Today’s Monday Motivator post was written by Jason D. DeHart. Jason taught middle grades English for eight years, worked at the university level from 2015 to 2022, and is currently a high school English teacher. He is a passionate advocate for including a wide range of representations in classroom libraries, including authors and characters, but also including types of texts. In this post, DeHart looks at the possibilities for linking short visual research assignments to nonfiction young adult texts, as well as specific topics within some fiction texts for extension.
As someone who is passionate about using comics in the classroom, I know the standard pair-up. It goes something like: To Kill a Mockingbird is a difficult book for some students. Why not have them read the graphic novel instead? (A similar conversation usually involves the film, as well, and results in reading the book, then watching the film – or saving the film as an end-of-unit prize.)
This post is not to diminish the work of using a graphic novel adaptation of a classic to build connections – I would applaud anyone with comics in their classroom library. Instead, I am hoping to problematize and complicate the relationship of texts to help teachers (including myself) think about the many ways that books and media can be implemented in instruction.
Yes, And, Plus
Should I use the graphic novel, traditional novel, and film?
The answer is yes to all of these, at least for me. I also want to take it another step with my students. I want them engaging with interviews featuring the author, book reviews, essays about parts of the texts, short stories, poems, and contemporary songs that resonate with the themes, memes that illustrate the vocabulary and concepts, action figures that represent the characters…the list could go on.
Now, one limitation I admit is that there is not nearly enough time to do all of this work. I was inspired today when I did learning walkthroughs at my school, taking part in observations of my colleagues whose classrooms I rarely have occasion to enter. I watched as students engaged with the multimodal text about a sewing machine and then turned to their design journals to take notes; next, I watched students work in teams to shape lumps of clay into muscles, which were then pressed onto skeletal models. These students were using checklists, notes, Google Images, and other forms of information to accurately add heft to their otherwise emaciated learning tools.
This is, of course, a side pitch for the learning walkthrough, a practice my principal has put in place since I have been teaching in this setting. However, it is also a way to think about the creative tools that my colleagues use – and evidence that students are, indeed, doing a lot of textual activity in their personal and classroom lives.
Here is a rundown of some ideas I have tried and want to try using a variety of texts.
I am continuing to work across these ideas and approach each day in my classroom as a new challenge and opportunity to make connections. As my colleagues have demonstrated, there are a wide range of texts to engage with a host of tools to consider and use.
The fences I used to place around end-of-the-year novel units are starting to look more like carousels, wheels, and multifaceted landscapes. I have not yet arrived, but I am going to keep playing with pedagogy.
This post is not to diminish the work of using a graphic novel adaptation of a classic to build connections – I would applaud anyone with comics in their classroom library. Instead, I am hoping to problematize and complicate the relationship of texts to help teachers (including myself) think about the many ways that books and media can be implemented in instruction.
Yes, And, Plus
Should I use the graphic novel, traditional novel, and film?
The answer is yes to all of these, at least for me. I also want to take it another step with my students. I want them engaging with interviews featuring the author, book reviews, essays about parts of the texts, short stories, poems, and contemporary songs that resonate with the themes, memes that illustrate the vocabulary and concepts, action figures that represent the characters…the list could go on.
Now, one limitation I admit is that there is not nearly enough time to do all of this work. I was inspired today when I did learning walkthroughs at my school, taking part in observations of my colleagues whose classrooms I rarely have occasion to enter. I watched as students engaged with the multimodal text about a sewing machine and then turned to their design journals to take notes; next, I watched students work in teams to shape lumps of clay into muscles, which were then pressed onto skeletal models. These students were using checklists, notes, Google Images, and other forms of information to accurately add heft to their otherwise emaciated learning tools.
This is, of course, a side pitch for the learning walkthrough, a practice my principal has put in place since I have been teaching in this setting. However, it is also a way to think about the creative tools that my colleagues use – and evidence that students are, indeed, doing a lot of textual activity in their personal and classroom lives.
Here is a rundown of some ideas I have tried and want to try using a variety of texts.
- Action Figure Design
- Whether it is the classic novel Things Fall Apart or a more recent read (thinking of Tristan Strong), asking students to design a figure – or even create one out of found materials will require rereading, engaging, discussion, description, design, and several other steps, depending on the extent that the teacher wants to explore (again, a factor dependent on time).
- I have tried the initial stages of this activity with class readings and my recent trip to a science teacher’s classroom makes me want to press further in.
- Whether it is the classic novel Things Fall Apart or a more recent read (thinking of Tristan Strong), asking students to design a figure – or even create one out of found materials will require rereading, engaging, discussion, description, design, and several other steps, depending on the extent that the teacher wants to explore (again, a factor dependent on time).
- Adaptation (Not To Replace)
- Instead of using film and comics to supplant the original text, why not ask students to engage with a range of texts as they go? When reading a few pages in Long Way Down, for example, why not pull in an interview with Jason Reynolds? Perhaps add in a dash of the graphic novel? Then, read a bit more of the graphic novel to introduce the next section of the verse novel?
- Rather than seeing one text as a static replacement or ice cream sundae party for finishing the book, why not play with the ways stories are told across forms? This kind of connected and complicated work invites comparison, evaluation, and even responsive creation.
- Instead of using film and comics to supplant the original text, why not ask students to engage with a range of texts as they go? When reading a few pages in Long Way Down, for example, why not pull in an interview with Jason Reynolds? Perhaps add in a dash of the graphic novel? Then, read a bit more of the graphic novel to introduce the next section of the verse novel?
- Building on the Image
- Returning to my love of comics, in a recent tutoring session with middle school students, I invited the class to collect three images that represent their experiences. Never one not to model the task when possible, I selected three images that represented important places and ideas in my life.
- As this is a writing-focused class, I asked students next to select three images that represented the characters they had created for their narratives. We next compared these for overlaps – in what ways did my students lives inspire their characters? How did they make creative choices that intentionally opposed their daily routines and familiarity?
- This initial step into images now has me thinking about introductions to books and characters using more image-based resources, media collages, and video editing processes.
- Returning to my love of comics, in a recent tutoring session with middle school students, I invited the class to collect three images that represent their experiences. Never one not to model the task when possible, I selected three images that represented important places and ideas in my life.
- What Is Your Vision?
- We have talked about using the already-existing adaptations of works, but what about fashioning adaptations before ever encountering a text? I write this idea on the eve of introducing Romeo & Juliet to a group of ninth graders. To my knowledge, this will be their first direct experience with this text.
- At the same time, our school has positioned informational text as an area of continued work for our students. We are in the midst of reading about branding.
- Tomorrow, my students will engage with the prompt of designing a logo, tagline, and product idea aimed at two teenagers in love. The intended audience for this product will be the parents and legal guardians who are trying to put an end to this relationship.
- Will this include a fair amount of conversation? I think so. Will there be an occasional eye roll as I attempt to use slang as a means of appealing in an example? I surely hope so.
- In any case, I want my students to see a time-stained tale not as another swamp they have to crawl through on their way to the final steps of public education. I want them to engage with the ideas and vibrant heart of a work that makes it something that comes back over time.
- And, of course, we will also read parts of the graphic novel by Gareth Hinds and even watch the zombie film remix, Warm Bodies.
- We have talked about using the already-existing adaptations of works, but what about fashioning adaptations before ever encountering a text? I write this idea on the eve of introducing Romeo & Juliet to a group of ninth graders. To my knowledge, this will be their first direct experience with this text.
I am continuing to work across these ideas and approach each day in my classroom as a new challenge and opportunity to make connections. As my colleagues have demonstrated, there are a wide range of texts to engage with a host of tools to consider and use.
The fences I used to place around end-of-the-year novel units are starting to look more like carousels, wheels, and multifaceted landscapes. I have not yet arrived, but I am going to keep playing with pedagogy.
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