Graphic Novels as Tools for a Modern English Classroom

Abstract

English teachers today often face the difficult job of providing engaging lessons to a highly diverse group of students. Teachers must teach English as a New Language students, struggling readers, and even advanced readers, sometimes in the same classroom. One way to achieve this goal is to use graphic novels in the classroom. This project reviews available literature to determine what sort of success graphic novels have seen in the classroom, why graphic novels are not used more frequently in the classroom, and how graphic novels might be best utilized in the secondary English classroom. Following the literature review is a comprehensive unit plan for Art Spiegleman’s Maus I in a 9-10 ELA classroom.