Comics in the

Classroom

Demystifying & Discussing

Graphic Novels

© Andy Runton & Kean Soo

Graphic novels are book length collections of

sequential art that tell a story…

Graphic Novels vs. Comic Books vs. Manga

Comic books are shorter & manga

is from Japan

© J & M Holm 2007

Whew! Glad we sorted that out.

Let’s look at a little

HISTORY

© Jeff Smith 1995

© Jeff Smith 2007

Pre-1900 samples of “sequential art” existed

Modern western comics started in the 1930’s in the U.S.

The first books were reprints of newspaper comic strips

The first big hit was Siegel & Shuster’s Superman

© Jeff Smith 2007

Superheroes reigned…

In the 70s, & 80s Marvel & DC were the “big two”

Soon, artists started self-publishing and the genre

diversified

In the last 2 decades comics and GNs

exploded

and are now mainstream and commercially successful

Started by Osama Tezuka in the 1950s, the style is more cinematic and

looks 3-D.

There’s lots of variety:action, romance & adventure

Shoujo is more popular with girls and Shonen is more popular with boys

Check this out if you want to lean more:

www.wired.com/images/pdf/Wired_1511_mangaamerica.pdf

What about

MANGA?

Graphic novels have some

special characteristics

Lets review ‘em…

© Kean Soo 2008

Showing the

passage of

time

© Kean Soo 2008

© Kean Soo 2008

Techniques to show

movement and

action

© Kean Soo 2008

Pictures you read

iconic

Faces,too © Herge 1945

© Andy Runton 2005

Meanwhile..…it is important not to forget about text!

Most graphic novels have simple text

that focus on action, but..…

The vocabulary can be quite

sophisticated. The average graphic novel

has twice the vocabulary of an

average children’s book!…

Krashen, 2004

© Osamu Tezuka 2002

So, how can they be used to teach?

here are some bright ideas..…

Active decoding

Comprehension

Fluency

Vocabulary building

sequencingSerchay, 2008

Persuasive writing

Literature circles

History

Subtext

Englishcompanion.ning.com

Language acquisition

Art appreciation

Creative writing

Plot building

Social cues

Narrative structure

Design & colour

Parallel literature reviewGraphicclassroom.blogspo

t.com© Masashi Kishimoto 1999

Some examples…

And some more…

And even more…http://www.ala.org/alsc/compubs/booklists/grphcnvls

Lets try reading some

pictures

© Kean Soo 2008

Discuss the art featured on page 58 of

jellaby..

Use the visual clues in the art

to decipher portia & jason’s body language

© Kean Soo 2008

Put words into each of the

dialog balloons..

Attempt to recreate

the original text..

© Kean Soo 2008

How’d you do?

© Kean Soo 2008

Not convinced? Read this:

Raising a Reader:How comics and graphic novels can help your kids love to read

http://cbldf.org/2013/07/cbldf-releases-raising-a-reader-a-resource-for-parents-and-educators/

Want to review the slides?Slideshare URL:

http://www.slideshare.net/bethmaddigan/