[This article is part of a series. See also Part 1: My Experience and
Part 1a: A Guide to SDCC for Librarians and Educators.]

Comic Conventions as POWerful PD part 2: Implementation and ImpactAfter attending a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) summer institute designed to equip K-12 educators to effectively teach using comics and graphic novels, I was excited to implement what I learned with students. As a preK-12 librarian and sixth-grade reading teacher, I have a lot of freedom in what I teach, and I came back brimming with ideas on how to use comics and graphic novels to ramp up relevance and engagement in my libraries.

Beginning steps: reading and drawing comics

We kicked off our school year with a focus on reading and drawing comics by hosting a visit from author and cartoonist Grant Snider. He spent the day with our K-12 students talking about the importance of reading and writing, how he uses imagination and creativity in his work, and teaching two comic-making workshops. 

Prior to the visit, I prepared our elementary students by reading several of Snider’s books aloud. In sharing his newest release, Poetry Comics, I facilitated discussions about figurative language and how the illustrations and text work together to create the mood and convey meaning. Purchasing Poetry Comics in ebook format made it easy to share with my classes as I asked them to analyze the visual elements. 

In fourth-grade classes, we focused on studying the text features of a comic. We utilized excellent resources by Tracy Edmunds that taught students the anatomy of a comic and how to read a comic. I created an assessment in the form of a scavenger hunt that asked students to pull a graphic novel off the library shelves and locate features such as a splash page, thought bubble, and onomatopoeia. I loved seeing how intently they studied the pages as they searched through the books.

Graphic Novel Features Scavenger Hunt

Graphic Novel Features Scavenger Hunt. Scroll down to “resources” for links to a printable PDF and an editable Canva file.

 

 

Book clubs

Graphic Novel Book Club bookmarkDuring the NEH summer institute, I developed an idea for a graphic novel book club for fourth graders. I chose the book Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas because of its themes of social justice, teamwork, and overcoming adversity and anxiety. With grant funding, I was able to purchase a copy of the book for each fourth-grade student to read.

I chose fourth graders because studies show that around this age is where we see a marked decline in reading motivation. According to  Scholastic’s Kids & Family Reading Report, the percentage of kids who report reading frequently (five to seven days per week) declines from 57% to 35% between ages 8 and 9. The study also found that the percentage of kids who report they love to read drops from 40% to 28% between ages 8 and 9.

These statistics support the decline in reading excitement I have observed among my own students. I designed this project to help combat waning interest in books by encouraging students to cultivate a positive self-image as a reader through a community-building experience.

Before winter break, I built excitement by announcing the book club and letting students know they would receive their graphic novels in January. Each student received a book along with a bookmark that listed their reading assignment for each week. Students read on their own, both at school and at home. I sent a letter to parents and guardians explaining the project and inviting families to read the book together.

Our book club met together three times. Two of the days were spent in small-group discussions led by our seventh- and eighth-grade student volunteer Reading Leaders. The older students had already read the book on their own. I provided questions and a brief training to prepare them to effectively lead their discussion groups. This was an excellent leadership opportunity, and I loved seeing the fourth-graders looking up to the older students as mentors. 

For our final book club meeting, students were invited to celebrate their learning by designing water bottle stickers for a character from the book.

Student work design water bottle stickers 1

Students designed water bottle stickers for a book character.

The project met my goals of engaging readers, facilitating rich discussions on social justice and social-emotional issues, and cultivating a sense of joy by providing a positive, book-centered experience.

graphic novel book club choicesAfter hearing about the program for fourth graders, my seventh- and eighth-grade students asked if they could have their own book club. I got multiple copies of four different graphic novels. Students signed up, read a book of their choice, and came to the library to talk about the book with their peers. A few of the students asked to keep the club going, so we ended up reading and discussing three graphic novels together.

 

 Literature circles

When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar MohamedIn my sixth-grade literature circles class, we read When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, a nonfiction graphic novel that tells the story of two brothers from Somalia who are on their own at Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. The story gives students a window into what life is like for refugees and had a strong impact on my students. The author’s website includes excellent teaching resources, including videos of the camp, which gave students a realistic look at the refugee experience, leading to important insights and understandings.

Home of the Brave by Katherine ApplegateWe paired this story with a novel in verse by Katherine Applegate called Home of the Brave, a fictional account of Kek, a young African refugee who is resettled with his aunt and cousin in America. The story is told from Kek’s point of view, which allows the reader to see the joys and challenges of the immigrant experience through his eyes.

Pairing a graphic novel and novel in verse on the same theme added depth to our study of the refugee experience and allowed us to explore the unique aspects of each format.


Comic-style biography projects

Student work displayed in the hallways speaks to the impact of our school-wide focus on comics that was set in motion by our author visit. Fifth graders presented their ELA/social studies biography research projects in an infographic/comic format.

Madam CJ Walker comic/infographic

 


Celebrating Will Eisner Week

If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to promote comics and graphic novels, you could celebrate Will Eisner Week, which is held in early March around the time of Eisner’s birthday. Eisner was an author and cartoonist who popularized the term “graphic novel.” The Eisner Awards, awarded to comic and graphic novel creators, are named after him and are presented annually at San Diego Comic-Con. 

To celebrate Will Eisner Week at my high school, I decided to keep it simple. Students could earn a prize by stopping by the library and checking out a comic or graphic novel (with a limit of one prize per day). Prizes included graphic novels, comics, manga, and tons of swag I brought home from Comic-Con like lanyards, pins, posters, bookmarks and other memorabilia.

The low-key celebration led to lots of informal conversations about comics and resulted in students and staff recommending graphic novels to one another.

My experiences at the NEH summer institute inspired me to expand my use of comics and graphic novels to increase student engagement and elevate learning. By implementing new comics-based activities and programs, I was able to impact my entire school community. 

I loved having a graphic novel and comics focus for my programming and collection development work over the past year, but I know I have just scratched the surface in terms of all there is to know about comics. I hope to build on my foundational knowledge as I seek new ways to integrate this inspiring medium into learning. 

 

Resources for teaching about reading and drawing comics:

Read more about my school’s activities:

References

Applegate, K. (2009). Home of the brave. Square Fish.

Christmas, J. (2022). Swim team. HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Jamieson, V., & Mohamed, O. (2020). When stars are scattered. Dial Books for Young Readers.

Scholastic. (2019). Kids & Family Reading Report: Finding their story. Finding Their Story: Navigate the World. https://www.scholastic.com/readingreport/navigate-the-world.html