The ability to read is one of the most important skills that
students will learn while they are in school. This is a skill that they will
rely on throughout their entire life, and if they do not master it, they will
face a lot of difficulty. Teachers may use a variety of techniques to help the
students learn how to read and understand what they are reading, but those
techniques are meaningless if the students aren’t practicing reading.
So how do we as teachers make students practice reading? Can
we force books into their hands and expect results? I think the majority of us
understand that this is not effective at all, but sometimes it seems to be the
only option with some students. There are so many students who don’t want to
read, likely because they feel that they are not good at it and it’s too much
hard work, then don’t practice reading in order to become good at it. It’s a
vicious downward spiral of negativity.
As teachers, it’s our responsibility to break this cycle. We
need to be aware of the ways that we are teaching our students how to read.
Mary Beth Hurtz suggests
that standardized testing is a hurdle that many teachers are placing in front
of their students without realizing what they are doing. These standardized
tests evaluate the third overall expectation of the curriculum, checking to see
if the students can read fluently. These teachers are focusing so much on
preparing their students for these tests, providing them with passages similar
to those on the tests, that they are often wringing out any enjoyment from the
act of reading. When the only examples that students are given of reading are
boring passages that they are forced to read about topics that they really don’t
care about, how can we blame them for not wanting to pick up a book?
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| Source: http://www.wiziq.com/teachblog/top-five-must-read-books-for-students/ |
So, we need to put away the practice passages and give our
students some real books to read. Geoff Richman explains that we need to provide skill appropriate choices that covers a wide
range of interests, from fantasy adventure to mystery to sports. So, if we
place a whole bunch of novel from different genres in front of our students, we’ve
solved the problem, right? Well… no. Even though a student may find a novel
with a story that they’re sure that they will enjoy, and with language that
they can understand, the size of the novel might be really intimidating for
them. However, something with fewer words like a magazine or a graphic novel
could be exactly what the student needs. There is a perception that these types
of writing are a lesser form of writing, and that students may use them as a
stepping stone but that they should still be striving towards the higher form
of writing, the novel. I disagree.
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| Source: https://chasemagnett.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/comics-vs-graphic-novels-semantic-showdown/ |
Graphic novels may contain fewer words than a traditional
novel, but they are still considered “novels”. Andrew Miller argues that graphic novels contain the same sorts of literary elements that
traditional novels have, and that they build the same critical reading skills
as traditional novels. In addition, teachers who value differentiated instruction
will love graphic novels, especially since a lot of classic novels have a
graphic novel adaptation. The teacher can assign either the graphic or
traditional novel to students according to their skill level, and then still be
able to have a class discussion on the same story.
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| Source: http://www.fenelonfalls.info/cartoon-anthologies-graphic-novels/ |
Graphic novels are great because they can get students
interested in reading for pleasure. Teachers can also use them as an example of
one type of literary text as opposed to an article in a magazine (first overall
expectation of the curriculum). We can also contrast them with traditional
novels to examine how the different stylistic elements affect how information
and meaning is communicated (second overall expectation), use the pictures as
cueing system to help students understand what is happening in the plot (third
overall expectation), and afterwards ask the students to reflect on what parts
of the graphic they found easy to understand, and which parts were confusing
(fourth overall expectation). Every student should be given an opportunity to
read graphic novels, including those who are skilled at reading traditional
novels, since graphic novels are beneficial for everyone.
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