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

The graphic novel: Why and how

� Curricular value

� Classroom application

Bedford Central School District, grades 6-12

� 8% Identified English Language Learners

� 21% Hispanic

� 6% African-American

Collaborative Process

� ESL Coordinator and Library/Media Specialist

� Summer reading and research

� Conferences and workshops

� Classroom instruction

� Faculty book study

Comics

� Juvenile delinquency

� McCarthy hearings

� Comics code

� “Ghettoization”

Comics

� Adolescents who read comics

are more likely to become

serious readers

� Comics 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

Excerpts from Maus by Art Spiegelman

How do you read a graphic novel?

� Text features of a novel

� Storyline entirely illustrated in panels

Variety within the form

� Manga

� Classics: Adapted and

unabridged

� Comics journalism

� Original narrative

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

� English courses

� ESL courses

� Social Studies courses

� Building-wide text

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

Turn and talk

� What instructional opportunities do you see in these pages from American Born Chinese?

� How would the graphic novel enhance instruction for ELLs?

(Yang, 2006)

(Yang, 2006)

(Yang, 2006)

(Yang, 2006)

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

Iconic�Images�of�Superheroes

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)

Publishing Trends

• Decrease in trade book sales by 5.2%

• 5% increase in sales of graphic novels

(Publishers Weekly, 2006)

The Fox Lane High School Library Website

http://www.bcsdny.org/flhs.cfm?subpage=3881

� Recommended titles and reviews

� Bibliography

� Links to instructional resources

Thank You

tcarrigan0173@bcsdny.org

aviscardi1133@bcsdny.org