Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
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POW! BAM! SHAZAM!
Teaching with Graphic Novels
Charles Hershon
Vanderbilt University
Master’s Capstone Essay
3/1/2010
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
-2Table of Contents
Abstract
3
Note to the Capstone Committee
5
Introduction
6
What is a Graphic Novel?
7
Why Use Graphic Novels in Schools?
12
Increased Student Interest
12
Rise of Digital and Visual Literacy
15
Expanding the Traditional View of Literacy
16
Literacy Skills Used to Read Graphic Novels
18
Adaptability to Multiple Learners
20
Cross-Curricular Connections
21
How to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom?
22
Maryland Comic Book Initiative vs. The Comic Book Project
23
Instructional Activities Using Graphic Novels
31
Assessment
37
Building a Graphic Novel Collection
40
Evaluating Graphic Novels for Classroom Use
40
Gaining Support from Administrators and Parents
44
Organizing Graphic Novels in the School and Classroom
46
Recommendations and Conclusions
46
References
49
Literature Cited
51
Appendix A: Popular graphic novels used in the schools
53
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
-3Abstract
The goal of this paper is to investigate and evaluate graphic novels in terms of their
classroom use. A graphic novel is a medium that presents information using the comic form.
The comic form is sequential art that uses a combination of text and images to develop meaning.
Graphic novels differ from comic book issues in length and substance. Comic book issues
normally only tell a fragment of a story in twenty-two pages, while graphic novels contain a full
story, generally over fifty pages. The comic form contains unique features that set it apart from
traditional and picture books. These features provide a huge educational benefit to the reader.
Although historically seen as inappropriate for the classroom; a strong, six-point case can
be made for the graphic novel’s educational value. Graphic novels increase student interest in
reading, fit in with the rise of digital and visual literacy, expand the traditional view of literature,
aid in the development of multiple literacy skills, are adaptable to multiple learners, and can be
used for making cross-curricular connections. There are many instructional strategies that can be
used to gain the benefits of the medium. Two pilot programs, Maryland’s “Comics in the
Classroom” and Michael Bitz’s “The Comic Book Project,” have both incorporated graphic
novels into reading and writing instruction successfully.
Comics and graphic novels can be used in the classroom in a variety of ways. They can
be can be used as a medium for inquiry and as a compliment to traditional text. Instructional
activities centered on comic features can promote and develop students’ visual literacy. The
medium can also be used to teach the writers process, due to the steps that taken in order to
create a comic being similar to those taken to create traditional narratives. Assessments can also
be modified to align with the graphic novel. The most notable being portfolio assessment and
miscue analysis.
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
Recommendations are made for how to build a classroom library of graphic novels.
Evaluation of each individual title and be done with a multitude of text and web resource,
support of administrators and parents must be gained, and decisions on how to make graphic
novels available in your classroom library must be made. Overall, this paper provides a guide
for incorporating graphic novels into the existing educational landscape.
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
-5Note to the Capstone Committee
This Capstone essay built off of an inquiry paper done for EDUC 3390. That paper,
“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: A Case for Using Graphic Novels in Schools”, focused
specifically on the six reasons for using graphic novels in the classroom that are discussed in this
Capstone essay. The ideas have been modified and expanded upon. The Appendix also comes
from that paper.
The four areas of professional knowledge can be found throughout this Capstone essay.
Learners and learning is heavily focused on in the ‘Why Use Graphic Novels in Schools’ section
of the paper, especially in its discussion of the benefits to reluctant readers, growth of digital and
visual literacy in today’s students, and culturally diverse readers. Learning environment is
heavily focused on in the ‘Building a Graphic Novel Collection!’ portion of the paper. It is also
referred to in the ‘Why Use Graphic Novels in Schools’ section when discussing the growth of
graphic novel in popular culture. The ‘How to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom’ section
contains a significant amount of information related to Curriculum and Instructional Strategies,
as well as Assessment.
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
POW! BAM! SHAZAM! Graphic Novels: A Guide for Teachers
Introduction
Developing student literacy has long been a primary focus of elementary education. In
any primary classroom, one is likely to see students reading either traditional narrative books or
picture books at some point during the day. Classrooms and school libraries are filled with these
books, and they are used throughout the intensive process of reading, writing, and language arts
instruction. While the content of the books has changed over time, from biblical verses and
primers to canon literature and language arts textbooks that contain anthologies of stories, the
form in which the words are viewed by students has largely remained static. At the same time,
the use of media that incorporate text, narrative structure, and complementary visuals has
significantly increased in the world around us. These media are now fighting to gain their place
in the classroom – and one form, in particular, is beginning to receive serious attention: the
graphic novel.
The goal of this paper is to promote the use of graphic novels in the elementary
classroom through a discussion of their format, their educational benefits, methods that can be
used to teach with them, and guidelines to build a classroom-appropriate collection. While the
medium can arguably be used in all grades, this paper will focus more on the upper elementary
grades, from three to six. The discussion of their format will include an explanation of graphic
novels and what unique literary qualities they possess. The discussion of their educational
benefits will provide six well-researched reasons for using them in the classroom. The
discussion of methods used to teach with graphic novels will focus on two major graphic- novelbased educational programs and a collection of other proposed instructional strategies using
graphic novels. Finally, the discussion of how to build a collection will provide an overview of
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
resources so that teachers can make educated decisions about what graphic novels to include in
their classrooms.
What Is a Graphic Novel?
It is interesting that most adults have opinions on comics and graphic novels, even though
they may not truly understand what those terms encompass. People who do not read them may
immediately think of superheroes in tights, objectionable behavior toward women, and gratuitous
violence. While these features have been prominent in certain comics and graphic novels, they
are not indicative of the form. Such depictions also appear in movies, television shows, and
books, but people do not necessarily associate these negative features with those forms. The
generalization sticks to comics and graphic novels because of a widespread lack of knowledge
about them, as well as the misguided belief that comics and graphic novels are by definition
juvenile. The first point that needs to be made here is that graphic novels and comics are diverse
in content and subject matter. Put simply, a graphic novel is a medium that uses the comic form
to present information. Like any significant medium, each has its fair share of low-quality
material, as well as an abundance of high-quality works. There are even a few Pulitzer Prizewinning graphic novels, such as Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History
(Spiegelman, 1991), which is about author Art Spiegelman’s father and how he lived during the
Holocaust. Once we accept that comics and graphic novels are merely media that provide
information in their own ways, we can begin to understand these overlapping forms and
appreciate the wealth of material they offer to educators.
A comic, as defined in Understanding Comics (McCloud, 1993), is a “juxtaposed
pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
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produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, p.9). A simpler definition McCloud
offers calls the medium sequential art. Comics include both pictorial and textual images (i.e.,
words). On a single comic page, one will come into contact with multiple panels. These are
snapshots of the story put into boxlike units that are sequenced in a specific layout, which is the
way in which the panels are organized. In American comics, the layout most often requires the
reading of the comic to be from left to right and top to bottom, although there are times when
panels are deliberately laid out in other ways to create a feeling of the abstract (Rudinger, 2006).
Another key aspect of the comic is the border or gutter. This is the space between panels where
the reader must make connections concerning what is happening between the two sequences
(McCloud, 1993). The term used for filling in the gutter between comics is called closure, and
using this practice with sequential art is what makes up the basic reading of a graphic novel
(Versaci, 2001). Other features of comics are explained in Table 1 and shown in Table 2.
TABLE 1: Comic Features
Comic Feature
Page
Border
Panel
Line
Color
Shading
Lettering
Word Balloons
Explanation of Feature
(McCloud, 1993, unless otherwise noted)
A collection of panels shown in sequence
The space between panels
Snapshots of a story put into a boxlike unit
Lines of ink that vary in thickness, shape, and texture to help to show the
expression of the character or the emotion of a scene
Used in most American comics to add depth to the scene in terms of
characterization, background, mood, perspective, and realism
The darkness or lightness of ink, line, and color. Used to develop mood
The font, size, boldness, and color of text used on the page. Can differ
between panels, characters, and various uses of text
The quotation marks of comics. Used to indicate words and who said
them
Thought Bubbles
Appear as clouds above a character. They give information on what the
character is thinking
Dialogue Boxes
Emanata
Narrative text, generally providing background information
Marks and symbols that surround a character in order to express
emotion (Madden & Adel, 2009)
Onomatopoeia
The sound effects of comics. Are often stylized and used as emanate
How the panels and borders are sized and positioned on a page
How the author intends a panel or page to be viewed in relation to angle,
Layout
Perspective
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
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distance, and descriptiveness. Perspectives can change between close-ups,
wide pans, heavy shading, and other artistic choices that all serve to gain
different reactions from the reader (Madden, 2005)
TABLE 2: Comics Terminology
(Madden, & Abel, 2009)
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
Reading graphic novels requires a unique set of literary skills. The primary skill needed
is the ability to make connections between the visuals on the page and the textual dialogue in the
story (Schneider, 2007). This ability to read text and view images simultaneously is what makes
engaging with graphic novels a complicated experience that differs from reading traditional text
(Versaci, 2006). The active participation of the reader is a very different approach than the one
taken with traditional texts. Educators, of course, want students to interact with all text. While
this is sometimes difficult when reading traditional text, it is required when reading graphic
novels (Versaci, 2001).
The content of graphic novels is another feature that is important to understand. Like
characters in other types of literature, those in graphic novels are often complex and display a
range of emotions. McCloud notes that characters in comics are often drawn in a certain way for
various purposes (McCloud, 1993). They can also be portrayed as identifiable with the reader or
as realistic and unique. Artists often strategically draw characters in a simple style so that a
reader can see himself or herself as the character. If the characters were too realistic, the reader
would have a harder time relating. In the same vein, artists also create very detailed and realistic
characters when they want the reader to see the character as his or her own person. Oftentimes
villains will be very detailed, while heroes will have simpler styles (like Superman). Putting a
simply drawn character in a very realistically drawn background can give readers the ability to
see themselves in that setting. Another content aspect of the graphic novel is the wide range of
genres and targeted audiences. Genres include superhero comics, teen-interest novels,
re-creations of classic literature, satire, mystery, romance, science fiction, fantasy, action
adventure, and manga. Manga is a Japanese style of comic book that has grown to be quite
popular in the United States. As opposed to the standard comic, manga is read from right to left
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
and often is aimed at a very targeted audience. Some 44 percent of the comics sold in the U.S.
are of the manga genre (Smith, 2008). While graphic novels are often thought of as being either
too adult due to being filled with violence and sex or too juvenile due to their reliance on
pictures, both of these perceptions are overstated. Many people do not see graphic novels as a
valid literary medium and choose to lump all of them into one group. It is worth restating that –
like books, movies, music, and every other medium – graphic novels cover a wide range of
interests and can appeal to a range of audiences. Graphic novels also feature substantial
diversity. They have been found to present alternative views of culture, history, and human life
in general in accessible ways, giving voice to minorities and those with uncommon viewpoints
(Schwarz, 2002).
One question that many educators have concerns the difference between comics and
graphic novels (McTaggart, 2008). The differences are slim, yet various authors have offered
different interpretations. The term “comic book” describes any format that uses sequential art in
combination with text to tell a story (McTaggart, 2008). The most popular format for a comic
book is the 22-page version that is published monthly and tells a continuous story. Graphic
novels can be defined more specifically. Some have said that graphic novels are book-length
works of sequential art (Hahn, 2009; Brenner, 2006) that contain at least 50 pages (Smith, 2008).
Others (The Council Chronicle, 2005) view the difference in terms of substance as opposed to
length, stating that a graphic novel has to have a beginning, middle, and end, as well as a main
character that develops through the conflicts of the story’s climax. Overall, one should
understand that all graphic novels are comic books, but not all comic books are graphic novels
(McTaggart, 2008). Due to the term “comic books” including graphic novels as part of its
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
format, these terms will be used interchangeably from here on throughout this essay. When the
22-page comic book is the specific subject, it will be described as a comic book issue.
For the majority of their history, comics have been looked down upon by the literary
world, though that was not always the case. Early on, in the 1940s, comics had a “golden age”
and enjoyed a popularity that has never been equaled; by mid-decade, 90 percent of kids between
eight and fifteen were regular comic book readers. The popularity of the medium inspired a
backlash that was highlighted in Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent (Wertham, 1953).
In the book, Wertham wrote that comics led to juvenile delinquency, prompting Senate hearings
to investigate comics’ negative effect on children. These hearings resulted in the creation of the
Comics Code Authority, which became a censorship panel for comics. The overly strict
censorship caused the medium to become more juvenile, which added to the public’s negative
perception of comics (Versaci, 2008). Although Wertham’s research was found to be flawed and
inaccurate by multiple researchers over the ensuing decades (Krashen, 2004), the damage done
to the medium lasts to this day. It wasn’t until the early 1990s, when Spiegelman won the
Pulitzer and Scott McCloud published the highly regarded Understanding Comics (McCloud,
1993), that comics started being taken seriously again as a literary form. Today, comics are
making a push into the classroom (Versaci, 2008), backed by multiple compelling arguments,
and implemented with new and innovative teaching techniques.
Why Use Graphic Novels in Schools?
Reason 1: Increased Student Interest
There are many reasons for using graphic novels in the classroom. Six points for their
use will be made in this section of the paper. The first and most powerful point that can be made
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
in the case for using graphic novels in the classroom is that their use has proven to increase
student interest in reading. There are multiple perspectives from which to view this increased
interest. Mary Hahn (2009) found that graphic novels circulate eight times as much as standard
novels in her library. Other studies have found that when graphic novels were added in junior
high libraries, circulation increased 82 percent (Carter, 2007). Due to these results, many
librarians, both school and public, have become active in including graphic novels in their own
libraries (Carter, 2007; Schwarz, 2002; Hatfield, 2006; McTaggart, 2005; Behler, 2006; Williams
& Peterson, 2009). Williams and Peterson specifically point out that graphic novels have
increased in popularity in recent years. They have grown from $110 million in sales in 2002 to
almost $400 million in 2008 (Williams & Peterson, 2009). Despite this growth, the researchers
found that only 55 percent of academic institutions with teacher and librarian training programs
carry graphic novels, even those that have received Caldecott Awards, in their libraries. On a
similar note, it has been found that despite their popularity, only 4 percent of fourth-throughtwelfth-grade teachers use graphic novels in their classrooms (Frey & Fisher, 2008).
Another perspective shows that graphic novels have been found to be especially
beneficial to reluctant readers. Many studies have found that reluctant readers begin to read
more and achieve more when graphic novels are provided as an option for them (Brenner, 2006;
Schneider, 2007; Smith, 2008; McTaggart, 2005; Norton, 2003; Lyga, 2006). Graphic novels
often attract reluctant readers due to their combination of less text, narrative support from
images, and a feeling of reading outside the expected canon, which relieves the tensions of
reading expectations for most kids (Brenner, 2006). Many young, struggling readers particularly
benefit from the provided visualizations (Lyga, 2006). In addition, many students find reading
plain text to be mentally and physically exhausting due to the fact that they cannot read at the
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
speed that they think, while graphic novels provide them with an ability to read through a story
faster while still gaining the same information (Tabachnick, 2007). Reluctant readers tend to
view graphic novels as a deviation from the standard school texts that they have experienced in
negative ways (Schneider, 2007). One study found that students are more motivated to read
when they are allowed to read graphic novels. This study used Archie comics, and students said
that the connections they were able to make to characters and social relationships made them
more interested in reading on the whole (Norton, 2003). For these readers, graphic novels not
only aid in comprehension (Smith, 2008), but provide gateway opportunities for teachers to use
in moving them toward more traditional literature. McTaggart states it best when she says,
“Before we can make kids read what we want them to read, we must make them want to read”
(McTaggart, 2005).
Another group of students who are highly affected by using graphic novels are boys. One
study surveyed students in urban schools to determine the reading materials that they enjoy.
Some 54 percent of male students responded that they like to read comic books. In this study, 34
percent of girls also indicated an interest in comic books. Overall, comics garnered more interest
than the Internet and books (Hughes-Hassell & Rodge, 2007). Others have similarly found that
boys, particularly, are interested in graphic novels (Hahn, 2009; Brenner, 2006; Schneider, 2007;
Schwarz, 2006; Lyga, 2006). Lyga discussed her discovery that boys who had previously been
reluctant readers would read graphic novels independently during recess (Lyga, 2006).
One of the factors that have contributed to this increased interest among students for
graphic novels is their cultural relevance (Tabachnick, 2007). Graphic novel characters exist in
popular culture. Many movies are created based on comics, such as Spiderman, Superman,
Batman, and The Fantastic Four. Even the popular Pixar movie The Incredibles is based on
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
comic book characters. Students get to connect interesting things from out-of-school
experiences with school-related tasks when given the opportunity to read graphic novels about
popular characters (The Council Chronicle, 2005). This connection to popular culture can also
be helpful when trying to connect parents to what their children are reading. Although some
parents may have a more difficult time connecting to what their child is doing in the classroom
due to cultural barriers, most adults have encountered characters like Spiderman and Batman.
Using graphic novels can promote this type of school discussion between children and parents.
Overall, when thinking about how graphic novels increase many students’ interest in reading, it
is important to understand that research indicates a strong relationship between leisure/interest
reading and school achievement, so it is important for educators to incorporate these interests
into the classroom.
Reason 2: Rise of Digital and Visual Literacy
After increased interest, the second argument for using graphic novels in the classroom
derives from the fact that the new digital and visual literacy in society – especially prevalent in
the younger generation – requires new reading media to be used in the classroom. Students are
becoming more and more technology savvy, and the technology boom has provided new ways
for today’s youth to acquire information. Students read on the Internet, on their phones (even
younger students seem to have phones now), and with other interactive media (Wannamaker,
2009). They are accustomed to instant gratification. While books cannot provide this due to the
time it takes to read them, graphic novels offer images side by side in a quickly read format that
mirrors the students’ interest in instant gratification. Graphic novels blend well with new digital
literacies and have even started to be created for the Internet format. The graphic novel Diary of
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney (2007), is an example of a comic that started off as a Web comic,
but has since been adapted to a text format for classroom use (Lamb & Johnson, 2009).
The use of graphic novels in the classroom helps show the value of visual literacy and the
media that students encounter outside of school. Visual literacy, the act of meaning making
using still or moving images (Frey & Fisher, 2008), is needed in today’s reading and language
arts curricula. Students must acquire the analytic tools necessary for critically reading and
coping with these new media in order to function in a digital and image- media-heavy society
(Schwarz, 2006). Comics constitute a medium that can teach students how to interpret images
and make connections between the written and the illustrated. Advertising campaigns that
directly target children abundantly use images to draw interest. By learning through graphic
novels, students will become more adept at analyzing these campaigns to comprehend their true
message (Schwarz, 2006). One of the problems involved in bringing graphic novels into schools
is that while children are digital natives due to growing up with these new media, adults are
digital immigrants and are more resistant to the change (Hahn, 2009).
Reason 3: Expanding the Traditional View of Literacy
The third reason to use graphic novels is that they give teachers the ability to expand
traditional views of literature and enable canon text to be reintroduced in new and engaging
ways. The school definition of literacy needs to be expanded to include visual literacy. As
stated above, students are in contact with visual media constantly, both in and out of school, and
knowing how to interpret and create these media are valuable skills that schools need to embrace
(Burmark, 2008). Graphic novels can facilitate this expansion. Graphic novels allow for
important connections to be made with out-of-school interests and school literature. Students
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view graphic novels as their own literature, and the use of these books in the classroom increases
students’ sense of ownership of school-approved literature (Norton, 2003). Blurring the line of
what students consider school literature is important because there are many indications that
students become disillusioned with school literature, especially when they struggle with it. They
tend to view it as too academic and are less able to connect with it. Incorporating graphic novels
shows that the school accepts diverse forms of literature and is responsive to its students
(Versaci, 2001). It also shows students that even teachers can take into account the idea of not
judging a book by its cover (Versaci, 2006).
The graphic novel format can be a tool for teachers to get students to engage with canon
texts. Elementary school libraries have long supported books such as Time Warp Trio, Baby
Sitters Club, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Goosebumps. These books have recently been
adapted into the graphic novel format (Hahn, 2009). These texts can help engage readers who
previously may not have given such works a second thought. Even more interesting is the idea
that graphic novels have adapted classic literature that is used in varying grade levels. At the
middle school level, available works include The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Carol, The Hobbit,
Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, and even many of the works of William Shakespeare. These
adaptations allow students to visualize literature that may once have been above their reading
and comprehension levels (Schwarz, 2002). One researcher has looked at how Shakespeare can
be taught in elementary schools using graphic novels (Shumaker, 2009). It was found that using
graphic novel versions of classic literature allows students to connect with texts previously
thought too difficult. The image support aided tremendously in their understanding of
Shakespearean works. Even if graphic novels of classic literature are used only in higher grade
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levels, the visual support could do wonders in helping students who resist or struggle with the
English canon engage with the material.
Reason 4: Literacy Skills Used to Read Graphic Novels
The fourth reason for using graphic novels in the classroom is that the skills required to
read a graphic novel are extremely beneficial to developing school-valued literacy skills. As
discussed earlier, the main skill that needs to be used when reading graphic novels is closure.
Readers must make inferences about what is going on between the panels in order to make the
story flow (McCloud, 1993; Hahn, 2009; Brenner, 2006). Inferencing is a very important skill in
reading, especially where developing readers are concerned. Kenneth Goodman’s reading model
incorporates inferencing as one of the cognitive strategies that students use to aid in their
comprehension of text (Goodman, 1994). Aside from inferencing and reading between the
panels, readers of graphic novels must make connections between the text and the images within
the panels. Making connections between the text and illustrations is an important skill for young
readers (Brenner, 2006). Connecting between text and illustrations enables them to visualize
text, which is an important skill in developing comprehension (Smith, 2008). One of the benefits
of this skill is that it aids in students’ ability to interact with images in our multimedia-heavy
world. Connecting between images and text is a more complex cognitive skill than reading text
alone (Schwarz, 2002). PET scans show that the brain becomes more active when exposed to
words and text together because memorization of words occurs in the left hemisphere of the
brain, while visuals are interpreted in the right hemisphere (Smith, 2008). Humans process
visuals 60,000 times faster than text, this research indicates. Further studies of visual literacy
have found that students’ eyes are more active when they read image-aided text than when they
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read plain text (Frey & Fisher, 2008). It has been found that color enhances learning and
improves retention by more than 75 percent. These findings support using graphic novels in the
classroom because of the direct cognitive benefits of reading these types of books.
There are many comprehension benefits to graphic novels aside from visual cues. Mary
Hahn found that when reading comics, students need to use strategies such as activating prior
knowledge; they must determine the importance of information, ask questions, and reread the
text using fix-up strategies (Hahn, 2009). Carter likened the skills required to read graphic
novels to those that teachers promote when they have students create cognitive maps, word webs,
graphs, and flowcharts, even though many teachers have not accepted the similarities (Carter,
2007). Vocabulary is another skill that is well developed through the use of graphic novels.
Comics have been found to contain twice the number of vocabulary words as the average
children’s book (Brenner, 2006; Behler, 2006). The visuals enable vocabulary words to be more
understandable within the graphic novel format. This goes against the misconception that
comics are completely image-based and have little textual quality. It is a fact that graphic novels
promote both traditional alphabetic literacy and visual literacy in combination (Schwarz, 2006).
Skills required to understand literary features are promoted by graphic novels, as well.
When reading graphic novels, students need to pay attention to common literary features such as
character, plot, dialogue, mood, and genre (Schwarz, 2006). These features are aided by the
visual nature of the medium. Characters can be clearly defined through a combination of text
and visual elements, such as line, shading, coloring, and physical features. Traditional texts can
only describe a character, while graphic novels can both describe and provide illustration.
Settings receive a similar benefit in graphic novels. They become much more memorable when
they can be seen as opposed to being read about (McCloud, 1993). The literary elements, along
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with the other literacy skills that graphic novels support, can be a huge benefit to the general
reading curriculum. If taught correctly, students will eventually learn to transfer these skills
toward more difficult text (The Council Chronicle, 2005).
Reason 5: Adaptability to Multiple Learners
The fifth point favoring graphic novels is that they can be used with various types of
learners and learning styles. Graphic novels have a history of offering diversity in their materials
(Lamb & Johnson, 2009). As noted earlier, manga, a Japanese-style comic, is one of the most
popular forms in the U.S. Culturally diverse learners can often find characters to relate to in
graphic novels. The comic SuperHero ABC (McLeod, 2006) provides multi-racial and multiethnic superheroes of both genders to put a new spin on learning and using the alphabet. Graphic
novels such as American Born Chinese deal explicitly with cultural diversity and interaction in
the United States. The graphic novel form can be an interesting place to discuss social justice
issues, culture, and diversity (Harris, 2008). ELL students have been found to benefit from the
comic form. The simple sentences and visual cues allow for greater comprehension of stories for
these students, who tend to have less background with textual words (Hughes-Hassell & Rodge,
2007). These students also benefit from writing in the comic book form because it allows them
to express their ideas without being limited by their vocabulary. Teachers have found that
allowing ELL students to write in the comic form has increased their interest and abilities in
writing (Bitz, 2004). In terms of learning styles, the form can aid both visual and non-visual
learners (Schneider, 2007). Visual-based learners can benefit from using the visual cues in
graphic novels to aid their overall story comprehension. Readers who are not visually based can
use the provided visuals to aid their own internal visualization skills. Moreover, graphic novels
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have been created to reach students of all ages (Brenner, 2006). Later in the paper, a
bibliography of graphic novels will be provided, along with the corresponding grades in which
the works cited have been used.
Reason 6: Cross-Curricular Connections
The sixth and final argument presented here for the use of graphic novels in the
classroom is that they are an easy tool for making connections across the curriculum. Schwarz
has found that graphic novels have been made that can connect with art, science, math, and
social studies (Schwarz, 2002). The connection with art is obvious. As discussed before, line,
perspective, angle, and shading are all art concepts that are important to understanding graphic
novels. Websites such as makebeliefscomix.com allow students to apply their understanding of
these concepts and create their own graphic novels as a means of artistic self-expression
(Zimmerman, 2006). Graphic novels have been created in as many genres as one can find
traditional texts, including fantasy, mystery, science fiction, action/adventure, non-fiction,
biography, memoirs, folktales, and many others. The use of multiple genres aids in connecting
graphic novels across the curriculum. Social studies can benefit from the many non-fiction
comics that have been developed (Lamb & Johnson, 2009). Offering historical information to
student in the form of a graphic novel decreases the reading demand of the students while still
providing the same content. It also provides visualization of the historical events for students,
which can be harder to develop when reading non-fiction text as opposed to fiction narratives.
Both of these features allow students to obtain social studies content with less strain and reliance
on reading ability (McGraw-Hill, 2007). Connecting graphic novels to other subjects likewise
can be a beneficial practice. Students’ studies in these other areas can benefit from the increased
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interest that graphic novels bring with them. It is not a far stretch to imagine that if graphic
novels can get reluctant readers to engage with literature, they may also be able to help increase
interest among those reluctant in their approach to other subjects.
Overall, these arguments clearly make a very strong case for using graphic novels in the
classroom. However, there are still many barriers to overcome in order to fully integrate graphic
novels into the curriculum. Inaccurate preconceived notions must be corrected, and teachers
must be willing to teach what can be a beneficial medium even if it is not one that is tested on
state or national exams. Current language arts standards promote the use of “print and non-print”
text, as well as facility with “visual language” and participation in a “variety of literacy
communities” (Schwarz, 2006). Graphic novels should fit right in with those standards. One of
the main concerns for teachers is figuring out what the best methods are for using graphic novels
in the classroom. The next section of this paper will focus on curriculum and instructional
strategies that use graphic novels as an educational tool.
How to Use Graphic Novels in the Classroom
While the previous section demonstrated that there are many research-supported reasons
for using graphic novels and comics in the classroom, the question still remains as to how we can
best use these media to obtain the desired classroom benefits. As is the case with most research,
the bulk of the literature surrounding graphic novels focuses on why to use them, and there is
very little that can be found on how. This particularly pertains to the elementary level. In the
pages ahead, we will attempt to rectify this situation by focusing on two major initiatives using
graphic novels in the curriculum: the Maryland Comic Book Initiative and The Comic Book
Project. An overview of these programs will be provided, and their instructional methods will be
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compared. Later, I will provide further recommendations for teaching with graphic novels and
how students can be assessed
Maryland Comic Book Initiative vs. The Comic Book Project
The Maryland Comic Book Initiative is an effort by the Maryland State Department of
Education to capitalize on the evidence that comics can benefit both reluctant and talented
readers. It involves a comic-book-based instructional program called Maryland Comics in the
Classroom. To develop the curriculum, the MSDOE partnered with Diamond Comic Book
Distributors, the nation’s largest comic book distributor, and Disney. A unit plan was created
using older Disney comic books. It was put into action in 2004 and used in thirty-one third-grade
classrooms throughout the state (Sonnenschein, Baker, Katenkamp, & Beall, 2006).
Maryland Comics in the Classroom is a well structured ten-lesson unit with each of the
lessons focusing on a different set of reading or writing skills (Sonnenschein, Baker, Katenkamp,
& Beall, 2006). The lessons were specifically designed to align with Maryland’s literacy
standards. The first seven lessons focus on reading skills, while the last three focus on the
writing process. The topics are as follows: (1) introducing comics, (2) identifying character
traits, (3) problem and solution, (4) looking at plot events, (5) point of view, (6) summarizing,
(7) comic language, (8) prewriting, (9) drafting, and (10) publishing. Each of the reading lessons
was structured so that students would be introduced to its focus, proceed through teacher-guided
or independent reading of a comic book, and participate in activities meant to draw connections
between the comic and the lesson focus. The unit also encourages students to create a personal
glossary of vocabulary words whose meaning they decode by using context clues from the
comics. As you can see, many of the lesson topics are areas that the general language arts
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curriculum has focused on for years. Character traits, problem and solution, plot events, point of
view, and summarizing are all comprehension strategies that are currently taught in schools.
This program merely offers to teach them through a different medium. Each writing lesson is set
up as a traditional writer’s workshop, with a few activities that allow students to practice a skill
(i.e., prewriting, drafting, or publishing) before applying it to their own comics. The lessons
even provide a step-by-step instruction sheet of the writer’s process that is written in the comic
book form.
In order to take a closer look at how the Maryland Comics in the Classroom program can
fit in with the general curriculum, let’s examine the plan for the first lesson, “Introducing
comics: introduction to the structure of comics” (Disney, 2006) The lesson plan starts by
introducing the standards that will be addressed; including the use of pre-reading strategies,
developing and acquiring vocabulary through various strategies, and using elements of narrative
text to facilitate understanding (i.e., text features and story elements). The lesson begins with the
teacher explaining that the class will be reading comic books together and then goes into
discussing the structural elements of the medium. After giving a lecture on the features of
comics, the teacher models how to use a personal glossary to monitor new vocabulary words.
This involves having the students explain how they use context clues from the comics to come
up with definitions for unknown words. The teacher also uses this pre-reading time to discuss
idioms and has the students skim the texts to find them. The teacher then sets up a purpose for
the reading, asking the students to think about why the author chose the comic format to tell the
story, and proceeds with an independent reading exercise. After the reading, the teacher has the
students identify various elements of the comics by cutting them out of photocopied pages and
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organizing them into groups. To wrap up the lesson, the students compare comics and written
stories and discuss why one would choose to use the comic book format.
As you can see, the lesson provides a variety of activities and teaching strategies in order
to get the content across to the students. It uses lecture, guided reading, and independent work
while employing a multimodal format that allows students of various learning styles to benefit.
The majority of the reading lessons are structured in this manner. This format provides
opportunities for both teacher- and student-centered instruction, although it does weigh more
heavily toward the teacher. The teacher is used heavily at the beginning of each of these lessons,
but the responsibilities shift toward the end. Another feature of note is that the lessons are
specifically tailored to comic books from the Disney toolkit that comes with the program. This
gives the students a sense of familiarity with the characters, but does not allow for much student
choice in the curriculum.
In 2006, a report was published that reviewed the findings of the pilot program
(Sonnenschein, Baker, Katenkamp, & Beall, 2006). The report highlighted teacher and student
perceptions. In terms of effectiveness, teachers rated the program at a mean of above 3 out of 5.
Each lesson was rated individually as well, and two of the lessons were rated at above 4 (lessons
4 and 7). In terms of student interest, the mean teacher rating was above 4, with individual
lessons ranging from 3.4 (lesson 6) to 4.61 (lesson 7). A student poll showed 70 percent
enjoyment of the program in comparison to 3 percent dislike of the program. This applied to
both boys and girls. In terms of interest in re-use, 80 percent of teachers rated the program a 4
out of 5, indicating that they would be highly interested in using it again. The only negative
findings of the study were that the vocabulary was too difficult in the comics, receiving a mean
teacher rating below 3. Recommendations for the improvement of the program included
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providing choices beyond the Disney comics, modifying the instruction so that the teachers could
prepare students for the vocabulary in the stories and not rely on the personal glossary strategy,
and providing more time for the creation of the comics in the later lessons.
The Comic Book Project is based in New York City and was developed in 2001 by Dr.
Michael Bitz, in partnership with Dark Horse Comics. It was piloted in 2002 at thirty-three
after-school sites around New York City and a year later drew the interest of Columbia
University’s Teachers College. In 2004, the project was launched nationally, and it now can be
implemented around the country through coordination with the Center for Educational Pathways.
The program is implemented after school with students between grades four and eight.
Due to the less structured environment of after-school programs, The Comic Book Project is
utilized differently at different sites, with some spreading out the unit so that students only work
on the project one to two times a week while others have them work on it for fifteen straight
days. Either way, the program is flexible in its method implementation. There is, however, a set
format to which the curriculum tries to adhere. The lessons are structured so that there is a
gradual release of responsibility from the instructor to the students. In the introductory stages,
students and instructors have general discussions about comic books. These conversations
feature information about the elements of the graphic novel format, the use of graphic novels
recommended by the students as models, the visual-world relationships in comics, and the
connection of art to reading. Students are introduced to activities that have them relate the
features of comics to the features of standard literature and digital literature. In one activity,
students are asked to interpret emotions from the drawing of a line and draw a line that exhibits a
certain emotion. Toward the end of the introductory lessons, students are asked to create mini-
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comics. They write outlines, use four panels, design characters, write dialogue, and color in their
drawings.
The second set of lessons is done over six or seven sessions. These lessons focus on
having students write manuscripts for their own personal comic books. These manuscripts are
eight-page templates that involve writing the character dialogue and developing a picture for
each panel in the planning stage. Students write down information about each panel in order to
inform their drawings, outline the story, develop the plot, and make decisions on other story
elements. This is the most difficult set of lessons and requires a significant amount of teacher
support. It benefits both struggling writers and ELL students, who are able to convey the
intended meaning of their stories by using pictures first and then applying English words. It also
helps higher-level writers, who get an opportunity to creatively expand their ideas in a
multimodal format.
The final set of lessons is also done over six or seven sessions. These lessons involve
writing an actual comic book. In this step, students work in groups in order to turn a manuscript
into a full comic book. Students work collaboratively to determine what manuscript to use, how
to revise the content, and how to split up the work. While it is recommended that the final comic
books be developed in groups, there are some sites that allow or encourage students to work
independently. In the end, the students take their comic books all the way to becoming published
pieces by using the steps of the writing process.
The overall goal for the project, as stated by Dr. Bitz, is to increase students’ reading,
writing, and vocabulary skills by using an engaging medium that can allow them to creatively tie
their school and home literacy, as well as express themselves in a new way. The program is
centered on four main New York State English language arts standards. The first standard is that
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students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. They do this
through learning comic vocabulary and a production process parallel to the traditional writer’s
process. In addition, some of the comics used in early lessons are of the non-fiction genre in
order to show how information can be presented in a different way. The second standard is that
students will read, write, listen, and speak for literacy response and expression. To achieve this
standard, students write comics as a way of personal expression, using the art to support their
responses. Class discussion of created comics encourages further self-expression, and some
comics display personal emotional information. The third standard is that students will read,
write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. To achieve this standard, students
need to make critical decisions about which manuscripts to use for their comics and what content
needs to be included or changed. The fourth standard is that students will read, write, listen, and
speak for social interaction. This standard is achieved through the open discussions in the early
lessons, as well as the collaborative groups that create the final comics.
As was the case with the Maryland Comics in the Classroom program, studies done on
the effectiveness of The Comic Book Project resulted in generally positive responses. Dr. Bitz
used surveys as a method of collecting data from students and teachers. He found that 86 percent
of students felt that the project helped them improve their writing. Some 92 percent of students
said they like their own stories as a result of the project, which shows a strong self-perception of
skills; 88 percent of students said that they now look to pictures for context clues in other stories
because of the project; 90 percent of instructors felt that their students’ writing in the classroom
was improving as a result of the project; and 90 percent of instructors also felt that students’ selfperception of their writing had increased due to the project. Other qualitative findings were that
both instructors and students reported that students had a better understanding of the writing
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process as a result of creating comics and that students with limited English proficiency received
the most benefit from getting to use the visual aids with their writing because the writing they
did for the comic book project resulted in longer, more complex stories than they had written all
year.
While both the Maryland Comics in the Classroom program and The Comic Book Project
looked at different populations and used different teaching methods, both have ended up
producing positive results. They show that comics can be used effectively in the classroom in
multiple ways and give teachers a model for how different literacy skills can be taught through
comics and graphic novels. Table 3 compares the features of the two programs.
Table 3. Features of Maryland’s Comics in the Classroom and The Comic Book Project
The Comic Book Project
Comics in the Classroom










Grade 3
In School
Strict Lesson Format
Direct Instruction
General Vocabulary
Instruction
Guided and Shared
Reading
Teacher Centered
Pre-selected Comics
Language arts
features












Motivating reluctant
readers/writers
Personal Reflection
Writers Workshop
Summarizing
Character traits
Plot development
Visualization
Comic based vocabulary
Comic features
Independent reading
Align with their state’s
standards
ELL/struggling writer
benefits
Cooperative learning






Grade 4-8
Afterschool
Loose Lesson
Format
(Workshop Model)
Discussion of Art in
Education
Student Centered
Student-selected
Comics
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
The common qualities of the two pilot programs are all concepts that school literacy
highly values. When compared with IRA/NCTE’s standards for English language arts, many of
these common qualities can be shown to be valued through examination of the sixth standard:
that “students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions, media techniques,
figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts” (Greer,
Smith, Erwin, NCTE, 1996). Plot development, summarizing, visualization, and character traits
are all concepts that students are instructed to use when discussing literacy. Teaching comicbased vocabulary and comic features fits in with the “language conventions” and “media
techniques” alluded to by the standard. Also, the fifth standard, that “students employ a wide
range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to
communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes,” fits very well with the teaching
of the writer’s process that is key to both programs. The concept of audience is definitely
touched upon in the Maryland program’s first lesson, in which students are asked to discuss why
they think the graphic novel format would be a good choice to express certain information to
specific audiences. (Disney, 2006) Overall, it is apparent that the two programs both use
strategies that highlight valuable English language arts content, and that teachers can figure out
ways to use graphic novels that will not only engage their students, but also help them build
conceptual knowledge that aligns with the school curriculum. The rest of this section will focus
on additional teaching activities that incorporate graphic novels in ways that will be beneficial to
the elementary school language arts classroom. These strategies will be focused on using
graphic novels as source material, using the comic format for instruction, and creating graphic
novels.
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Instructional Activities Using Graphic Novels
There are many activities that use graphic novels as a medium for inquiry. Graphic
novels can be used for independent, guided, or shared reading. Many can play a part similar to
that of a traditional text in the reading workshop model. A good example is Jeff Smith’s Bone
(1996). Bone is a fantasy graphic novel that contains many traditional literary themes, such as
the journey home, the unlikely hero, the hero’s quest, unknown destiny, the mentor wizard
figure, and allusions to American literature and film. Scholastic has made the book the highlight
of its graphic novel imprint, Graphix. The publisher has created a teacher’s guide to using the
book and offers quality discussion questions and writing prompts that go along with the books
(Crawford & Weiner, 2006). The best approach is to allow Bone to be used as a book for
literature circles. Literature circles provide a unique opportunity to have students discuss various
aspects of the book and the comic format. Graphic novels are also divided into smaller sections,
similar to what would constitute a comic book issue, and these are ideal for students in a
literature circle to use as starting and stopping points for their multiple meetings. Writing
prompts encourage students to search for critical moments, reflect on character feelings, write
about how the ‘fill in the blanks’ feature of comics is good and bad for the reader, and create
alternate endings to the story. These prompts address multiple levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and
are similar to questions that teachers can generate for traditional text.
As stated earlier, one of the arguments for using graphic novels is that they can be an
effective tool for making cross-curricular connections. This is especially true in reference to
social studies. Glencoe, a company owned by McGraw Hill, recently developed a graphic novel
to accompany their Journey Across Time: The Early Ages textbook (McGraw-Hill, 2007). This
graphic novel was divided into chapters, each one focusing on a different civilization, from early
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cavemen to England during the Renaissance. The stories provide a wealth of historical and
cultural information that can be used to make connections to the information that is provided in
the traditional textbook. Students can read a chapter from the graphic novel before reading the
related textbook chapter, in order to activate and develop their background knowledge. Another
option is for students to read the chapter from the graphic novel after reading the textbook
chapter, and have the students relate the knowledge they gained about that time in history to the
graphic novel in order to build context around the scene. Analyzing the graphic novel chapters
in terms of their perspective and content is also recommended by the textbook. Student can
analyze the graphic novel chapters in order to figure out the main point that the author is trying
to make. This allows for students to then determine the stance that the author of the comic is
taking, and evaluate whether that stance is justified in terms of the information provided in the
textbook. This social studies graphic novel, and others like it, is a quality instructional tool,
especially when trying to increase the comprehension of the content for visual learners and
English Language Learners. These learners often struggle in content areas like social studies
because there is a heavy emphasis on reading text in order to gain knowledge (McGraw-Hill,
2007). Providing information in a multi-modal format allows for students to gain content
knowledge without having to struggle as much as with text alone.
Besides serving as the sole source material for a reading activity, graphic novels can be
used to relate to traditional text (Carter, 2007; Burmark, 2008). Since one of the benefits of
graphic novels is that they engage reluctant readers, they can act as a bridge for reading and
understanding traditional texts when paired appropriately. As stated earlier, many traditional
texts – such as The Wizard of Oz, Goosebumps, and even the works of Shakespeare – have been
adapted into the comic form. Students can be encouraged to read both forms and draw
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
comparisons. They can discuss features that were beneficial to either form, information they
gained only through one form, and the main ideas of the story. The point of using two forms of
the same book is to build comprehension, especially in terms of visualization. Another strategy
is to use graphic novels that have similar themes to traditional texts in order to draw comparisons
(Leibold, 2007). The hero’s journey of Bone is easily compared to that in Where the Wild Things
Are or The Hobbit (which can also be found in the graphic novel format). It is important that
when graphic novels are used in combination with texts, the two are thought of as equal instead
of one supplementing the other (Carter, 2007). If students realize that you value one over the
other in your activities, engagement will suffer.
Another way to use both traditional books and the comic format is to have students adapt
a book or part of a book into a comic and then a skit (Burmark, 2008). In this strategy, students
are to take a scene from a book and reformat it into a comic. Students develop the visuals and
the dialogue of the story and use the comic as a storyboard for a live performance. Students take
their comics and adapt them into short skits. This activity allows students to focus on the details
of the characters and settings. It also allows them to put themselves in the characters’ shoes by
having to role-play and develop appropriate dialogue. The words cannot be taken directly from
the story in this activity, so the students need to develop an understanding for the characters in
order to create believable dialogue.
Using specific features of comics in order to develop visual literacy provides a number of
great classroom activities. Comics in the English Classroom: A Guide for Teachers (Abel &
Madden, 2008) highlights on a few of them. One activity focuses on students filling in the
blanks for text in comic book panels. This can be done for either a single panel or a comic page
and with either the word balloon text or the narrative text. Display a comic with a blank
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narrative box and the students must create a running narrative for a story or short captions to
summarize the actions of each individual panel. This gives students practice in summarizing
visual information. If it is done with blank word balloons, students can develop character voice
and a plot related to the visuals by creating the dialogue for the story. Another activity
highlighted in this pamphlet is “Jam Comics.” In this activity, students create comics
collaboratively; one student creates a panel and passes it along to the next student to create the
next panel. This continues until either the space provided is complete or the story is complete.
This collaborative activity requires that students analyze the panels that have come before theirs
in order to inform their own contributions. It also requires them to be aware of how a plot
develops in terms of content and pacing. A final activity proposed in this pamphlet is creating a
comic with no pictures. Students are asked to draw comics using only words and must use their
knowledge of dialogue, panel size and structure, and onomatopoeia to convey an interesting
story. This helps students develop their use of dialogue in writing and also gives them practice at
adapting the panel layouts and lettering to achieve different effects.
Looking at individual panels and how panels can be used in sequence is another way to
teach using specific comic features (Versaci, 2008). “Panel analysis” is an activity in which
students analyze the visual and textual elements within a panel and interpret the deeper meaning
of those elements. This allows students to develop both literal and inferential comprehension.
Students are instructed to write, as descriptively as possible, what is going on in the panel. They
must explain the context of the colors, lines, text, images, expressions, and other visual cues.
Next, they need to use their knowledge of comic book features (i.e., angle, perspective, line, etc.)
to draw conclusions about why the illustrator made the choices that appear. This is the type of
activity we ask students to do all the time when reading traditional text; in this instance, it asks
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them to transfer the skills from traditional to visual literacy. “Panel puzzle” is an activity that
involves taking panels that are out of sequence and having students rearrange them to develop a
coherent story. To prepare this lesson, a teacher can simply take a comic page, cut out the
individual panels, and mix them up. It is not necessary for students to re-create the story as it
originally unfolded – only for them to be able to sequence the panels in a way that makes sense
and describe the sequence going on in the rearranged page. The students can be asked to either
explain the story on their pages or write one. This activity allows students to develop their
sequencing skills, as well as use the closure technique to create a story.
Teaching the writing process with graphic novels is a very popular instructional strategy
that has been approached in various ways. Both pilot programs incorporated some sort of
writer’s workshop element in them with beneficial results. Another strategy that incorporates the
writer’s process, with a unique spin, is “The Comic Book Show-n-Tell” (Carter, 2007). This
activity has students participate in the writer’s process as if they were comic creators. First, the
teacher must provide background on graphic novels and the comic book industry. Examples
should be discussed so that students understand and appreciate the format. The author of this
project recommends Ultimate Spiderman as a possible text because it has cultural relevance to
students, as well as positive moral themes (such as “with great power comes great
responsibility”). The next step is to instruct students to create comic scripts based on open-ended
prompts (i.e., “Superman saves the day”). The scripts are to be written as comic book authors
would write them, with each including a narrative of the story, a breakdown of the visuals in
each panel, and the dialogue that needs to be included. Since writers and illustrators often
complete their work separately, the teacher must inform the students that it is important for them
to be very descriptive so that the illustrator of the comic can correctly translate their words to
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
visuals. Next, the teacher can have students trade their scripts without talking to one another so
that they can transform each other’s writings into the comic form. After this is done, the students
get their comics back so that the whole class can discuss the process and the issues that arise.
The teacher can then have the students rewrite their scripts with more description and give them
back to the same illustrators. The result should be a comic that fits better with the author’s
vision (Carter, 2007). The benefits of this activity include allowing students to work
collaboratively, create text using an authentic process, practice editing for details, and discuss
metacognitive aspects of the writing process. “The Comic Book Show-n-Tell” helps students
become attuned to sensory elements in their writing and to understand that it is important to get
the visualizations for their stories down in written form so that others can understand them as
well.
One problem with all of these activities – and with using graphic novels in general – is
that not all learners are going to be enthusiastic about drawing, which is a large component of
including graphic novels in the classroom. However, there are create-your-own-comics websites
that offer a very nice adjustment for these students, as well as potentially for the whole class.
Students who do not like drawing or are embarrassed by their drawing skills can use these
websites to complete many of these activities. MakeBeliefscomix.com and Pixtoncomics.com
both allow users to create multiple-paneled comics with complex characters, settings, and
dialogue. All of the comic features discussed earlier can be used with these websites, which
have a twofold function: they help promote adaptation for students who do not enjoy drawing
and also provide multiple opportunities to develop digital literacy. The Internet is a medium that
students interact with at home, and allowing them to use it in the classroom will serve to increase
engagement. Building these digital comics can be a stepping stone for many other activities,
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such as creating a scene using new vocabulary words, reflecting on personal interests and
activities, creating storyboards for an original story, and developing comics in foreign languages
using the transcription tools of the websites (Zimmerman, 2010). The transcription tool also
gives teachers a resource to use with ELL students. Teachers can have students create comics in
their original language, transcribe them into English, and compare the two. This allows ELL
students to use their primary language in the classroom and build story development skills.
Assessment
Quality assessment is one of the most problematic issues to arise with graphic novels.
Currently, the only real assessments that schools use with graphic novels are Accelerated Reader
tests (Lewis, 2009), the progress monitoring computer software for reading. These tests
generally assess only a student’s literal comprehension of the text and often focus on lower-level
questions in terms of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The list of graphic novels used by the AR program is
more beneficial for helping teachers to select appropriate graphic novels for the classroom than it
is for assessment. (This will be discussed further in the next section.) This does not mean that
graphic novels cannot be integrated into other current assessment strategies. One possibility for
using the comic format as an assessment is to have students conduct retellings by creating comic
strips. After reading, students can create comics of the just-completed passages, providing
insight into their visualization abilities. This can be combined with having each student give an
oral explanation of the product and draw connections between the panels in the comic strip and
the actual text. As is the case with most retellings, this would not provide much in terms of
quantitative information, but it would provide qualitative data on a student’s ability to
characterize, describe a setting, sequence a plot, pick out main ideas from a story, use supporting
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
details, and summarize information. In order to learn about more inferential comprehension, a
teacher could have the student create an alternate ending panel in the comic or insert himself or
herself into the comic retelling. These are all areas that appear on the retelling assessment
presented at the 37th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association (McAllister,
1992).
The dual coding features of graphic novels make it difficult to conduct a running record
(analysis of a student’s oral reading over one-hundred words) on student reading. One of the
best qualities of a running record is the cuing system information that it provides, but since the
text in graphic novels is often in a more conversational format than a narrative one, syntactic and
semantic cues may be difficult to detect. The visual aid of the graphic novel also makes
conducting running records problematic. However, miscue analysis can still be done with the
medium. Miscue analyses generally investigate a student’s miscues on the word and sentence
levels in terms of the visual, syntactic, and semantic cuing systems. As is true with the running
records, it would be difficult to conduct an analysis of miscues on the sentence level, but the
word level information would still be beneficial. Graphic novels also tend to be able to use more
difficult vocabulary without leading students to lose comprehension of the text, as described
earlier. This feature means that a teacher could conduct a miscue analysis using a graphic novel
that has words slightly above the student’s reading level without having the student get frustrated
with the assessment. The difficulty of the actual text would provide more miscues for the
teacher to analyze.
While using these three traditional reading assessments should be looked at more closely
in future research, graphic novels can be adapted to fit other forms of assessments as well.
Portfolio assessment would work very well in analyzing student-created comics over the course
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- 39 -
of the year. Portfolios can be analyzed for trends in writing, use of literary features, and use of
details. This type of assessment would still be qualitative, like the retellings, but a teacher could
develop a rubric for assessing student-created graphic novels as well. In Table 4, I provide an
example of a possible rubric that assesses student use of story structure, textual features, and
visual features. This can be applied only after the graphic novel format has been explicitly
taught and creating comics using this rubric has been modeled.
Table 4: Rubric for assessing student comics
Score
3
2
1
Story
The story has a
coherent beginning,
middle, and end. The
text and the visuals
match up with one
another. The panels are
clearly connected in
sequence. The
characters and settings
have been
described/shown in
detail.
The story has a
coherent beginning and
end, but some panels
may be out of
sequence. There is
some connection
between the panels, but
it is not clear. The
characters and settings
have been
described/shown, but
without much detail.
The story is sequenced
without a connection
between the panels and
without any particular
order. There is no
character/setting detail.
Text Features
There are no more than
two spelling errors.
Text can be clearly
characterized as speech,
thought, or narrative.
Narrative text follows
grammatical rules of
ELA.
Visual Features
Panel layout is left to right
and top to bottom. Borders
and panels are clear and
used correctly. Student has
erased any stray marks in
images before coloring.
Images are inked and
colored. Characters can be
differentiated through some
identifying feature.
There are fewer than ten
spelling errors. Text is
used, but it is unclear
what type of text it is.
Text has apparent
grammatical errors, but
still follows the
grammatical rules of
ELA for the most part.
Panel layout is left to right
and top to bottom. Borders
are unclear, making it hard
to differentiate between
panels. There are stray
pencil marks throughout the
images. Images are inked
and partially colored.
Characters are difficult to
differentiate.
There are more than ten
spelling errors. Text is
either used minimally or
not at all. When used, it
does not follow the
grammatical rules of
ELA.
Borders are not used,
making panel layout
difficult to determine.
Visuals have not been inked
or colored. Comics still
appear as pencil marks.
There is no differentiation
between the characters.
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
Building a Graphic Novel Collection!
In order to include graphic novels in the school environment, teachers must take multiple
steps to ensure responsible use of the medium. Developing a graphic novel collection in the
classroom can be a difficult task due to the lack of experience that teachers and school
administrators have in evaluating the format and using it in the classroom. The process of
building a classroom collection must include evaluating the appropriateness and literary value of
individual graphic novels, raising administrative and parental support for including graphic
novels in the curriculum, and deciding how to organize them in the classroom. This section will
provide recommendations for approaching each of these steps.
Step 1: Evaluating Graphic Novels for a Classroom Collection
There are many tools that can aid educators in the selection of graphic novels. Not all
comics and graphic novels are good for the classroom, and it is important that teachers learn how
to analyze this growing form so that the gems can be pulled from among the available options.
The most common criticism that comics receive is that they often have material that is too adult
for elementary grade levels. As stated previously, any medium will have material that is either
too adult or too childish for the intended grade level; the trick is figuring out how to identify
appropriate material. One of the most often cited resources for finding graphic novels that are
appropriate and beneficial to the classroom is The 101 Best Graphic Novels, by Stephen Weiner
(2001). One of the simplest ways for teachers to evaluate the appropriateness of comics is the
age-marking system that appears on almost every published graphic novel (Lamb & Johnson,
2009). American comics have two main rating systems. The first is the system of the Comics
Code Authority, which is the organization created in the 1950s to censor and rate comic books.
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
There is also the Marvel Rating System, created by Marvel Comics to rate its own material.
Obviously, one would avoid any comics that are deemed inappropriate. American comics
typically use the term “all ages” to indicate that a comic has material appropriate for elementary
school children. The term “mature audiences” is used for ages 18 and up. “Teen” is also a label
that is found on many comics and is the age range in which the bulk of popular comics exist.
Manga comics are even more specific with their rating systems. “A” indicates that the material
is good for all ages, “Y” refers to youth and those in the upper elementary grades, “T” refers to
teens, “OT” is for ages 16 and up, and “M” is for mature audiences. In recent years, there has
been a huge increase in the number of youth graphic novels that have been published in both
formats (Hatfield, 2006).
The fact that a comic is appropriate for an age group, of course, does not mean that it
should be used in the classroom. A better indicator can be found through the Accelerated Reader
program. More than 850 graphic novels are supported by the AR program (Lewis, 2009). They
range from 0.8 to 10.6 on a scale indicating their reading level. This shows that there are
available options for every grade and reading level from elementary school to high school. The
AR credit-points that can be obtained from these books range from 0.5 to 50. While the AR tests
may not be particularly valuable in terms of providing assessment information, as explained
earlier, the AR book lists can help determine what graphic novels should be used in the
classroom. This is especially true if the information from the AR lists is used in conjunction
with the wealth of online resources that promote, explain, and review graphic novels.
The first thing teachers should do when researching graphic novels for use in the
classroom is view author and publisher websites. These sites often give detailed descriptions of
books, age ranges, and genres. Many also include recommendations for classroom use. Jeff
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, has a valuable website, www.wimpykid.com, where
one can preview his graphic novels. Publishing companies such as Marvel Comics and DC
Comics also provide child-centered material on their websites. As mentioned earlier, Scholastic
has a line of graphic novels distributed under the Graphix label. This imprint has republished
Jeff Smith’s acclaimed nine-volume fantasy series, Bone (first published from 1991 to 2004), in
a color graphic novel edition (Hatfield, 2006). Teachers can find reviews and mini-sites of all
Graphix novels at www.scholastic.com/graphix. These websites and others give teachers the
opportunity to examine comics that they may choose to use in their classrooms. A caveat, not
surprisingly, is that these sites may contain heavy bias, so teachers should also look at
independent reviewing sites and group forums.
Many independent organizations have developed websites and lists of recommended
graphic novels for classroom use (Williams & Peterson, 2009). One of the best independent
reviewing sites on the Web is www.noflyingnotights.com (Brenner, 2002). This website was
created by a long-time supporter of graphic novels in education, Robin Brenner, to give teachers
a place to learn about comics and help them make critical decisions about their use in the
classroom. There are three sites in the ‘noflyingnotights’ family. They are a main website for
teens, the Sidekick site for children up to age twelve, and the adult site for older readers. Each
site contains reviews of comics and also organizes them into genres, age groupings, and “toprated” lists. Categories include superhero, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, humor, actionadventure, realism, and non-fiction. The material is easy to navigate, and each review includes
an age recommendation so that teachers can evaluate both the quality of the comic and whether it
might be appropriate for their students. Also included is a section titled “What’s The Deal?” that
provides information about comics, features, popular authors, and other things educators should
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
know about the medium. Top-ten lists of graphic novels from www.noflyingnotights.com will be
provided at the end of the paper, along with lists of other graphic novels that have been found to
be useful in schools (Appendix A).
Another group devoted to promoting graphic novels in education is the National
Association of Comics Art Educators (NACAE). The NACAE website,
www.teachingcomics.org, is specifically intended to be a forum where educators can go to
discuss how they use graphic novels in the classroom. The site provides instructional guides for
those who are seeking to learn about graphic novels and lesson plans for teachers who are trying
to figure out how to use these books. While the site was initially developed to promote the
teaching of graphic novels in art classrooms, it has been expanded for use in other subject areas,
as well (The Council Chronicle, 2005).
When dealing with the question of whether to purchase a graphic novel or individual
comic book issues, teachers are strongly urged to go for the graphic novels. Comic book issues
are flimsy, use low-quality paper, and are easily stolen. (Since comics are very popular among
students, it pays to remember that theft is a real possibility.) In addition, comics are generally
sold for between $2 and $4 per issue. Graphic novels generally offer more content for the price.
A six-issue graphic novel may cost $15, as opposed to six individual issues costing $4 each for a
total of $24. Graphic novels often have author interviews and backup material not included in
the individual comic book issues. Teachers should look into major bookstore chains as well as
comic book shops in order to compare prices. Often, these companies are willing to give
discounts to teachers; some smaller outlets may be willing, as well, so it makes sense to ask.
Two online options for purchasing graphic novels in bulk are Discount Comic Book Service
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
(www.dcbservice.com) and In Stock Trades (www.instocktrades.com), which both give
discounts of up to 40 percent and provide free shipping for bulk orders.
Step 2: Gaining Support from Administrators and Parents
The success or failure of a teacher’s integration of graphic novels in the curriculum will
have an effect on both the administration of the school and the parents of the students. Gaining
support in these quarters before initiating curricular change will decrease the resistance of
colleagues, principals, other parents, and the school board (McTaggart, 2008). To begin gaining
support, it is best for a teacher to mention his or her plan to the other teachers in the school. This
can be done through discussions with grade teaching teams or just by talking to colleagues in the
teachers’ lounge. The reasons for using graphic novels must be stressed, and potential uses must
be shared. Teachers should invite their fellow educators to provide suggestions in order to build
support – and it is to be hoped that these teachers will also be open to giving graphic novels a try.
Once teacher support is obtained, a formal proposal should be given to the principal
(McTaggart, 2008). By explaining the benefits of graphic novels, as well as showing how they
can match up with curricular goals, teachers can gain administrators’ support for their integration
into the curriculum. There is likely, however, to be a significant amount of resistance and
skepticism from other educators and administrators even after they have been presented with a
strong case for the new approach. This is due to years of negative perceptions about the
medium. Cautious and informed book selection is key to promoting and protecting the use of
graphic novels. Teachers should therefore use the resources previously discussed in order to
avoid books that may have objectionable material and could draw criticism from those who are
still not on board with the plan. One important caution is that teachers must preview all graphic
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
novels as they come in and never purchase one that can’t be returned. Notwithstanding the
wealth of resources that may steer a teacher toward potentially high-quality material, the
educator is ultimately responsible for the graphic novels, and one overlooked book with
troublesome content can undermine the medium as a whole.
After teachers and administrators are supportive, the idea must be marketed to parents.
One sound approach is to volunteer to give graphic novel book talks at PTA and school board
meetings. In fact, teachers must be prepared to promote the use of comics whenever an
opportunity presents itself. Finally, it will be time to begin the exciting process of using graphic
novels as a teaching tool, which, in turn, will generate further support among classroom
observers and others in the school environment.
Comics and graphic novels are expensive, so building public support is essential for a
teacher who is unable or unwilling to carry the financial burden on his or her own. One
recommended strategy is to buy or borrow a few select titles for initial instruction and develop a
mini-unit that will culminate with a program that can be attended by parents. A “Graphic
Reading Night” (McTaggart, 2008) is an activity in which students come to school one evening
in costume and present personal comics they have published in a mini-unit. There should be an
opportunity for informal socialization at such an event, and the teacher should keep the comics in
sight so that parents can view and read them over the course of the evening. At the end of the
program, the teacher can make a pitch to the parents in attendance, highlighting the work their
children have done and explaining the benefits of using graphic novels in the classroom. The
educator can also casually ask whether anyone would like to donate money to purchase a graphic
novel for classroom use and provide title recommendations, mentioning that financial assistance
would be appreciated and that the book would be incorporated into the unit. This type of event
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
requires principal approval due to the nature of the fundraising, but if handled correctly it can
result in both support for a graphic novel program and increased access to graphic novels for the
students.
Step 3: Organizing Graphic Novels in the School and Classroom
There are multiple decisions to be made about where to keep graphic novels in the school
and how to regulate access to them. The first option is to put the books in the school library.
This is currently the most common place for graphic novels in schools (Carter, 2008). But this
approach has the drawback of limiting use of the books because they are not easily available to
all of the students. This paper suggests that graphic novels be placed directly in the classroom.
This makes them available for independent reading by students and promotes their use for
instructional activities, literature circles, and guided reading. While increased availability is
good for the students, it is worth noting that there does need to be increased monitoring and
regulation of the graphic novels housed in this manner; if this is lacking, the books may
disappear. While the graphic novels should be integrated into the classroom library and possibly
given their own genre bin, students should not be allowed to take them out of the classroom
without checking them out. A checkout method for bringing books home will both increase
student accountability and protect the curricular investment.
Recommendations and Conclusion
As we have seen, graphic novels can clearly be beneficial to instruction in the English
language arts classroom, but there are still many questions surrounding the medium. First, what
other instructional practices can be implemented with comics, and what are the best practices?
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
The recommendations for instructional activities provided here only scratch the surface of how
graphic novels can be integrated into instruction. While the Maryland Comic Book Initiative and
The Comic Book Project have provided the groundwork for comics-based curriculums, more
possibilities need to be presented to teachers before the form can be truly embraced. Research
concerning graphic novels generally focuses on the reasons for using comics in the classroom
and devotes very little attention to how to achieve the full range of benefits. As more people
start using existing comic book programs, more research can be done on the best practices for the
medium.
Second, what type of professional development is needed for teachers? Graphic novels
are slowly making their way into the classroom, but many teachers are still unfamiliar with the
works and their features. Professional development could initially focus on instructing teachers
about the features of comics so they can gain a better understanding of the medium and begin to
shed some of the misconceptions that surround it.
Third, what other visual media can be integrated with graphic novels? Comics are not the
only visual medium that contains the dual-coding benefit of text and visuals. The Internet, video
games, and other media may provide diverse benefits for student readers if they are properly
incorporated into the classroom along with graphic novels. Further research needs to be done to
investigate how these other tools can be combined with comics to develop a curriculum that
places a high value on visual literacy and is more responsive to the growing importance that
visual media have in today’s society.
It is hoped that this paper will serve as a starting point for an important discussion about
the subject covered. The potential for using comics to inspire student achievement is
considerable, and it deserves to be explored in depth for the benefit of children with differing
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
ability levels and diverse cultural backgrounds. Graphic novels have earned their place in the
classroom for many reasons, including the significant increase in their quality and substance over
the past twenty years. Now, teachers in a range of disciplines need to re-examine their
perceptions of this promising medium and re-evaluate whether they can use it to help their
students learn. The case for the inclusion of graphic novels in the curriculum is strong and multifaceted, since they can provide not only instructional benefits, but also social benefits. While
traditional texts will always have a significant place in the classroom, it is time to make the
reading curriculum more inclusive so our schools catch up with the needs of our changing
society. It is time to give graphic novels a shot.
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Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
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Literature Cited:
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Runton, A. (2004). Owly. Top Shelf Productions.
Sadamoto, Y. (2002). Neon Genesis Evangelion. Viz Communications.
Satrapi, M. (2000). Persepolis. Pantheon Books.
Sciezka, J. (2006). Time Warp Trio. New York: HarperTrophy.
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Shepard, A. (2001). Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria. New York: HarperCollins.
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Smith, J. (1996). Bone. Cartoon Books.
Stassen, J.P. (2006). Deogratias. First Second.
Talbot, B. (1995). The Tale of One Bad Rat. Dark Horse Comics.
Telgemeier, R. (2006). The Baby-Sitters Club. 2006. New York: Scholastic.
Tezuka, O. (2001). Adolf. Cedence Books.
Thompson, S. (1997). Scary Godmother. Sirius Entertainment.
Torres, J. (2002). Alison Dare. Oni Press.
Vaughn, B.K. (2003). Runaways. New York: Marvel Comics.
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Williams, M. (1995). Greek Myths for Young Children. Candlewick.
Winick, J. (2000). Pedro and Me. Henry Holt & Company.
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Appendix A: Popular Graphic Novels Used in the Schools
Much of the research (Hahn, 2009; Harris, 2008; Behler, 2006; Schneider, 2007; Lamb &
Johnson, 2009; Schwarz, 2002; Lyga, 2006) provided examples of graphic novels that have been
used in classroom. In this section, recommendations from the research have been divided into
lists based on age level, adapted literature, awards, and www.noflyingnotights.com top 10 lists.
Age 5 and Up
Princess and the Frog by Will Eisner
Comic Adventures of Boots by Satoshi Kitamura
Master Man: A Tall Tale of Nigeria by Aaron Shepard
Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tale Funnies
by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly
Owly by Andy Runton
FANTASY
ADVENTURE
FANTASY
FANTASY
FANTASY
Age 7 and Up
Archie by Archie Comics Publications
The Last Knight by Will Eisner
Amelia Rules! By Jay Hosler
Bone by Jeff Smith
Babymouse: Heartbreaker by Jennifer L. Holm and Mathew Holm
Mail Order Ninja by Joshua Elder
Time Warp Trio by Jon Sciezka
Clan Apis by Jay Hosler
Magic Pickle by Scott Morse
Greek Myths for Young Children by Marcia Williams
HUMOR
FANTASY
REALISM
FANTASY
FANTASY
ADVENTURE
FANTASY
NON-FICTION
SUPERHERO
FANTASY
Age 9 and Up
City of Light, City of Dark by Avi
Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis
Tellos by Todd Dezago
X-Men Evolution by Devin Grayson
Amy Unbounded by Rachel Hartman
Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb
The Hobbit by Sean Deming and Chuck Dixon
Alison Dare by J. Torres
FANTASY
SUPERHERO
FANTASY
SUPERHERO
FANTASY
SUPERHERO
FANTASY
ADVENTURE
Teens
American Born Chinese by Gene Yang
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman and John Ney Rieber
Runaways by Brian K. Vaughn
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore
FANTASY
SUPERHERO
FANTASY
SUPERHERO
SUPERHERO
Hershon: Teaching with Graphic Novels
Young Adults
Adolf by Osamu Tezuka
Deogratias by J.P. Stassen
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman
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HISTORICAL
HISTORICAL
HISTORICAL
HISTORICAL
FANTASY
Award Winners
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Caldecott Medal
The Wall: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis Caldecott Honor
American Born Chinese by Gene Yang
ALA Michal L. Pintz Award
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History
By Art Spiegelman
Pulitzer Prize
The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
World Fantasy Award
Owly: Flying Lessons by Andy Runton
Eisner Award
Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Peterson
Eisner Award
NoFlyingNoTights.com Top Ten List for Children
Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility by Brian Michael Bendis
Tellos: Reluctant Heroes by Todd Dezago
Amy Unbounded by Rachel Hartman
Clan Abis by Jay Holser
Meridian: Flying Solo by Barbara Kesel
Castle Waiting: The Lucky Road by Linda Medley
Magic Pickle by Scott Morse
Bone by Jeff Smith
Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson
Alison Dare by J. Torre
NoFlyingNoTights.com Top Ten List for Teens
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Ultimate Spiderman: Power and Responsibility by Brian Michael Bendis
Neon Genesis Evangelion by Yoshiuki Sadamoto
The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
Meridian by Barbara Kesel
Bone by Jeff Smith