Graphic Novel Lit Review

I read an article about a group of researchers who helped at risk high school students read and write graphic novels. The article: "Adolescents and 'Autobiographies': Reading and Writing Coming-of-Age Graphic Novels" by Hughes, King, Perkins, and Fuke. There was a lot I took away from it that may help me when I implement my afterschool program. Here are some cliff notes:

-The authors argue that kids are exposed to multimodal literacies everyday: "the dominant site of texts is now the screen, and that the screen is the site of the visual, such as the image". Graphic novels can simultaneously tap into, and help expand students' "multimodal literacy".

-Besides reading graphic novels, creating having students create their own graphic novels about integral moments in their lives was important because " 'When students are given opportunities to share their identity texts with peers, family, teachers, and the general public through media, they are likely to make gains in self-confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of community belonging through positive feedback.' (CUmmins, Brown, and Sayers, 2007)" My interpretation of this is that the process of writing graphic novels actually can reshape students' identities and self-images. What a novel idea!

-An interesting challenge with the reading of graphic novels is that since there's a lot of pictures to view and interpret, the pace of reading is quite varied, so stay away from read alouds. I think we should be ok with partner reading though.

-An interesting challenge with making graphic novels is that students often aren't confident or satisfied with their artistic abilities. This is why it'll be important to enlist some students with artistic skills and pair them up strategically with non-artistically gifted students. Also, you can teach students how to represent human characters abstractly or as animals/objects that are easier to draw. One girl did an awesome job with raindrops!

-Not surprisingly, the students were highly motivated to work on graphic novels because there was an element of playfulness. i hope for the same.

-One interesting nuance to how graphic novels develop students' ability to infer: "The nature of graphic novel format also forced students to make inferences across the gutters (i.e. the space between the panels) as they moved from one image to the next." Never considered this...

The Power of Graphic Novels

Deavion is addicted to the Lunch Lady series

Today when we were in the hallway:

Deavion: Mr. Welch are we doing independent reading?
Me: No, we have to finish a reading test.
Deavion looks disappointed.
Me: Do you want to do independent reading.
Deavion nods.
Me: Why do you like independent reading so much now?
Deavion: Because I get to read with other people.
Me: Why's that important to you?
Deavion: Because when I get stuck on a word there's someone there to help me. So I don't have to sit there and just be stuck.


Clearly Deavion is enjoying partner reading and is becoming a better reader for it :-)

helping kids discuss with socratic seminar

So, per a suggestion from a mentor at school, I've started focusing on having my students talk about their books with each other, rather than with me. I've already been pursuing this via Book Nooks:



partner reading:


and book clubs:


But the focus of Socratic Seminar has been more about getting students to talk directly to each other during whole class discussions. What does this entail? Well number one is that the actually LISTEN to what the speaker is saying. A much more difficult feat than it would seem. To help them do this, I....

-had them sit in a circle on the rug so that everyone can see everyone else
-created this chart with stems to help them respond to the speaker (in red) and push the speaker's thinking further (in blue):



-used Classdojo.com (suggested by Ms. Willis) to track and incentivize use of the stems in our discussion

And it worked! Who knew, all I had to do was get out of the way and my students love talking to each other!?

One modification we had to make was that everyone begins seminar standing up in the circle and when they make a comment, they sit down. This helps us see who has spoken and who still needs to speak. It has helped all students feel like they have an opportunity to have their voices heard because everyone is motivated to call on people who have yet to speak so that by the end of seminar everyone is seated and we earn a group reward.

The best part of this (other than really interesting, far-reaching, and well-rounded and well-considered conversation about books we're reading as a class) is the carry-over it has with book club discussions. Before, book club discussions had a pschizophrenic aspect with everyone so eager to say something, that no one listened to each other, followed up on someone else's point, or anything like that. Since we started doing Socratic Seminar, students use the stems, and because they want to use the stems, they have to actually listen to their peers and build on their peers' thoughts or push their peers' thoughts further. Watch in the video how even though they need me to jump in occasionally to redirect the conversation, they are having intellectual arguments with each other! They're disagreeing, giving their reasons, going back to the text for evidence. They're building an intellectual identity. It's fun to be a nerd and argue!

Donte's Looking Up Words!

I don't know why this student is so fascinating. I think he has such an interesting combination of curiosity, spaciness, and earnestness. During whole group lessons he's often spacing out to my enormous frustration, and during independent reading he's not always understanding 100% of what he's reading, or applying the strategy I taught perfectly. But he attempts everything at his pace with an innocence and independence that's truly refreshing.

Thoughts about Selecting Students

5/6/7th graders (keeping in mind they need to be leaders socially, intellectually, and perhaps artistically. these need to be kids who will do most of the helping, rather than need to be helped):

Davion J (great artist, good reader, quiet, could be a good mentor for Donte, but is he forceful enough to keep him focused?)

Cortez (exuberant reader, very polite, I want to include him because I think he needs something like this right now)

Jamar (very high performing reader, excellent artist, can be a bit snobby so I wonder if he'll lose interest with easier graphic novels)

Tyree (good reader, amazing character, I'd love to have him but he's already very committed to dance afterschool)

Jawan (good reader, amazing character, I'd love to have him but he's already very committed to basketball afterschool)


At Risk 5th Graders (who could improve their reading through this program)

Japrice (loved reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid last year and making his own books, he'd LOVE this program)

Korian (very sweet, very energetic, still struggles with reading, doesn't seem to like it, I wonder if he'd be focused enough for this program)


4th Graders:

Tyshaun
Rashad (both of these guys would love it)

Alex (recommended Lunch Lady and Cyborg Substitute to me! would be a great mentor, can't stop talking about books)

Olajuwon (hangs out with me after school anyways, very smart, loves reading, would be a good mentor)

Josh (all around good student, wonderful personality, could use a push like this program)
Adonis (ditto, always with me afterschool anyways)

Deavion (needs this program, this program was conceived with him in mind)
Donte (ditto)
Jaymon (ditto, afterschool availability is a question mark)

Brandon (one of the brightest students, could use the push, always with me afterschool anyways)
Zeke (ditto)

Jaquez and David (from Ms. Willis' class, both really need this)

3rd Graders (per Ms. Garrison and Ms. Pendley's recommendation, I'm thinking of taking around 5 total)

That makes the total 25, which is way more than I was thinking. I think at least 5 won't show/be able to do it, which leaves me with 20. I think, although this group is on the bigger side, I'll be able to focus in on a few students for case studies, more qualitative data (I'm thinking Donte and Deavion for sure).

Next steps for this week:
-finalize which students I'll be inviting, send home parent survey + program brochure next monday
-finalize which graphic novels I'll be ordering for the program
-clarify the writing portion of the program, what templates will be used, how will i help them artistically - ask Ms. Morsher for help?

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute

Ok, just finished Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett Krosoczka. It had some very funny moments, great "spy gadgets" disguised as lunch lady equipment, including "chicken nugget bombs" and a "spatu-copter". It also developed consistent character traits. Of the 3 kids who suspect that the lunch lady has a secret life, one is a geek/wimp, another has low self-confidence, and the third is a "tough girl". There's the typical bully who is used to show the progress the geek/wimp has made over the course of the story. There's also 2 other plot lines (the kids are simply following the lunch lady). The lunch lady and her side kick "Betty" (kind of functions like Albert from Batman) are following a suspicious new substitute named Mr. Pasteur, who is part of a master plan by the science teacher to.... (I won't give it away). I think this would be a great story for the 4th graders in my guided reading group to read. They'd be able to follow the multiple plot lines, get the inside jokes/winks, and tackle the slightly difficult vocabulary. I'm not sure about this book for 3rd graders...might be too hard. Amazon does say it's grade 2 and up. The best part about it is that there are tons of books in the series.

graphic novel research

Interesting article about the pros of graphic novels:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6312463.html by Allyson Lyga (School Library Journal 3/1/2006)

One of the most interesting ideas I got from it is creating a lesson around asking students to create captions/dialogue bubbles for pages that have no words. This is a great way to teach and assess comprehension and inferring.

The author also validated my observation of how it was easier for kids to read with expression because they can see the facial expressions of the characters! She adds that the pictures help students construct meaning. "Bryonna explained that when she looked at the pictures she thought about the words the characters were saying and she visualized the words in her head. Then, when she read the story to her sister, she created the dialogue and story based on the pictures."

I have always loved the idea of having students create their own graphic novels, and Lyga says that she did this as well, but I'll have to look elsewhere for resources/ specific instructions on how to teach this. Lyga does note that such an endeavor takes teamwork among the students (which I LOVE as a component of my afterschool program- perhaps splitting them up into teams of 4). I think eventually getting to the point where half the program involves reading, and then the other half of our time, they take techniques they learned in the reading and apply them into their own graphic novels. Perhaps they're even using many of the same characters from the graphic novel so they're transferring character traits, common settings; making inferences about possible actions their characters might take in the future, etc. The tricky thing about this is the artwork. It's a serious component with all the paneling, illustrations, etc. that I just don't have high knowledge about. Perhaps I need to partner with our wonderful art teacher?

Her book recs:
-Tintin Could be a little challenging for this age group, but enticing because there's a movie coming out as well (I know, I'm a movie geek!)

-Pinky and Stinky A story about 2 astronaut pigs? with a theme around pursuing your dreams? how awesome! i must read this book!

-The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish It's by Neil Gaiman, so that's a big plus. I love the Sandman! (which we will not be reading!)

-Bumperboy Loses His Marbles! Sounds like an easier, simpler read, good for the 3rd graders in the program.

-Owly Volume 1: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer Almost completely wordless. I'm curious...

-Monkey vs. Robot Ecological theme? Hmm...

-Creating the X-Men: How Comic Books Come to Life A potentially terrific resource for teaching kids how to create a graphic novel, hopefully they give you step by step instructions.


Okay, all these graphic novels have got me excited! Time to research and read!

Update on Donte and Book Club

Donte has been reading many more books that are at his reading level during independent reading. He really, really, REALLY likes writing post-it notes about his reading (see picture below).



When I conferenced with him though, I realized that he was writing down one sentence from every page or so, which didn't necessarily improve his comprehension. When I asked him to explain why he chose to write a particular sentence from the book onto a post-it, he explained his choice it was clear that he had misunderstood the word "attire" which really distorted his comprehension of the page. So, even though the quantity of Donte's reading has really improved, the quality still needs improvement. I think he's really going to benefit from partner reading. Speaking of which...

My boys guided reading group that's reading Big City Otto (graphic novel) is going great! They met for the second time, and began by selecting post-its of questions that they'd written while reading and wanted to discuss as a group. The complexity of the questions selected greatly, but there were some deep ones: Where are Otto's parents? and How did Otto not notice that the Boss smacked Crackers? Tyshaun was able to answer the second question by pointing out a graphic novel feature of showing elapsed time in a square bubble that said "A few hours later", thus showing that Otto did notice, it just took him a few hours to do so.

One issue that I've had to help all groups with, but that this group did a very good job mitigating after my intervention, was listening to others before talking. This is so key because it seems that at book club everyone is so eager to share their thoughts that the conversation is not so much a back and forth dialogue, but instead a schizophrenic monologue. Tyshaun (a vocal boy) in particular, was very mindful of self-censoring and asking people who hadn't already spoken to share. What impressed me most was how the discussion just kept flowing, even when they went on to discuss vocabulary words. They'd chosen words like "vandalized" (which they were able to solve by context clues) and "peckish" (which they solved incorrectly and had to be corrected).

We addressed differences with characters (thinking about which character is smarter) and many other interesting topics that came organically from them. There was productive disagreement around facts from the story, and high motivation to look back in the text for clarification.

As independent reading closed down, I asked them to read the entire text once more, making sure to stop and write down questions, thoughts, vocabulary words, and particular frames that made an impression on them. The next day they voraciously completed this task:





I've never seen such enthusiasm among a group of readers!! I think the book choice of graphic novels, and the privilege of reading it together and discussing it, makes a big difference!

2 feet off the ground

Wow, it feels like forever ago that i gave myself a to-do list; in reality it was a week ago. What crazy, swirly, condensed lives we teachers live!

I was able to complete goals 1-3. Here is a report of progress:

1. The meeting with Principal Morris went really well. He helped me refine the focus of my program and not get so caught up in dealing with all the logistics of soccer. Basically, the meat of my program will be around graphic novels: reading them and giving boys the space to create their own. This makes so much sense to me, especially given what I've seen this week with one of my guided reading groups. I bought 5 copies of a graphic novel called Big City Otto. I'd already had 2 copies of it, and seen how quickly Tyshaun and Rashad were drawn to them. They began reading them together right away, but after a day or so, their enthusiasm fizzled. I think Rashad finished reading it, but Tyshaun did not. I wanted to reboot this graphic novel initiative with Tyshaun and Rashad, using their guided reading group as my vehicle. I used the wonderful templates that Ms. Hay gave me to help them consolidate their understanding of the setting, characters, and conflict of the story. The students were particularly enthusiastic about the sheet where they got to choose a frame to trace and do deeper thinking around what was happening in it, and what inferences we could make from it. I'll definitely carry this into the program. I realized that graphic novels have another very stimulating feature...the dialogue bubbles coupled with the consistent and detailed picture of the character speaking, facilitate students reading with expression, imagining the tone and timbre of their characters' voices, and inflecting their voices depending on their perceptions of the characters' mood and personality. Watch the video I'm posting to see what I mean. Notice at towards the end of the video how Olajuwon explains how he inferred that Otto's voice would be doleful with the assistance of the picture of his face. He was clearly constructing meaning from the pictures in a way that bolstered his comprehension of the character. Also, just notice how much fun they're having!



Also, the boys were so taken with book that I saw them clustered by the bathroom that day, and on the rug the following day during independent reading, forming their own spontaneous book clubs! I am going to let them meet more frequently :-)



Also, I noticed that Rashad and Tyshaun were excited to extend their reading of Big City Otto into writing. They began making their own graphic novel, which I'm excited about as well, but making sure their work is rigorous, connected with the mentor text in a deep way (ie transference of key author's craft, literary elements, character traits, etc)...this will be the meat of my instruction when we get to this during guided reading and the after school program. It will make a nice extension project to do after they finish the book, or even as they read, as a means to think through author's craft and deepen comprehension and appreciation of the book. I believe that creating parallel texts to those that they read, helps boys, and readers in general, appreciate the book they're reading and the craft it took to create it, to make it be meaningful. I'm excited... I also need to find a template
for creating graphic novel pages (one with lots of different frames). As far as what I'll have my boys do to plan out their graphic novels, I think I'll need to use something a bit more complex than a simple plot map (setting, characters, rising action, climax, etc.) I think the organizer will need to include a part that asks them to focus on a particular aspect of the author's craft from the mentor text, as well as which characters they'd like to carry over from the mentor text, perhaps an inference around that character (something they believe could have happened in their past or could happen in their future) that they'd like to write about...



Notice in this video how Tyshaun says "me", "my" and "real life". In the process of writing a parallel story he is making the book he's reading even more personally relevant to his life by finding commonalities, altering details and characters, and inserting parts of his life into the narrative. Truly deep literacy should involve a merging of the text and the self, when this happens we are truly deriving pleasure from the text.



2. Like I said, I'm growing less attached to keeping soccer as a central component of the program. My athletic director says that gym space is at a premium right now with basketball and volleyball going on. Maybe I'll just use soccer as a team builder and reward every once in a while.

3. Ms. Garrison and Ms. Pendley seemed enthused about recommending students for the program and I should get back their teacher surveys next week. When that happens, I'll do my own teacher surveys of the kids from my class that I want in the program, and then match these struggling readers with past readers I've had who I know would be great mentors for them. I've already got several in mind: Davion, Jamar, Cortez... and what a great final project it would be if we created our own graphic novel together. Perhaps that's what we'll do first in the program: read a graphic novel together and create our own parallel story together. It will be a great way to build community as well as model the strategies and thinking that I will ask them to do in partners/small groups later on. Sorry this is rambling, but this reminds me of another central component of my research: partner reading as a way to improve fluency, bolster motivation, and stimulate organic, comprehension-building conversations that students would not have had while reading alone. I'm thinking this is important because I've noticed how much enjoyment certain boys get to read books together during independent reading. They naturally gravitate towards it:




4. I created the teacher surveys and the parent surveys that I will use for baseline data and re-administer at the end of the program as a basis for showing growth.

Getting off the Ground

So I feel like the last couple of weeks I've been gathering pre-data. By "pre-data" I mean data that helps inform me on what reading interventions I will use, ie what strategies I want to test to see if they improve male literacy. I've seen huge increases in enthusiasm when boys read graphic novels, and when they get to partner read. These will be central components of my intervention strategy. For me, the question mark is whether these interventions can be coupled with increasing rigor and higher literacy performance.

I'm also having a hard time letting go of the soccer component that the program would have. It looks like the Urban Initiatives soccer program is going to be too expensive for my school to partner with. My principal is however willing to fund some part of my program, it's just that facilities, equipment, and transportation for soccer would be expensive, and demand a great deal of my time and energy, and that's already in short supply. On the other hand, I know students would be much more enthusiastic about joining the program if they knew soccer would be a part of it. Also, playing soccer together might give boys the chance to play together, expend energy and stress from their day, and build community and togetherness. At the end of the day though, there needs to be a solid connection between the soccer portion of the program and the reading portion. My friend Lloyd suggested "Loser" by Jerry Spinelli as having a main character who plays soccer. There's also informational books about soccer that might be interesting: The Everything Kids' Soccer Book, My Soccer Book by Gail Gibbons, and Kids' Book of Soccer: Skills, Strategies, and the Rules of the Game. These could be great shared reading texts during the first few weeks and they'd do a great job of helping boys see the practicality of reading as a way of improving one's life.

Another fork in the road is whether use high-achieving boy readers from my soccer team as mentors and tutors. I think the answer is yes, they would be really helpful as partner readers, especially when the shared reading is at a higher level.

So where does this leave me? What are my next steps?
1. Meet again with Mr. Morris to see what kind of budget he'd be willing to give me.
2. Meet with the athletic director to determine gym availability.
3. Ask 2nd-3rd grade teachers to recommend a few struggling male readers who might be interested in the program
4. Decide schedule for program and create pamphlet that includes details about the program and permission slip. Send this home with potential participants (2nd through 5th)

My goal is to do those 4 things by Friday.

coming soon...

a graphic organizer for graphic novels so that their comprehension will be boosted! Thanks Ms. Hay for the template!