Graphic novels

For this weeks blog post I read “Teaching With Graphic Novels,” an article I found through Edudemic. The article discusses different reasons why utilizing graphic novels in the classroom can be beneficial for students as well as insight into how teachers can begin to incorporate graphic novels in their classrooms. One reason for the use of graphic novels in the classroom that the article touched on was that graphic novels are essentially the same as any other assigned novel in a classroom, the only difference is that they utilize panels and images to further the story. With that in mind, I think that it is important to note that because graphic novels are essentially the same as traditional novels, in terms of content rather than format, they can and should be utilized in classrooms in order to give our students more variety in reading materials and in order to help meet the needs and interests of our students. The article also notes that graphic novels may be a good way to reach students who are not interested in traditional texts or students who may be seen as poor readers; when we give our students the option to read texts that are well written, have a unique style of storytelling, are visually exciting, and should do the same thing as a traditional text we are ensuring that our students have the best means to become proficient readers and meet the educational goals set before them.

I never had the opportunity to read graphic novels in any of my English classes while I was in middle school or high school; I can’t say for sure whether reading graphic novels in those classes would have changed anything for me, but I can think of some of my friends or former classmates who would have benefited from reading graphic novels rather than traditional texts. I can say that I am definitely on board for using graphic novels in the classroom; I believe that being able to use as a wide variety of reading materials in the classroom as well as providing students with reading materials that will be interesting to them will be a huge benefit in the facilitation of student learning and possibly of increased recreational reading. I don’t know how I will use graphic novels in my classroom yet or even if I’ll try to incorporate them in my first few years of teaching, but I do know that I want to be able to give my students the best options to get them to achieve and I think that includes utilizing all kinds of texts.

Article link:
http://www.edudemic.com/teaching-graphic-novels/