In order to effectively teach reading and writing, a teacher must have student engagement. Too many students are not engaged during literacy instruction and therefore are only skimming the surface, and not experimenting with various reading strategies. I would like to change the way teachers look at literacy instruction, especially for boys. Using this presentation, I want to inform teachers and parents that comic books and graphic novels are not just dumbed-down, disposable literature. Graphic novels possess a great deal of academic integrity and often engage the imagination more using panel to panel inferencing.
- 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 lightmaterials, such ascomic books,is the way manystudents
develop ataste 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. ...youtakeadvantage of thetoolsavailable. 59. Even
if it means using: 60. m e)so(an awe 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.
