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Research and Rationale

Comics in the Classroom: Using Sequential Art to Enhance Literacy

A Thesis Submitted to the Sequential Art Department In Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts Savannah College of Art and Design By: Jay Peteranetz This paper argues the validity of comics as a tool for teaching literacy in today’s modern classrooms. It discusses how comics can help learning readers become literate Americans. It provides teachers definitions of integral terms that must be understood to read and discuss comics. It then uses the Common Core Standards, the most commonly accepted standards for United States public school systems, to talk about an excellent age-­‐ appropriate comic. […] Read More

Why Teach with Comics?

By: Jennifer Haines Originally published on Diamond Bookshelf As school boards across North America are becoming more open to varied strategies to improve student literacy, there has been an increase in the use of graphic novels in the classroom. However, there is still a strong stigma attached to the idea of using comics as a teaching tool. Anyone who has tried to convince a non-comic reader of the benefits of comics has heard the same things: the reading level is too low, the subject matter is frivolous, comics are too violent. While these complaints may ring true for some books […] Read More

Developing Critical Thinking Through Comics

By Jennifer Haines Originally published on Diamond Bookshelf In 1956, a committee of educators, headed by Benjamin Bloom, published Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals, which contained a pyramid of objectives which educators set for their students. The objectives were arranged from least challenging at the bottom to most challenging at the top. In 2000, the pyramid was revised to place Creation at the top.

The Case for Graphic Novels in Education

By: Jesse Karp Read article here.

Reading Lessons: Graphic Novels 101

By: Hollis Margaret Rudiger Published in: the March/April 2006 issue of The Horn Book Magazine “I wish I had this article two or three years ago when I began teaching graphic novels. It is accurate, succinct, and contains a great example to help understand the basics of visual literacy through reading comics. This article is brief and brings you through the experience that your students should have as you teach, and they read, graphic novels or comics. This is exactly why librarians are so valuable in helping teachers teach graphic novels! They have such great resources and they love to share.” […] Read More

Image, Text, and Story: Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom

By: Rachel Marie-Crane Williams Originally published: in Art Education by NAEA This article explains how graphic novels and comics can reach reluctant students while focusing on a variety of topics and creating visual culture in the classroom. Image, Text, and Story- Comics and Graphic Novels in the Classroom – Download the document here.

Reading Strategies Comic Strip and Rationale

By: Tegan Zimmerman Henry – Literacy Roots View here.

Not The Usual Suspects – Poetry and Graphic Novels as 21st Century Tools

By: Mark Geary, Assistant Professor of Children’s Literature -Dakota State University Originally published: in Florida Education Leadership by Florida ASCD. An article, “…on the importance of graphic novels in the classroom, with an emphasis on it’s functionality as a tool in helping students learn storyboarding and video production, a key 21st Century Skill.” View here: Not the Usual Suspects Geary 2011

Redrawing the Textbook

flu-hijacking - Illustrated Medical Textbook

By Guest Bloggers: Marie Adachi, Susan Han, Erica MacKenzie, Bailey Miles, Neha Sathe, MS2s Clare Rosean, MFA candidate One would think that a group of University of Chicago medical students, would, at this stage of their academic careers, already know how to study.  But faced with more information than we had ever previously encountered, we realized our tired methods of reading (and re-reading) Powerpoint slides, classroom notes, and 1000-page textbooks fell short.  We just couldn’t keep it all in our heads. Needing a more engaging way to absorb the material, we told stories and drew pictures that resembled less and less the […] Read More

Visual Rhetoric and the Graphic Novel

By: Jeffery Hayes Visual Rhetoric – View Document Here.