It captures student interest in this increasingly visual world, which then also increases student motivation and desire to keep reading because they can be successful at it, therefore promoting a positive association to reading. It is easier for students to relate to a text when they can see it. Third, they are relevant, engaging, and positive. It reduces the overall text load, therefore decreasing anxieties students might have regarding print-based reading. Secondly, because of the multimodality of the texts, they are manageable for students to read. Michelle Falter, Assistant Professor of English Education, North Carolina State University former middle and high school English teacher and instructional coachįirst of all, the fact that they are multimodal (meaning multiple modes of expression are used) facilitates and supports students’ ability to visualize and understand complicated ideas, which is also a 21st century literacy skill. It makes for a very rich literature study.ĭr. When students combine both aspects to investigate a text’s effect on readers, they develop varied insights into how meaning is communicated and interpreted. It also has the elements of film we study with students, allowing them to develop literacy in the interpretation of image for meaning. In short, it has the classic areas of study found in a prose text. The graphic novel (a good one) has depth of plot, character development, theme, etc. Question 1: Why are graphic novels and comics valuable learning tools?Īlison Walthew, English teacher, Yew Chung International School, Century Park Campus, Shanghai

I invited four of those teachers here for my first-ever Teacher Roundtable, where classroom teachers will share their thoughts and best practices on a specific topic. I quickly realized that any teacher who wants students to become avid readers should stock its library full of these gems. They talked about their own successful practices with graphic novels, shared how the books had transformed reluctant readers into obsessive readers, and they recommended dozens of titles-I’d never heard of most of them, but as soon as I took a look inside each one, I wanted to get my hands on them immediately.

If you click these and make a purchase from Amazon, Cult of Pedagogy will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.Ībout a month ago, I shared an Edudemic post on my Facebook page about teaching with graphic novels, and I was startled by how many teachers responded to it. The links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

Stardust graphic novel