Using Graphic Novels in the classroom

By Robynn Thorley Whittier –

Outline

  1. Introduction
  1. Definitions
  2. History
  3. Format
  1. Body
  1. Why use graphic novels in the classroom
  1. Graphic novels aren’t just for boys
  2. Graphic novels help reluctant readers
  3. Graphic novels can help ESL students
  4. Graphic novels can promote reading comprehension and literacy, as well as critical skills and thinking
  5. Graphic novels teach visual literacy
  6. Graphic novels can promote reading for pleasure
  1. My experience with graphic novels
  2. What the future hold
  1. Summary

Using Graphic Novels in the classroom

  1. Introduction:

“I cannot begin to tell you what it means to have librarians recognize the value of graphic novels as a tool for reading….Those of us who toil in this field are well aware of the suspicions with which our work is sometimes viewed, but these suspicions are unfounded. Comics do not cause illiteracy; they are literature. So, how to deal with parents and teachers who don’t like comics? The same as you would deal with any prejudice—with truth. …

I am not a teacher or a librarian, but I was a kid once, and comics taught me to read. So I can tell you this for sure: When a kid is looking at a graphic novel, he is reading.” (Jeff Smith, author of the Bone books)

  1. Definition of graphic novel:

“Arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea” (Eisner 5). 1985

“Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud 9). 1993

  1. History

Graphic novels came from comic books. The history of comic books hasn’t always been positive. The word “graphic” is sometimes misunderstood: violent, sexual, morbid, etc. Graphic refers to novels with images or pictures.

  1. Format
  1. Graphic novel is a format. Graphic novels come in all genres and for all ages.
  2. Six types of graphic novels, according to Stephen Weiner:
  1. superhero stories like Batman, Superman, X-Men;
  2. human interest stories that cover a broad range of subjects similar to traditional fiction;
  3. manga, which are Japanese graphic novels, an outgrowth of anime;
  4. adaptations or spin-offs of well-known characters, and
  5. classic literature such as The Hobbit or short stories by Edgar Allan Poe;
  6. satirical graphic novels that question political systems or social mores: and
  7. nonfiction graphic novels like biographies of famous people such as Anne Frank. (Weiner 2)
  1. Body
  1. How teachers are using graphic novels in the classroom
  1. Graphic novels aren’t just for boys
  1. Some say comics exist as a “forum for male power fantasies”
  2. Understandable when you know how boys learn – research shows that “Boys like to read short passages and prefer books with a lot of visuals,” (From Boys and Literacy, by Elizabeth Knowles and Martha Smith)
  3. Research shows boys take longer to develop their read skills, therefore they read less than girls do and they value reading less
  4. “Do not think of comic books or graphic novels as sub-literature” (Boys and Literacy, page xviii).
  5. Remember, there are super heroines: the Birds of Prey in Batman, four of the X-Men (Storm, Rogue, Shadow Cat and Jean Grey), Cat Woman foe of Batman’s.
  6. Publishes are creating more female protagonists. Manga create books about romance and relationships, popular with girls.
  7. Terry Thompson found you needto leave your ideas of what is masculine and feminine “at the door.” His students read it all.

References:

Foster, Katy. “Graphic Novels in Libraries: An Expert’s Opinion.” Library Media Connection, February 2004: 30-32.

Gorman, Michele. Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens. Worthington: Linworth, 2003.

Knowles, Elizabeth, and Martha Smith. Boys and Literacy: Practical Strategies for Librarians, Teachers, and Parents. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2007.

Thompson, Terry. Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach

Comprehension, 2-6. Portland: Stenhouse, 2008.

  1. Graphic novels help reluctant readers

a.Graphic novels offer conflict and fast paced action.

b.The combination of images and text capture interest.

c.Reading graphic novels/comic books can give them confidence.

d.Adding pictures to the words can help with visualization.

e.Some say the students will only look at the pictures. But pictures give word clues.

f.Librarians prove to us that graphic novels engage students.

References:

Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2003.

Brenner, Robin. “Graphic Novels 101: FAQ.” The Horn Book Magazine, 82 (2006): 125-126.

Cary, Stephen. Going Graphic: Comics at Work in the Multilingual Classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004.

Gorman, Michele. Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens. Worthington: Linworth, 2003.

Krashen, Stephen D. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. 2nd Ed. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2004.

Lyga, Allyson A. W. “Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers: Owly, Buzzboy, Pinky and Stinky. Who Are These Guys? And Why Aren’t They Ever On The Shelf?” School Library Journal 52 (2006): 56-61.

Paxton, Nina Marie. “Rounding Up Reluctant Readers.” Unpublished M.A.E., Pacific Lutheran University, 2003.

  1. Graphic novels can help ESL students
  1. ESL student can become overwhelmed with the amount of text.
  2. Popularity of graphic novels, as well as picture support, can help the student to continue reading while learning vocabulary.
  3. Stephen Cary learned to speak Spanish by reading Spanish comic books.
  4. Theorists claim you teach students a second language by giving them tasks and activities which requires them to speak and make changes during an actual conversation. Cary does this by using graphic novels and comic books with his students.

References:

Cary, Stephen. Going Graphic: Comics at Work in the Multilingual Classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004.

Thompson, Terry. Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach

Comprehension, 2-6. Portland: Stenhouse, 2008.

  1. Graphic novels can promote literacy and critical thinking.
  1. When a student reads a graphic novel, many comprehension and literary skills are used: understanding the sequence of events, interpreting non-verbal gestures, discovering the plot and inferences.
  2. Allyson Lyga, a reading specialist, uses graphic novels to create reading comprehension. She uses a wordless graphic novel to uncover plot, character analysis, dialogue and word choice.
  3. Brenda Pennella, tells that literacy makes sense when using graphic novels. Reading uses a series of skills: “questioning, visualizing, inferring, predicting, connecting and responding.” The students are given many clues for the story in the pictures. Vocabulary is supported in the text as well as opportunities for predicting strategies which bring in the higher level of learning.
  4. Some teachers think graphic novels “dumb down” content for the reader. Teresa Mendez found out in her Holocaust unit that students went from graphic novels to text-only novels.
  5. Tabitha Simmons tells us that “[g]raphic novel readers have learned to understand print, but can also decode facial and body expressions, the symbolic meanings of certain images and postures, metaphors and similes, and other social and literary nuances teenagers are mastering as they move from childhood to maturity” (page 12).
  6. Michele Gorman recognizes graphic novels can focus on issues important to teens.
  7. Two teachers in Calgary, Alberta, not only used graphic novels to teach literary terms, but had the students teach other teachers. (Council)
  8. Other teachers use graphic novels to teach literary terms like: allusion, satire, irony and parody. (Rudgers)
  9. Bucher and Manning describe reading graphic novels as being more difficult than text only novels. “…readers must not only decode the words and the illustrations but must also identify events between the visual sequences…”
  10. Christine Doran uses graphic novels to deconstruct familiar genres. (Irvin)
  11. With the popularity of using comic books and graphic novels to teach children, organizations like “the National Association of Comics Art Educators ( offer advice and curriculums for teachers who wish to use comic books and graphic novels in their classrooms”

References:

Bucher, Katherine T. and M. Lee Manning. “Bringing Graphic Novels into a School’s Curriculum.” The Clearing House, 78 (2004): 67-72.

Gorman, Michele. Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens. Worthington: Linworth, 2003.

---. “Graphic Novels Rule!; The Latest and Greatest Comics for Young Kids.” School Library Journal 54 (2008): 42-49.

Irvine, Colin C, ed. Teaching the Novel Across the Curriculum: A Handbook for Educators. Westport: Greenwood, 2008: 118-129.

Lyga, Allyson A. W. “Graphic Novels for (Really) Young Readers: Owly, Buzzboy, Pinky and Stinky. Who Are These Guys? And Why Aren’t They Ever On The Shelf?” School Library Journal 52 (2006): 56-61.

Mendez, Teresa. “Hamlet Too Hard? Try a Comic Book.” Online posting. October 12, 2004. Christian Science Monitor. October 8, 2008. <

Pennella, Brenda. “Graphic Novels: The POW!-er in the classroom!” 2004

BRODART 8 September 2008 <

perspective.htm>

Rudiger, Hollis Margaret. “Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101.” The Horn Book Magazine, 82 (2006): 126-135.

Simmons, Tabitha. “Comic Books in My Library? Online posting. Spring 2003. PNLA Quarterly, September 3, 2008. <

“Using Comics and Graphic novels in the Classroom.” Online posting. September 2005.

NCTW.org/The Council Chronicle. 19 August 2008

  1. Graphic novels teach visual literacy
  1. Some would say graphic novels diminish text but Hassett and Schieble suggest “…that literacy instruction must include attention to the multiple ways in which print and visual images work together. (62)
  2. Others are calling this “a new literacy skill that is vital in interacting with and succeeding in our multimedia world. ”(ALSC)
  3. James Paul Gee writes that “in the modern world, language is not the only important communicational system. Today images, symbols, graphs, diagrams, artifacts, and many other visual symbols are particularly significant.”

References:

ALSC Research and Development Committee. “Graphic Novels for Children: Should They Be Considered Literature?” Children and Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 4 (2006): 49-51.

Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning And Literacy. New York City: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Hassett, Dawnene D., and Melissa B. Schieble. “Finding Space and Time for the Visual in K-12 Literacy Instruction.” English Journal 97 (2007): 62-68.

  1. Graphic novels can promote reading for pleasure
  1. Nancy Atwell writes that we need to help students enjoy reading. The first thing she suggests is silent reading in the classroom, since research shows it boosts student’s fluency.
  2. Research would tell us what our students read is less important than how much they read. (Krashen x)
  3. Kylene Beers also states; “when we expand our notion of what makes an acceptable text to include…comic books, graphic novels…then we see that many of our nonreaders are indeed readers” (Beers 288-289).
  4. Teacher Teresa Mendez says that “[f]or the reluctant reader, [graphic novels] are absorbing.
  1. My experience with graphic novels
  1. I taught a unit on the graphic novel version of Tolkien’s The Hobbit to a seventh-grade Great Books class.
  1. Things that went well:
  1. The students love the novelty of a new format.
  2. A graphic novel equalized the class. The higher level students struggled with this new format. Their normal reading techniques didn’t work. The lower level students had pictures to help comprehension and could enter the class discussion.
  3. The students were exposed to literature they may not have read on their own.
  4. The students learned a bit about another culture which also included vocabulary uncommon to them.
  1. Things I needto change:
  1. Specific objective for using a graphic novel. (Mine was to introduce a graphic novel to students. This was okay the first time, but I need more.)
  2. Students needed instruction on how to read a comic book. (Terry Thompson’s book, ch. 4 is a great help.)
  3. The Hobbit was successful because of the advanced student readers in this class. The following semester this book was too difficult.
  4. Teaching this unit on either side of spring break did not work.
  5. Other teachers did not want to give the students any credit for reading this book. They finally won half credit. I need to work on other teachers seeing the value of a graphic novel.
  1. What the future holds:
  1. My goal is to use a graphic novel in my teaching every year.
  1. Next, I would like to use graphic novels in a literary circle.
  1. Objective: Introduce students to the different types of graphic novels.
  2. Books I would use (picked for diversity):
  1. Nausicaa – By Hayao Miyazaki (Manga)
  2. Rapunzel’s Revenge – By Shannon Hale (Fairy Tale)
  3. The Hobbit – By J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Dixon, and David Wenzel (Classic)
  4. Runaways By Brian K. Vaughan (Superhero)
  5. Redwall: The Graphic Novel By Brian Jacques (Animal characters)
  6. Arrival by Shaun Tan (Addresses immigration)
  7. Artemis Fowl By Eoin Colfer (Science Fiction)
  8. Star Wars (Pop Culture/Sci Fi)
  9. Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys (Mystery)
  1. Summary
  1. Graphic novels are a fun new tool to get students reading.
  2. There are many teachers using graphic novels in innovative ways.
  3. As teachers, we need to be cautious of the graphic novels we choose. Common sense for any text.
  4. Cost – you can do it for very little.
  5. It seems many educators across North America have discovered the uses of sequential art with text in their classrooms, for a variety of reasons. Graphic novels aren’t just for boys anymore. Many are written with female protagonists and with female interests. Graphic novels prove an effective tool for reluctant reader, for use with ESL students, to promote literacy and critical thinking, to help teach visual literacy and to read just for the fun of it.

Additional References:

Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Art. Tamarac: Poorhouse, 1985.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York City: HarperPerennial, 1993.

Additional graphic novels:

American Born Chinese

Anne Frank

Bone: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith (series)

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Superman: Peace on Earth by Alex Ross and Paul Dini