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Teaching With Comics
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
AMERICUS
By Adrian Neibauer Staff Writer STORY REVIEW Neil Barton is your typical thirteen-year-old: he’s unsure of himself, awkward, shy, and spends most of his time alone with his nose in a book. AMERICUS, written by MK Reed and illustrated by Jonathan Hill, is a coming of age story set in a small town in Anytown, USA. Neil, our main character, uses the local library in his small home town of Americus as a safe-haven to the discomfort of junior high school. There, he and the young librarian introduce us to the fantasy world of Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, the Huntress […] Read More
V FOR VENDETTA
By Ellen Ma Staff Writer REVIEW V FOR VENDETTA takes place in a dystopian England when everything has collapsed from war. The government has become “Big Brother” and the entire system is corrupt. However, on the historical day of Nov. 5, 1997, a mysterious man named V blows up Parliament. The reader is taken through V’s mission –– to take down the fascist rulers of England, as well as coming to know Eve, a young girl who is saved by V and taken under his wing.
HOW THE LEOPARD GOT HIS SPOTS
By Kevin Hodgson Staff Writer STORY SUMMARY Rudyard Kipling’s Just So stories have long held a hallowed place in literature in lower elementary classrooms. The stories of how animals came to be often give way to students’ own creative explanations of the world. A new series of graphic versions of the Kipling classics by Stone Arch Press revives that tradition in wonderful style, full of humor and insights.
Welcome to Understanding Literature Through Graphic Novels
Syllabus for Graphic Novel Elective Written and taught by Leigh Brodsky Course Introduction: First I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to, what I hope, will be an interesting and dynamic class. I designed this course with two main goals in mind. The first goal that we will focus on is how to read a text that not only contains text, but images as well. While these texts may not look like the traditional books that you have studied in school they contain similar uses of symbol identification, and character analysis. Using these images you will be asked […] Read More
Comics Ban Sparks Science Fair Project
By Chris Wilson Editor-in-Geek WARNING: If you tell Alaskan third grader, Sam, that he cannot do something educational you may find yourself the subject of a science fair project. Such was the case with his teacher this year. Sam wanted to read. He wanted to read comics, but his third grade teacher banned comics in class and refused to count them on his daily reading log. It is a common practice in elementary school across the nation to assign reading homework. Students must then log the books, pages, or minutes read on a form and then have it signed by a parent. […] Read More
SMILE
By Adrian Neibauer Staff Writer STORY REVIEW SMILE by Raina Telgemeier is perfect for any elementary-age classroom. Raina‘s narrative comic tells the story of how she knocked out her two front teeth in the sixth grade. Her memoir continues into high school as her dental issues pair simultaneously with puberty and growing up. Raina says, “Creating SMILE has been therapeutic for me, and has put me in touch with hundreds of kindred spirits.”
Designing a Program - Toronto Uses Graphic Novels
By: Jennifer Haines Here are some examples of graphic novels being used at schools located in Toronto, Canada: Jarvis Collegiate: Grade 10 English: Maus and Ring of the Nibelung
Unit Plan - World War II: Images and Reflections
Canadian History Since WWI CHC2P Grade 10 Applied By: Jennifer Stewart This unit is designed to give students a more personal experience of the events of World War II. The key elements of the war are to be examined, especially causes and outcomes. However, the specific details of battles and famous personalities will be de-emphasized. Instead, the unit will focus on the lives of everyday people, especially those on the home-front. Students will be asked to examine how their family or culture was affected by the war, to give them a personal experience which will enable them to better relate […] 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