This project focuses on another interest of mine: using high-quality comic literature to engage and teach literacy. Over the past ten years, I have worked with many boys who are reluctant readers and writers. In the 21st century, literacy means more than just reading novels and textbooks. Boys of the 21st century turn to other outlets, such as television, video games, and the Internet for pleasure. Any teacher can tell you that the boys in his or her class have an average of five to fifteen hours of screen time per week. There is obviously a high level of engagement for this media. However, if teachers can adequately harness this engagement to images and redirect it towards academic means, gaps in achievement will begin to disappear. Comic literature significantly and positively impacts the reading motivation, reading skills of students, and leads to reading of other modes such as novels, short stories, and poetry. Using visual media, such as comic books and graphic novels, as supplemental literacy instructional tools is a creative and innovative way to reach any struggling student and simultaneously challenge advanced readers with rigor. In completing this project, I learned that presentation design is essential for communicating one’s message to an audience. The more reluctant the audience, the more engaging the message must be. I tested this principle when delivering my presentation to colleagues. I truly believe that the effort I spent designing this presentation not only engaged my audience but opened up discussion around comic literature.
- 1. Does this everhappen to you
2. Ok, class. Today we are going to discuss... 3. Um......excuse
me. Can you please pay attention? 4. Am Iboringyou? 5. What is THAT
you are reading exactly? 6. Oh, a graphic novel. 7. Am I not
interesting enough? 8. Ever wonder how you can engage your students
through reading? 9. Especially your boys? 10. Dresslikethis: 11.
Just kidding! 12. There is a way to engageALL of your students. 13.
Use Graphic Novels! 14. Interested???? 15. I thought so. 16.
Youreprobablywondering... 17. Why graphic novels? 18. ??Arent
graphic novels and comics the same thing? 19. Graphic novels are a
format that usessequential art to tell a story. 20. Will
Eisnerpopularizedthe term afterhe published: 21. Comics are...a
magazine devoted to comic strips. 22. Ok, but why use them 23.
"Reading light materials,such as comic books,is the way many
studentsdevelop a taste for reading."(Krashen, 2004) 24. Kids LOVE
them! 25. They motivateboys to read. 26. Graphic novels contain20%
MORE rare vocabularythan a typical chapter book. (Krashen, 1993)
27. They help reluctant readers,well....start reading! 28. Graphic
novelscontain 40% MOREvocabulary than atypical conversationbetween
a child andan adult. (Krashen, 1993) 29. But aregraphicnovels
realbooks? 30. Do they actually count as reading? 31. YES!!! 32.
All reading isgood reading. 33. But arent graphic novels only about
superheroes? 34. Graphic novels havea variety of themes.For
example... 35. &have characters traveling to different worlds.
36. Struggling to t in? 37. Read! 38. Anun immi ivegforrsa rantbel
se s lon gin arch g. 39. "...comics are just assophisticated as
otherforms of literature, andchildren benet fromreading them at
leastas much as they dofrom reading othertypes of books..."(Science
Daily, 2009) 40. Ok, I get it!You LOVE graphic novels. 41. wh atB
ut,the ay?es h s do se arcre 42. A 1992 study of morethan
200,000students... 43. ...from 32 countries... 44. ...revealed that
45. ...revealed thatFinland 46. has a 99% literacy rate! 47. They
also have the highest proportionof comic book reading students. 48.
nearly 60%! 49. w ! oW 50. Needmore? 51. The U.S. Military Academy
at West Point... 52. requires that ALL cadets read... 53. ...before
they graduate.(Foroohar, 2005) 54. Maybe I should rethinkmy
literacy instruction. 55. Im not saying youshould replaceEVERYTHING
withgraphic novels. 56. Just consider it another tool. 57. When
teaching... 58. ...you take advantageof the tools available. 59.
Even if it means using... 60. m e)so( an a we Graphic Novel! 61.
Works Cited:Brunnel, V., & Linnakyla, P. (1994). Swedish
speakers literacy in the Finnish society. Journal of Reading,
37(5), pp. 368-375.Foroohar, R. (2005, August 25) Comic Relief.
Newsweek, 146(8), 50-54. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.comKrashen, Stephen D. 2004. The Power of
Reading: Insights from the Research. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.Krashen, Stephen D. 1993. The Power of Reading.
Englewood: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.McCloud, S. (2006). Making
Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga andGraphic Novels.
New York: Harper.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009,
November 5). For Improving Early Literacy, Reading Comics Is No
Childs Play. Science Daily. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedaily.com 62. Images Cited:Corlett, M.L., Fine,
R.E., & Lichenstein, R. (2002). The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein:
A Catalogue Raisonne 1948-1997. Hudson Hills Press.Eisner, Will. A
Contract with God And Other Tenement Stories. W.W. Norton &
Company, 2006.Kibuishi, Kazu. The Stonekeeper (Amulet, Book 1).
GRAPHIX, 2008.Moore, Alan. The Watchmen. DC Comics, 1995.Tan,
Shaun. The Arrival. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007.Telgemeier, Raina.
Smile. GRAPHIX, 2010.Tennapel, Doug. Ghostopolis. GRAPHIX, 2010.All
other images are care of Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Harvey
Comics Creative Commons Licensing.
