlock Holmes, but still good mysteries.
Enjoyed the comic book links you posted. Have you thought about getting him to do some fan fiction writing? Some members of the fan fiction community have done some interesting studies on how it improves writing capabilities. Maybe you can adapt it so that Sam can use a speech to text converter to capture his stories or he could just create a podcast. There was one fan fiction project for the blind that was creating tapes of 'zines at one point. So, I think moving from a written medium to a recorded one would work just fine. There's a public domain superheroes site at
http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Public_Domain_Super_Heroes Might give some ideas of characters to write about and some connections to other writers/readers. One of the nice things about fan fiction is that you have an audience and if you're dealing with other fans, they're typically (not always but typically) pretty nice about feedback. If there are enough fans for a particular fandom, you'll sometimes find groups for younger kids that let them interact with their peers (or you can always start one). I've also beta read/edited for teenagers wanting to learn how to write. So, sometimes it's a good opportunity for younger students to learn from older, more experienced authors. You do have to watch content and quality when dealing with fan fiction especially when reading other people's works. Story ratings can range quite a bit. Sometimes it's hard finding good quality content suitable for younger ages, but sometimes you find some great gems. I know of more than one author who went pro and got a start writing fan fiction. I just think it's a great way for students to learn the ins and outs of creating good stories. If you find a way to add in creating written works as well as podcasts, it's a great way to learn grammar and writing skills. Thought it was much more conducive for learning these types of things than a classroom. The feedback and editing tips from peers and more experienced readers can be very useful. However, it's also useful to see what your peers created and learn from their mistakes.
Best of luck with the site. Looks like some great resources and I hope others get some ideas from it as well.
Sincerely,
Laura
P.S.: I started a Free & Open Source Software group on Edmodo. If you want to get on and share your site with the group or if anyone wants to share some ideas on working with open resources there, that would be great. I have the impression few, if any, of the group members are that familiar with Open Source. Thought it might be a good opportunity to introduce some teachers to Open Source options. Starting the group made an interesting experiment and I'm still waiting to see how it turns out or how long to continue with it.