Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom

 

I have no experience once so ever with graphic novels. When someone says graphic novels, I think of anime books, and I have a strong dislike for anime, so I always turn my nose up at the thought of reading graphic novels. It wasn't really until this quarter that my perception of what constituted as a graphic novel changed.

Because I thought the optional graphic novel books for the textbook list this quarter were going to be anime, I declined spending my money on them. Since then, I've been able to explore my friend's books since she decided to "treat herself" to these textbooks because she was so excited about them. Once I opened them, I found out why.

Graphic novels could mean anime, but they are not limited to just that category. The ones that were recommended for this class were not anime, and I liked that a lot. I can understand why students would enjoy seeing literature come to life. Visuals tend to help learners much more than just reading the words on a page. I like the idea of pairing a novel with a visual, whether that be a graphic novel, movie, etc.

I personally would not enjoy solely reading a graphic novel. I don't like the comic layout. It is too disjointed to me. I also like conjuring up pictures in my head of what is happening in a book. I would, however, buy the recommended books for my classroom for the benefit of my students. The textbooks contain multitudes of stories from literature so you are not limited to only a few. They are beautifully done, but my favorite part is the variety.

The way I would use them in my classroom would be to have them available for students to access at any point. I don't know that I would necessarily take class time to go over the graphic novel with them, but I may show certain scenes if I feel it would be helpful, especially in those hard to picture scenes.

Onto the Christmas/birthday list they go.