Graphic Novels/ Comic Books in the Classroom

My dad is what could be classified as a comic book geek, and because of this, I’ve grown up around comics and graphic novels. I’m not going to say that I learned how to read with graphic novels, but I definitely spent more time reading comics and graphic novels growing up than typical chapter books. They kept me interested and helped build my visual literacy skills that are so important in today’s world.

For today I read an article from Scholastic about the benefits of comic book and graphic novels for students (Raising Super Readers: The Benefits of Comic Books and Graphic Novels). Comics and graphic novels are often looked down upon because they are viewed as juvenile or not real books, even though they often keep readers more interested than some traditional texts. A lot of parents may not realize that many “classic” stories have been recreated in a graphic novel form including Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, Frankenstein, and many of Shakespeare’s plays.

The article points out several benefits that students gain from reading graphic novels and comic books including “motivating reluctant readers, inference, memory, sequencing, understanding succinct language, and reading comprehension”. They also point out that graphic novels and comics help students better understand plot development because they can’t speed read through it like a regular book. They have to slow down to look at the images to get a greater sense of what is going on in the story.

Comics and graphic novels are also great tools for children with learning disabilities. Children with Autism can learn how to better identify emotions through the images in graphic novels. Dyslexic students often find it hard to finish a page in a traditional text-only book, but they can feel a sense of accomplishment when they finish a page of a graphic novel which helps to keep them reading.  

Graphic novels and comic books should not be the only form of literature in the classroom, but they shouldn’t be ignored either. They are great tools and can be used in a variety of ways to help students become better readers.

Article Link: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/blogs/scholastic-parents-raise-reader/raising-super-readers-benefits-comic-books-and-graphic-novels