Teaching Graphic Novels to Adolescent Multilingual (and All) Learners: Universal Design, Pedagogy, and Practice

Teaching Graphic Novels to Adolescent Multilingual (and All) Learners:

Universal Design, Pedagogy, and Practice

Kristine Gritter, Xu Bian, Deborah Van Duinen, Bill Boerman-Cornell

Authors
Content

Paperback: 202 pages
Publisher: Routledge
Publish Date: December 19, 2023
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1032231106
ISBN-13: 978-1032231105

This book provides a roadmap for teaching with graphic novels as an effective and engaging approach to advancing reading comprehension for English Learners in secondary schools. Accessibly synthesizing and presenting existing graphic novel research, the authors walk through how to use graphic novels as a teaching tool to improve student motivation and key reading skills, increase their reading proficiency levels, and bolster their vocabulary. The authors provide curricular ideas for teaching multilingual, gifted, and striving readers, along with methods for developing critical literacy and multimodal comprehension. Applying a universal design approach and including examples, current graphic novel recommendations, and pedagogical strategies, this book is essential reading for pre-service teachers in TESOL and literacy education.

Authors

Kristine Gritter

Kristine Gritter is a Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Seattle Pacific University, USA, and has published extensively about reading instruction, selection of classroom texts, and student discourse focusing on literature.

Xu Bian

Xu Bian is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Sunny Language Academy after serving as the Assistant Professor of Chinese at Seattle Pacific University, USA, from 2016 through 2023. She uses graphic novels as cultural and reading tools in her courses.

Deborah Van Duinen

Deborah Van Duinen is the Arnold and Esther Sonneveldt Professor of Education at Hope College, USA, and has published extensively on community literacy practices.

Bill Boerman-Cornell

Bill Boerman-Cornell is a Professor of Education at Trinity Christian College, USA, and has written multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books on teaching using graphic novels.

Content

Chapter 1: How Graphic Novels Can Be Used to Study Literature

and Social Studies Using Principles of Universal Curriculum Design

Chapter 2: Reading to Understand and Reveal Culture as a Way of Life

Chapter 3: The Complexity and Importance of Multimodal Texts

Chapter 4: Teaching Critical Literacy with Graphic Novels

Chapter 5: How Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do Might Motivate

Students to Read

Chapter 6: Scaffolding Canonical Literature with Graphic Novels

Chapter 7: Highlighting Symbolism with Graphic Novels

Chapter 8: Emphasizing Vocabulary Growth with Graphic Novels

Chapter 9: Enhancing and Academizing Student Discourse with Graphic Novels

Chapter 10: Noticing and Creating More Precise Language with Graphic Novels

Chapter 11:When Hands Are Tied: How Integrated Assignments

of Graphic Novels May Work

Index

Articles & Essays

Boy Troubles? Theory and Research Methods for Exploring Male Literacy Depictions

Literacy practices are not neutral activities. As children are taught to read, they learn to read the worlds they are introduced to as readers as they encounter gendered archetypes and identities (Giroux, 1997). We connected two literary frameworks to engage in a critical content analysis…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 27, 2019

Articles & Essays

Boy Troubles? Male Literacy Depictions in Children’s Choices Picture Books

Children’s literature, like all art, is a reflection of or resistance to the cultures from which it emerges. Picture books, particularly those chosen by children themselves, can be viewed as reflections of larger cultural trends and views. As such, they can be seen as objects…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 25, 2019

Chapter

Classroom Discussions About War-related Trauma Before Reading “The Things They Carried”

The Things They Carried, in its entirety or in excerpts, serves as a springboard text to discuss the complexities of the Vietnam War and war in general with its honest and at times graphic portrayals of death, trauma, and grief. However, the book’s larger questions…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 23, 2019

Chapter

Post-reading Classroom Discussions with Veterans About “The Things They Carried”

Students may desire to process The Things They Carried by learning from veterans in their own communities. Teachers can utilize personal or familial connections or reach out to their local American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans or other local chapters and invite veterans to…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 23, 2019

Uncategorized

Discussing Chapters on Death and Loss in “The Things They Carried”

This article highlights some of the chapters that address death, loss and dying. Other chapters from the book can be used, but the chapters below model various modes of response. A brief summary of each story is provided first, followed by activities and discussion questions.…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 23, 2019

Articles & Essays

Using “Brother I’m Dying” to Influence Reading, Writing, and Thinking in the College Classroom

Whether teaching first-year composition or an upper-level workshop, Danticat’s text introduced all of our students to new tools and techniques in the writing process. As they read Danticat and began telling their own stories, students experienced a greater level of freedom to experiment and trusted…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 21, 2019

Articles & Essays Uncategorized

Connecting the College Classroom to a Community-wide Reading Program with “Brother, I’m Dying”

The catalyst for bringing Brother, I’m Dying out of our classrooms and into the community was our participation in a month-long local community-wide reading project that chose Brother, I’m Dying as its selected book. The Big Read Holland Area (now the Big Read Lakeshore), run…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 20, 2019

Articles & Essays

Bringing the Narrative of “Brother I’m Dying” into Community Conversations on Immigration

To understand Brother, I’m Dying, we needed to understand the historical context from which it arises. Haiti’s complicated history helps inform Mira and Uncle Joseph’s actions. Across various political leaders, including the troubled legacy of Francois Duvalier “Papa Doc, his son Jean-Claude Duvalier “Baby Doc,”…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 19, 2019

Articles & Essays

Taking Edwidge Dandicat’s “Brother I’m Dying” out of the College Classroom and into the Community

Edwidge Danticat’s powerful and haunting memoir, Brother I’m Dying, invites the reader to enter a poignant lyric braid where ideas overlap in complex patterns. Set against the backdrop of political unrest in Haiti, Danticat’s narrative weaves her family’s history across borders and beliefs, exploring the…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 18, 2019

Articles & Essays

Connecting Theory to Practice: University Students’ Responses to Field Placement Observation Guides

We first identified the frequency of participants' use for each of the five targets in the Targeted Field Observation Guide. We then analyzed the ways participants used the targets in their weekly Google Doc posts. The management target, which encouraged preservice teachers to consider many…

Deborah Van DuinenMay 17, 2019