Thinking about Graphic Novels....

The discussion of graphic novels vs. chapter books was introduced earlier this year within my own school district when there was an article in the Saint Pau Pioneer Press regarding some eighth grade teachers at Hazel Park Middle school in Saint Paul using graphic novels as part of their English curriculum. The response online seemed evenly split with those praising the teachers for being innovative or defending the graphic novel or comic book genre as legitmate forms of literature, while others denouce the teachers as dumbing down the curriculum.

To be quite honest, I actually sit right in the middle of the issue. I have read and seen some great graphic novels which teach historical information in context that is understood by many students, unlike many of the textbooks that we present to them. At the same time, I also can see where some may have legitmate fears about the literacy of our students. Studies and surveys have been done over the past decade which indicate a decline in the readership of our students. I remember devouring books as a kid and even into high school. In fact, I would get in trouble for reading a book in class. Now many of my student boast that they hate to read, or don't like reading at all, which is scary, considering their lack of creativity, vocabulary, comprehension of grammar reflect this. When I assign reading for my history and economics classes, I have to assign some sort of assignment or questions that they must complete in order for them to read. I have found out the hard way that when I ask my students to just read, for the sake of having foundational information for our class discussion, they will not do it if there is no incentive.

I do not blame their langauge arts teachers, who fight the daily battle to have students do what they "hate" to do when getting them to reading classical or modern-day works. Working in an urban district, I know firsthand the challenges they face with the vast amount of difference in students' reading ability. I have personally have had kids who tested at reading the college level in the same class with those whom read at the 3rd grade level in a 10th grade class. Textbooks for some of the lower level readers defeats them and they become disengaged. For those types of audiences, at some point in your class, you would need to have something that they could engage in together. Graphic novels could be used as a way to bridge these gaps.

Little did I know, that I would be directly affected by this issue. I have a nine-year old goddaughter, Marisol, whom unlike her older sisters, is not an avid reader. When her mother takes her to the library, Marisol heads straight to the graphic novel section and her mother actually has to suggest chapter books for her to read,unlike her older daugthers who would choose their own. Her teachers express concern that Marisol is very bright, but not pushing herself when it comes to reading. Before I knew about this assignment, I was at their house in the evening and viewed the novels Marisol checked out that week. I did see where her teachers would be concerned as the dialogue was limited between the characters, and gives the child visuals rather that having them create their own within their imagination. So at the same time, I do grapple with some of the auguments posted by those who worry about the literacy of our students. I constantly run into the battle where students just want the readings to be short and simple and the answers right in front of them.

However, the creation of the comic book or graphic novel, I feel is quite rigorous and a good way for students to use their creative and literacy skills. There is much to consider, in terms of dialogue, setting the scene and connecting the slides together that takes time and skill. I have my seniors create comic books for concepts in economics that we study and they have to be portrayed in within a comic book storyline format. The readwritethink webpage that we were introduced to with this assignment I found to be very user friendly and I will be using when I introduce the comic book assignment later this trimester. I have struggled with the steps and storyboard process with them, but I think introducing this page to my students will have them consider more aspects of the comic book that they should incorporate into their projects and offer some guidance. We also have a ComicLife program in our Mac Lab that allows students to create comic books that may not be artistically inclined. Where was this when I struggled to do my own high school comic book assignment?