My Students

Teaching is not telling, but creating situations that allow students to master that which is expected of them. To reach the struggling readers in my freshman World History class, I would love to give my students the opportunity to learn about the war through a medium they love: graphic novels. My students need 30 copies of the graphic novel World War One: 1914-1918.

I have an incredibly diverse group of students, ranging from those who are exceptionally talented to those who need all the support they can get.

I have budding young scholars and those who are new to the United States and are seeking the opportunity to excel while simultaneously learning a new language and adjusting to a foreign culture. We truly have a very large and diverse high school. It is true that most of our students are very academically advanced but, on the other end of the spectrum, we also have students who read far below grade level and need additional support and instructional resources so that they, too, can get the very most from their education.

My Project

It is the struggling readers who feel out of place and unmotivated in such an environment, and the use of graphic novels as an instructional tool holds a lot of potential to really reach them and improve their reading comprehension. Above all, graphic novels can motivate reluctant readers to enjoy reading and learning about history and the points of view from which it can be studied. As a Professional Learning Community leader, many of my curriculum resources are shared with other teachers in my department, meaning that a class-set purchase like this one can reach up to a thousand students in a single school year alone.

Graphic novels are powerful teaching tools in the 21st century.

They are especially powerful at strengthening vocabulary, visual literacy, and reading comprehension skills. They hold the potential to reach those students who are otherwise discouraged by the difficulty of academic prose and can unlock the door to a lifetime of learning by making it fun again.