NCTE Inbox

March 22, 2005

...ideas
Free access to journal articles and book excerpts mentioned in this Inbox is provided for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only.

Exploring Visual Communication
The Arizona Republic article listed above describes how a librarian uses graphic novels to reach reluctant readers. This collection of teaching ideas builds on that practice by discussing how teachers use comics, cartoons, graphic novels, and other visual communication in the language arts and composition classroom.

To explore ways that children's everyday literacies, including their knowledge of visual communications such as comics and cartoons, can be used in schools to connect popular culture with the language arts curriculum, read "Children's Everyday Literacies: Intersections of Popular Culture and Language Arts Instruction" (E) from Language Arts, which includes four approaches to using popular culture in the classroom.

The English Journal article "How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature: One Teacher's Perspective" (M-S) details the many merits of using comics and graphic novels in the classroom, suggests how they can be integrated into historical and social issues units, and recommends several titles.

Cartoons in the classroom are the focus of "The Simpsons Meet Mark Twain: Analyzing Popular Media Texts in the Classroom" (M-S) from English Journal, which describes a classroom activity where students compare an episode of "The Simpsons" to speeches and essays of Mark Twain.

For even more activities using The Simpsons check out the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Exploring Satire with The Simpsons (M-S). The lesson includes extensions that focus on writing analysis of a complete episode of the cartoon and writing an original satirical piece.

Tap "Using Graphic Novels, Anime, and the Internet in an Urban High School" (S) from English Journal for classroom-tested activities that encouraged urban English-language learners and native English speakers to improve their written communication.

For an exploration of the place of visual communication in the composition, read "From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing" (C) from College Composition and Communication, which includes examples of visual argument and a related visual argument assignment.


 

NOTE: Free access to journal articles mentioned in this Inbox is provided for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only. This Inbox Idea was published 03-22-2005.

Initials in annotations indicate academic level of the resource (E=Elementary, M=Middle, S=Secondary, C=College, G=General).

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