Comics in the Classroom
Comics in the Classroom is an initiative to get graphic novels put in high school and college classes, with a big focus on giving them a stronger foothold in STEM. At this point, graphic novels have been generally accepted by schools but all the benefits seem to focus on children and young adults. Which is great but also keeps older students from benefitting from graphic novels. On top of that, our main goal is to push for graphic novels in STEM as schools seem to regulate them to the humanities. This at first makes sense, but at a second glance just seems like a way of tampering with their potential when it comes to learning.
Math
and
Science
When it comes to math and science the use of graphic novels will be a bit different from the humanities (since the humanities already have reading and reading comprehension at its core).
Easy Addition to A Lesson
-
Math and science graphic novels can be used in the place of an overly wordy and confusing textbook, as well as a clean and simple addition to a slideshow.
-
For example instead of flashing a long and complicated definition of something you could instead cut down that definition to the most important parts and have a 4-panel comic strip explain the rest.
A New Lesson
-
If you can't find a comic strip, that can then be turned into an assignment that the students can work on in groups. Since the best way to understand something is to have to explain it both verbally and visually in your own words. And then one of those comic strips can be used in the future when you teach that lesson, which shows the students how they have a direct impact on their learning.
Literature
And
History
For literature what’s most important is seeing if the book you’re currently teaching has a graphic novel counterpart. This is pretty common for classic texts such as Dante's Inferno, Bram Stoker's Dracula, etc.
Easy Addition to A Lesson
-
Use panels from the book throughout a slideshow, this won’t bring the full effect that graphic novels can offer but it can still get their mind thinking and creating new ideas from the visuals.
-
You could also post pages to Google Classroom, making a small assignment asking them to answer a question like :
-
How do visuals and sequential storytelling change your view of [blank character’s choice] ?
OR
-
How do the visuals and sequential storytelling change your view of [blank location]? And how does that shine a light on the environment these characters have grown up in?
A New Lesson
-
An idea a bit more tailored for history would be using a graphic novel in place or in tandem with a textbook. The benefit of this is the student will create a deeper connection with the graphic novel and hence the overall topic, while also understanding the good and bad much better than they would with an overly wordy textbook.
Think about it what leaves a stronger impact reading a 20-page excerpt talking about the horrors of WWII or reading a segment of MAUS ...
