Graphic Novels in the Classroom

The use of graphic novels in the classroom has become a more loudly talked about topic. There are so many different opinions on using them or not and how to use them in the classroom. In looking for something to write about, I found an article from the NCTE - the National Council of Teachers of English - that talked about people who use graphic novels and what they could be used for. I found that I agreed with their opening statement on the fact that comics were considered something more for young children or dare I say it "nerds/geeks" and not something for classroom curriculum in secondary education. I have never really thought too hard about using graphic novels in the classroom, but then I had remembered that in my freshman history class we used graphic novels in the classroom and as an assignment, we had to make our own comic strip. This was used during the time that we were discussing Greek mythology. It was different and interesting and a new way of doing things and expressing our ideas or thought processes in a different way. 

There was a certain sentence that was in this article that really stood out to me about the concept of respect. "She also urges teachers to respect students’ enjoyment of comics and graphic novels and to view them not as “instructional materials” but as “tools for bridging” in- and out-of-school literacy experiences." Having respect and understanding for how our students connect to literature is important because not all of the student will connect to novels or poetry or to the same things you connected to. This saying says how we as teachers need to respect the students who enjoy graphic novels because they are still forms of literature that our students are reading on their own and connecting to outside of the classroom.

This article also goes over just a few different things that you could teach using graphic novels, such as, the punctuation of dialogue, paragraphing - beginning, middle and end of a story, and outlining. The visual aspect of the graphic novels can help students see the beginning middle and end and see the use of dialogue verses narration. This provides a visual for students to see what they are being taught and see it differently than a dialogue within a novel. 

Overall, it was interesting to me to even find an article by the NCTE that included something about using graphic novels in the classroom. The fact that this article not only talks up the use of graphic novels in the classroom but it also talks about different ideas and uses for them within a classroom that ties to lessons found within a classroom. 

I do love the visual aspect and showing students concepts in a visual way and in the future might even incorporate graphic novels myself in a classroom. 

On a completely separate note, this article was last edited 9 years ago. So as relevant as this topic is today, it has been talked about for almost ten years now. Maybe it's time to actually do something with this knowledge. 

http://www.ncte.org/magazine/archives/122031