Comics and Graphic novels

Using comics and graphic novels within the primary literacy curriculum has created a discussion as to whether it is beneficial or not. The national curriculum states that ‘All pupils must be encouraged to read widely across both fiction and non-fiction to develop their knowledge of themselves and the world in which they live in’  (DFE, 2013). I completely agree with this statement and think that comics and graphic novels are a very good way of developing a greater knowledge. Comics are stories that are told using a sequence of panels and pictures, usually containing speech bubbles, bold text and captions. Graphic novels are the same as comics just longer in length.

However, It is vital to consider which comics to use with children and to check the suitability of the content (Stafford, 2009). Education Scotland says that teachers are cautious some believe that the content is often controversial and undermines literacy. During our seminar based on comics and graphic novels we had the chance to look at the content of each other’s comics, and find positives and negatives. Lizzie’s comic was on ‘the Simpsons’ and it was a Halloween edition, on our table we discussed that some of the cartoons were not appropriate as they were very graphic and scary. It would become very time consuming if the teacher had to do through the pages one by one everyday.

Although, my magazine (Jacqueline Wilson) encouraged children to write about there favorite things, and the magazine included several starting points for writing. I would definitely use this magazine within the classroom as I feel it promotes literacy rather than undermines it. Marsh and Millard (2001) talk about the differences within boys and girls comics, boys comics tend to promote violence whereas girls comics tend to be soppy and based on a preconception with domesticity, appearance and dress. This I believe as true as male and female stereotypes are portrayed. They also believe that children who choose to read graphic novels over reading books are denying themselves of ‘nourishing’ material.

Stafford (2009) mentions the introduction of comics and graphic novels with open ended questions, when introduced this should present comics as good literature. Therefore, showing that comics are beneficial especially for low ability readers and that comics are not like normal books they are fun and engaging and should be encouraged to read even for pleasure. During my self directed placement the school I was at had a tray full of magazines for the children to read when they finished their snack early, I found that the comics were bring discussion to the tables over the pictures and text used.

The development of digital technology has changed how literacy is being taught, this is called ‘multimodal literacy’. Multimodal literacy (Jewitt & Kress, 2003) is about understanding the different ways of knowledge representations and meaning-making, for example; advertisements, posters, web-pages and films. The multimodal approach takes into account how linguistic and visual choices fulfill the purposes of the text, the audience and context, and how those choices work together in the organisation and development of information and ideas. Children are now able to create graphic novels and comics on iPads, this way they are able to play around with the text and images until they are happy with what they have produced.

In our seminar group, we have to create our own comic on a comic creator app. The one my group made would be suitable for use in the classroom, it is a straightforward and simple app that most children would enjoy using. Here is our example:

DfE (2013) English programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2. The National Curriculum in England. London: DfE-https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335186/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf (accessed 17/10/14).

Learning and Teaching Scotland: Graphic Novels in the Curriculum-http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/resources/g/graphicnovels/intro.asp (accessed 18/10/14).

Millard, E. and Marsh, J. (2001) 'Sending Minnie the Minx Home: comics and reading choices', Cambridge Journal of Education, 31: 1, 25 — 38. 

Jewitt, C., & Kress, G. (Eds.).  (2003). Multimodal literacy. New York: Peter Lang.

Stafford, T (2009) ‘Teaching Comics’ in Duncan, D. (2009) Teaching Children’s Literature: Making stories work in the classroom Abingdon: Routledge.