Pictures (and Words) Speak Pictures (and Words) Speak Louder: Louder: Graphic NovelsGraphic Novelsin the ELL Classroomin the ELL Classroom
TESOL 2010
Tom Carrigan, Library/Media Specialist
Adrienne Viscardi, Coordinator of ESL
Bedford Central School District
Bedford, New York
Collaborative Process
� ESL Coordinator and Library/Media Specialist
� Summer reading and research
� Conferences and workshops
� Classroom instruction
� Faculty book study
The graphic novel: Why and how
� Curricular value
� Classroom application
Comics
� Adolescents who read comics
are more likely to become
serious readers
� Appeal to different cultures(Cary, 2004)
(Krashen, 2004)
Key Factors in Literacy Development for Adolescents
� Identity
� Engagement
� Motivation
(Short and Fitzsimmons, 2007)
Dilemma in Adolescent Literacy
� Prototypical human practices and conditions
� Varied, specialized text structures and
complex literary elements
� Inter-textual links to prior knowledge
(Lee and Spratley, 2010)
Elements of effective adolescent literacy programs
� Diverse texts
� Motivation and self-directed learning
� Text-based collaborative learning
� Effective instructional principles
embedded in content
� Direct, explicit comprehension instruction
(Biancarosa and Snow, 2006)
What we know about ELLs
(O(O’’Keefe et al., 2007)Keefe et al., 2007)
� ELLs have limited and varied
background knowledge
� Cognitive ability differs from
linguistic proficiency
� Advanced ELLs understand
85-90% of the words in text
What is a graphic novel?
“A book-length sequential art narrative
featuring an anthology-style collection of
comic art, a collection of reprinted comic
book issues comprising a single story line,
or an original, stand-alone narrative”
(Carter, 2007)
Art Spiegelman’s Maus
� Published in 1986
� Won Pulitzer Prize in
1992
� Guggenheim Fellowship
� Nominated for National
Book Critics Circle Award
How do you read a graphic novel?
� Text features of a novel
� Storyline entirely illustrated in panels
Instructional benefits
� Appeals to multiple learning styles
� Encourages struggling readers– Visual scaffold
– Sense of accomplishment
� Promotes wide reading
(Krashen, 2004)
Instructional benefits
� Provides vehicle for discussion of other texts and issues
� Increases accessibility of unfamiliar settings and themes
� Promotes heterogeneous grouping
� Facilitates differentiated instruction
Promising applications
� Pairing graphic novel and other genre
� Models for integration of art and writing
American Born Chinese
� National Book Award Finalist
� The Monkey King, Jin Wang
and Chin-kee
� Universal themes that appeal
to ELLs and adolescents
Themes
� Cultural conflict
� Enlightenment
� Identity
� Love and friendship
� Loyalty
� Reconciliation
� Transformation
Literary language
� Allusion
� Characterization
� Climax
� Conflict
� Dialogue
� Flashback
� Foreshadowing
� Motif
� Narrator
� Parable
� Plot
� Prologue
� Resolution
� Setting
� Symbol
� Theme
Building background
� “The All-American Slurp” by Lensey Namioka
� The Monkey King: A Superhero’s Tale of
China by Aaron Shepard
� YouTube clip and
newspaper article
on Gene Yang
Caricatureand stereotypes
� Provocative images
� Sensitive discussions
� Background knowledge
Caricatures and Stereotypes
During- and after-reading activities
� Shared reading
� Small group reading
� Image grammar
(Noden, 1999)
� Literary elements
and devices
� Recursive
vocabulary
instruction (Allen,
2007)
During- and after-reading activities
� Journal writing
� PowerWriting (Fisher, Rothenberg, and Frey, 2007)
� Writing between the panels (Carter, 2007)
� Teachbacks (Kirshbaum, 2009)
The Fox Lane High School Library Website
http://www.bcsdny.org/flhs.cfm?subpage=3881
� Recommended titles and reviews
� Bibliography
� Links to instructional resources