Graphic Novels in the Classroom


Honestly, I think the use of graphic novels in the classroom is important.  Many times we have students go from picture books with a few words straight into books that are only filled with words.  The use of graphic novels can help with this transition.

Graphic novels give wonderful accessibility for all students.  Not only are graphic novels visually based, they are also text based.  Students will have different mediums to drawn meaning from when examining the text.  In many classrooms, there are a wide varieties of ability levels: students who struggle reading traditional texts, ELL students, gifted students, etc.  Keeping this in mind, students who have been struggling or are learning the English language would have many tools for comprehension support when reading a graphic novel.  Students who are of a higher reading level will have the additional tools to better their comprehension.  They have the text where they can look for context clues, but they can use the images to solidify their understanding of concepts.

Graphic novels are not as daunting as a normal novel.  When looking at a novel, students who struggle or are “fake/reluctant readers” tend to deflate and shy away from the task.  They don’t want to do the reading because they may not want to read something they aren’t going to follow or understand.  Some students may not want to take the actual time to read a novel and find every way they can to sound like they read, even if they didn’t.  Graphic novels still have all the words but use the pictures to help the students comprehend what is going on in the story if they are struggling to create connections with the words alone.  Graphic novels give the opportunity for students to actually see what is happening if they struggle to picture it.

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