Graphic Novels in the Classroom

     I personally do not have any experience with graphic novels in the classroom, and I think that is a shame. I believe it would have helped me during my middle and high school years to understand the more complex text and it would have given me another route to digest the information that the teacher was trying to get me to remember. Also, illustrations coupled with words help the reader gain more understanding and builds that connection to being a good reader. An article I read online from weareteachers.com (which is a great resource for the aspiring teachers that we are) "Graphic Novels Should Play a Bigger Part in Your Classroom. Here’s Why." by Lindsay Barrett lists three major reasons why they help in the classroom. A point that Barrett brought up that I did not think about was the application to ELL students. The illustrations help with word recognition and the action in the comic itself helps with building vocabulary, since the actions are taking place right on the page. Aside from ELL's, regular students can also benefit from graphic novels. In the more complex text that we start getting into at the secondary level, it is important to not stop teaching reading. Graphic novels are a good stepping stone into complex text, since it helps the reader visualize what is happening without the added stress of making sense of the words. This will aid them to become better readers when the transition to novels is made, since the students now know how to decipher the complex text and make sense of the action happening in the story. This then aids the teacher by making it easier to get to the content and discussion of the text, instead of getting a bunch of "I don't know what's happening".  As for my future classroom, I would love to incorporate graphic novels as a stepping stone or part of an extended workshop type deal with teaching readers how to comprehend complex texts.

Discussion as a Way of Teaching

This article does a great job at describing and providing ways to make classroom discussion meaningful. Come to think of it, I have never been shown how a discussion should go. I knew the "golden rule" basics and that speaking over other people does not help anyone, but the article describes how a discussion should look in depth and I love that. I like the discussion that involved everyone, this gets all students to speak and discuss which in turn helps more shy students open up and feel safe. I already bookmarked this article because I feel it be very useful for my classroom. This would have helped me immensely a few weeks ago when I tried to lead a discussion for Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher". A few of these activities are definitely for smaller classrooms. I do like the time amount given in these activities however, it gets one in the habit of doing that in the classroom which is needed. Also, having students get up and move around is a common theme I find helpful throughout these activities. I also enjoy the set roles that some students can take as well. These roles give guidance and a direction in where they should go with their own ideas. The 15th assignment is helpful in guiding the teacher in their instruction and gives critical feedback needed to continue improving the classroom discussions. The case study highlights what can go wrong and how to avoid that. I hope we go over this in class to provide more details and clarity.