Title: COMIC RELIEF : Using Graphic Novels to Motivate Male Adolescent Readers
1COMIC RELIEF Using Graphic Novels to Motivate
Male Adolescent Readers
2006 NCSLMA Conference Winston-Salem, NC
- Karen Gavigan, Director
- Teaching Resources Center
- UNC at Greensboro
- karen_gavigan_at_uncg.edu
2- From As You Like It
- by William Shakespeare
- Then the whining schoolboy,
- With his satchel
- and shiny morning face,
- Creeping like a snail
- Unwillingly to school.
3Current Boy Crisis in Literacy
- The widest current gender gap for learning
achievement, as measured by standardized test
scores, is in the area of literacy (ETS Gender
Study, 1997) - Male adolescents are outperformed by female
adolescents in U.S. literacy achievement scores
(Booth, 2002 Smith Wilhelm, 2002). - The gap between male and female reading
achievement increases over time. - 8th grade girls scored an average of 11 points
higher than 8th grade boys on standardized
reading tests. 12th grade girls scored 16 points
higher than boys. (Tyre, 2006)
4Definition of a Graphic Novel
- A sturdy, lengthy comic book
- that contains a single story
- or a set of interrelated stories
- told by using
- sequential art.
- (Rothschild, 1995)
- AKA
- book length comic
5Bringing Reluctant Male Adolescents into the
World of Reading
- They provide comic relief to
- struggling male adolescent
- readers by allowing them to
- choose visually appealing, high interest
- literature that captures their imaginations.
6Graphic Novels Offer Variety and Choice
- if we can get just a few boys to read a few
good books, we will have started the change.
Cajole, coerce, do whatever needs to be done to
get one book into one boys hands, or back
pocket. - From the author, Robert Lipsyte
- as cited in Brozo p. 23 (Brozo, 2002)
- When given the opportunity
- to select reading materials,
- male adolescents often select graphic novels.
- (Krashen, 2004)
7Graphic Novels A Bridge to More Challenging
Reading
- Samuel Johnson wrote,
- you have done a great deal
- when you have brought a boy to have
entertainment from a book. - Hell get better books afterwards.
- (as cited in Brozo, 2002, p. 77).
8Using Graphic Novels Across the Curriculum
- They help students develop literacy language
skills by reinforcing vocabulary - They give students a chance to explore visual
literacy develop critical thinking skills - They can present information about literature,
history social issues in ways that appeal to
reluctant readers
9Using Graphic Novels Across the Curriculum
- They provide stepping stones to full-text
classics and springboards to extra learning
activities - They can inspire challenged students who lack
reading confidence, reading ability, or
motivation for self-guided reading - From
- Developing Promoting
- Graphic Novel Collections
- Miller, 2005
10Language Arts
11Social Studies
12Science
13Graphic Novels Gaining Popularity Faster Than a
Speeding Bullet
- Four major comic book publishers have all
reported sales increases with Marvel Comics
experiencing a 400 increase from 1999-2003
(Foster, 2004) - Some libraries have reported 25 increases in
overall collection circulation after adding
graphic novels to their collections. (Miller
2005) - Respected periodicals, such as Booklist,
Knowledge Quest, School Library Journal,
Publishers Weekly, and VOYA publish articles
about graphic novels as well as graphic novel
reviews - The U.S. Military Academy at West Point recently
made it a requirement for cadets to read a
graphic novel before they graduate.
14A Word to the Wise
- Convince your stakeholders share the research
- Be sure to read reviews, preferably more than one
- Use established lists from organizations such as
YALSA
15Super Results!
- When media specialists
- use graphic novels
- to bring positive changes in the literacy lives
of male adolescents, - the results can be
- more powerful than a locomotive!
16Be a Superhero in Your Media Center Start a
Graphic Novel Collection Today.