Graphic Novels and Comics

A recent Education Week article summarized recent research on the use of graphic novels: " Once fuel for mass book burnings, comic books are gaining a foothold in the nation’s schools, with teachers seeing them as a learning tool and scholars viewing them as a promising subject for educational research.

Evidence of the rising credibility of Spider-Man, Batman, and Archie came last month when Fordham University’s graduate school of education in New York City hosted what was billed as the first academic conference on “Graphica in Education.” The Jan. 28 event drew 125 teachers, scholars, artists, and publishers from across the country and featured presentations on everything from “aesthetics of action heroes” to “critical literacy and graphic novels in the classroom.”

“There’s more research out there than people seem to recognize,” said James “Bucky” Carter, an assistant professor of English education at the University of Texas at El Paso and a keynote speaker for the event. “And there are multiple studies to suggest that students who read comics go on to read more...."

What do your students read? How do you incorporate these visual texts in your class? What works--and why?