“Greetings, culture lovers. Welcome to the wild and wondrous world of Marvel Comics perhaps the last refuge of the young in heart, and in spirit.”
1
Kids enjoy reading comic books. They especially enjoy the Marvel and D.C. super heroes. They read, buy, trade, draw, and get excited about comics. They get involved in the lives of their favorite characters, entering a fantasy time warp through the written word. We are writing this unit taking advantage of their interest in super heroes to develop skills in writing and in understanding elements of a story (plot, character description, setting), and their appreciation for the unique experience of reading. There is a personal reality in the written word that cannot be duplicated by other media. As with other books, you are able to read and reread comics at your leisure. For many less fortunate children the need to possess is unusually strong. The physical fact of having books and magazines in a child’s possession encourages the child to read. The price of most comics is now 50¢. This is easily affordable (the price of a candy bar). They can treasure their favorite comics and take pride in their collections.
The unit is designed to take students on a six week journey through the world of Marvel and D.C. comics. It will deal with the areas of reading comprehension, creative writing, sequencing, penmanship, and spelling. At the completion of the unit, lessons dealing with comics will be interspersed within the regular school curriculum reinforcing skills and concepts learned.
Since I teach in a classroom situation, unlike Bobby B. who teaches students individually, we have chosen to design the program specifically to be used in my room next year. I’m a special education teacher who teaches English to a class of “E.M.R.” students. As a result of constantly looking for low level, low budget, high interest reading material,
I created slidetape dramatization, and wrote a unit on that topic for the Institute last year. I designed the unit to help students develop an adequate vocabulary, increase their reading rate, and improve their level of comprehension.
By working as a group my students were able to see the relevance of these skills, and were encouraged to add their own experience and imagination.
I see comics as a way to literature as a natural progression. Children put effort into their work when it is shared with peers. They become conscious of the mechanics and approach each writing experience with creativity. Flash’ Super Heroes Teach students How To Read And Write reinforces many of the concepts taught last year. The two forms share similarities dialogue, frames, plot, characters, etc. But unlike slidetape dramatization, the end product can be produced with supplies as basic as pencil and paper, though the most gifted student can become involved with studying different drawing and printing techniques, as well as reading great science fiction writers. Comics can be used in classes at any level, elementary school through high school and beyond. The sophisticated adult and the third grade comic enthusiast read the same comics, approaching them from different perspectives.
The “E.M.R.” class is composed of students fitting the following description. They score slightly below average on standardized tests of mental ability. Although they range in chronological age from fourteen to twenty, their grade level in reading is from second to sixth grade. Their underachievement is due to a wide variety of reasons ranging from psychological problems and organic disorders to overly limited experiential backgrounds. Most of the students dislike reading and have a poor academic self image; consequently they work below their capacities.
As you read the unit, allow for the adjustments necessary for use in your own classroom. Later in the unit we will list different resources to be used with your students. Knowing your own classes, you can then select appropriate materials, designing a program suited for your class.
The students in our class do not engage in selfinitiated reading. This is a problem many teachers have to deal with in both regular and special classes. Students struggle through reading because they don’t read, and don’t read because it’s a struggle. These reluctant readers may do the minimal reading to pass their courses, or may not even do that. Our intent is to widen their views of the world of print to include reading for enjoyment while gaining understanding of a story’s structure.
Comics are known for their bold colors and action illustration. When you’re in a drugstore, it’s that aspect that draws you, the customer, to them. The comic industry is well aware of this appeal, making sensational cover drawings and titles. Usually comic artists give their readers a taste for the plot and a curiosity to know more. At that point you’re hooked; you bought the book and are reading. Kids like to draw, and have respect for the art work. They are impressed with the muscular drawings and unusual perspective. They tend to have favorite artists, as they have had favorite characters. Kids begin to compare different artists’ ways of drawing the same character. This same awareness enters the area of reading. Kids will drop a series if the plot is boring or the writing unclear. As readers, they go beyond the superficial, gross level of the pictures, becoming involved with the written material.
Here are some examples of the colorful comic book language:
“By all the hoary host of Hoggoty . . . . I shall
not fail’ Though I expend my final energy . .
my very life essence . . . we shall prevail”’
____
Dr. Strange 2
“Well, wobble my webs and call me shaky!
Costumed crime has just hit the fashion industry.”
____
Spiderman 3
“But, Time is long and fate is fickle . . . . my
still lies before _ . . . and where it
beckons . . . There shall soar the Silver Surfer”’
____
Silver Surfer
4
Comic book writers are skilled professionals. They write clearly and directly to the reader. They are able to convey both their own personality and the personality of the individual characters. Every Marvel Comic book reader knows Stan Lee and Spiderman personally, though they have never actually met. Comics are not only stepping stones to more serious writing. They are serious writing.
We will draw parallels in our unit between comics, plays, and prose. If any of our students begins to write with the creative genius or skills needed to meet the standards of Marvel or D.C., we will have more than met our goal.
Comic books differ in degree of difficulty.
-
1. Plot: Some comics will have few characters and one plot line. Others can have armies of characters.
-
2. Language: The style of language used in each comic series differs depending on the effect the writer is creating. Each character has his/her own way of speaking. Since there is little written description, language is vital for creating the mood of the story and each character’s personality. Three distinct personalities are projected to the reader in the three pieces of dialogue just given. Once again this creates a range in levels of difficulty for the reader and should be taken into consideration by the teacher.
-
3. Abstraction: Some super heroes have no special powers. They’re athletes and inventors. They don’t usually jump time warps. Others are magicians, have mystical powers, live in micro and macro worlds, etc. The second type, with their extra dimensions, demand a level of abstraction from their readers.
____
These differences are perfect for individualizing programs in your class. You can suggest a comic to a child fitting his or her level without putting a stigma on the child. Nobody will put the child down for reading Spiderman rather than Dr. Strange. As a whole, the class should move from the easier comics to the more difficult.
A major area of the unit is the comic book report. Each week the student is responsible for reading a comic and handing in a book report. At first the student is only required to answer questions on a book report sheet given to him/her by the teacher. These sheets guide the reader to see clearly the important factors needed in a book report (plot, setting, character description, writer, volume number, artist, publisher, etc.). Many students, when writing book reports, have no idea of the components of a story. They have no structure in which to work. When the students understand the organization and concepts involved, they are then equipped to begin writing a report. We introduce the materials in a format, and as the students acquire a working knowledge, the amount of structure is lessened. We then move from the report form to having each student write an independent book report in prose.
In our unit we will put special emphasis on very basic punctuation. Most students are not consistent with capitalization, periods, quotation marks, and question marks. It is our goal that after six weeks, they will have mastered those four parts of punctuation.
We will take advantage of the conventions used in comics, showing how they parallel conventions in other forms of writing.
|
|
Comic
|
Prose
|
|
|
1. balloon
|
1. quotation marks
|
|
|
2. balloon made of dashes
|
2. talking quietly
|
|
|
3. narrative box
|
3. narrator
|
|
|
4. visually moving from left
|
4. always reading left to
|
|
|
to right, top to bottom
|
right, top to bottom
|
|
|
(both as sequence of boxes
|
of page
|
|
|
and movement in each box)
|
5. person’s thoughts
|
|
|
5. thought bubbles
|
6. footnotes
|
|
|
6. asterisk
|
7. good idea
|
|
|
7. light bulb
|
8. paragraphs
|
|
|
8. separate frames
|
9. Underlining words,
|
|
|
9. different sizes of words
|
exclamation marks,
|
|
|
|
emphasis on words by
|
|
|
|
sentence structure
|
Understanding the components needed to write a comic book is the foundation of this unit. When the students are able to read the comics with an analytical mind, they will then be prepared to create one of their own.
The unit draws upon the similarities and differences between different forms of writing with special emphasis on prose, plays, and comic books. As the students develop more analytic minds and clearer understanding of the individual forms, they will then be in a position to choose an appropriate form of expression to suit their needs; the result should be a greater control over their own writing.
(figure available in print form)
Here are four examples of possible book reports to be used in the classroom.
Book Report A: Contains basic information about comic books. It’s important that the concepts of plot, setting, and character description be understood by your students. Also they must know where to find information such as title, publisher, volume number, etc.
Book Report B: Contains material in addition to the information learned from Book Report A. Student must find the names of the penciler, writer, inkers, colorist, and letterer. There are also questions guiding the class towards skills in character description.
Book Report C: Adds the concepts of metaphor, alliteration, and onomatopoeia All three devices are commonly used in comics. The plot, character description and setting are no longer listed, now being written in prose.
Book Report D: Introduces thought questions. The students now must answer questions that demand their personal feelings concerning what they have read.
The step past Book Report D is writing a book report in a prose format. When first attempting this task, have the class fill out form D rewriting the report into prose.
Many comic artists and writers do an informal apprenticeship as a member of an Apazine. An Apazine is a nonprofessional magazine. The members of an Apazine pay a membership fee to join and must submit some of their own original work to each issue. We are fortunate to have an Apazine, Equinox, in our area. It is run by a 14 yearold boy named Kevin O’Neil. Kevin has agreed to let us join his Apazine as a class. The class will pay a membership fee of four dollars and must submit two to four pages of work bymonthly starting in October. The type of work submitted is up to the member. It can be anything dealing with comics (art, an editorial, a written piece, etc.). We are responsible for making enough copies to be given to each member (about 20 copies). We mail our work to Kevin. He collates all the work of all members, then sends each member a copy of the completed Apazine.
The Apazine will help to motivate the class to create a comic. They will see their own work in print, participate in the development of a product, and see the work of other members. Kevin agreed to speak on Apazines and comics in general in Bob’s class next year. Due to his expertise in comics, his age, and his enthusiasm, our students should get involved and inspired.
In October our first contribution to Equinox will be a set of comic strips. In December the class will have created their final project of the unit, a comic book written and drawn by the class. The Apazine should continue throughout the rest of the year. The class will have to continue handing in work bymonthly in order to remain a member. The address for Equinox is listed in the bibliography section. When it comes time for the finished pieces of work to be entered into the Apazine it must be duplicated. You will probably Xerox it. This is an opportune time to study other forms of printing.
Comics are printed using fourcolor printing. It is an exciting process and excellent for teaching color mixtures. We have not found a comic book company that would allow tours but most newspaper and printing companies are good possibilities. The New Haven Register offers tours. They have a branch in Avon, where the comics are printed. They welcomed the idea of having our class visit. The address is listed with the resources.
There is a set assemblyline process used by the comic industry when creating a comic book. We will stimulate the process by dividing the class into the following areas:
-
1. The writers: create the plot, write the story, and divide the story into frames for the artist.
-
2. The artists: draw and ink the illustrations, visually create characters and setting.
-
3. The letterers: write the words on the title and splash pages and create the dialogue bubbles.
This is an excellent opportunity to develop communication skills both within the groups and between the groups. Each group must let the others know its ideas and how they expect them to be carried out. Each member must be responsible for his contributions to the comic book. The teacher, as editor, will have the responsibility of proofreading the work, supervising the groups, and serving as a resource for the class.
Students can achieve pleasure from their own writing; initially, of course, they must tee shown how writing can be useful to them. When students get involved in things they enjoy doing, meaningful learning takes place. This was evident from the experience with slide tape dramatization. It is necessary to take advantage of their present interests and make assignments that are meaningful. They should be encouraged to write frequently. As their skill increases they will experience pleasure. It is also important to increase the variety of circumstances in which the student is asked to write. Writing is too often performed routinely as an exercise where the student is told what is wrong with his work without encouragement, without showing him what is right.
(figure available in print form)
Just as we learn to read by reading, we learn to write by writing. Each student is required to keep a notebook, which is identified as his journal. The student is told that quantity of production is the only criterion upon which his writing will be judged. Content and grammar are insignificant when compared with the overriding consideration of quantity. The journal has only one reason, to provide the student with a field upon which he can practice writing. He will be required to write a certain number of pages each week. Whether written inside or outside of class, whether a sentence, paragraph, or page, each entry is treated as a building block. We stress the importance of grammar in all other areas of our teaching. The journal is an opportunity for the students to express their creativity, communicate their personal feelings, and bring together ideas to be used in their comic book writing and illustrations.
Some students will try to get away with minimal effort by just putting a few marks on each page. You must make them aware that you as the teacher don’t place a grade on their work. What we suggest would be to guide each child with positive comments and talk frankly about how you could see them better express themselves.
Poor penmanship occurs frequently in poor readers. Many educators claim that much of their difficulty is the result of failure to learn letter forms and inability to spell correctly. And one should not overlook the possibility that poor penmanship in some cases may be nothing more than a reflection of the child’s dislike for reading and everything that goes with it.
Rarely does a crass of students need an instruction sheet given to them. Usually the teacher must capture the attention of the class and give the instructions orally. Therefore most students are weak in comprehending instructions. To capture the class’s attention, add some of your personality to the curriculum and assist the students in the task of reading instructions. We suggest the use of an illustrated instruction sheet using the comic book format. Instead of describing an event or a task that the class is to participate in, pass out an instruction sheet to be read followed by an oral discussion or just have your students begin the work described. We have an example of a comic instruction sheet on the following page. This will not only help the class in reading comprehension, but will give you, the teacher, a clearer understanding of the process involved in the making of a comic. We expect you will find the task more difficult then you first imagined.
The most exasperating experience of the whole unit came when we started to draw. We had written out the dialogue and pictured the comic in our minds. It was going to be beautiful just like Marvel and D.C. We even studied The Marvel Way to Draw. What we hadn’t counted on was our lack of expertise in this area.
(figure available in print form)
Drawing is a personal expression of yourself. For most people it is a threat to their ego. When you draw, other people see your work and make judgments. Just as we felt pressure, knowing other professionals would view our drawings, students will feel pressure in the classroom especially when submitting work to an Apazine. Taking this into consideration, we will now look at what makes a conducive atmosphere for drawing in your class. Look to the positive in each child’s work. See the progress of each individual child. Grade on individual development rather than how their work compares to others in the class. Teachermade illustrated instructions should aid in lessening tension concerning drawing. Also, if the teacher show your work first, accepting constructive criticism from your class, you should make the class feel more at home when the time comes to share their work. It is important to create a safe environment where students feel free to express themselves.
The plot elements used in comics are relevant to current issues in world affairs. During World War II many super heroes were busy fighting fascism. During the sixties they had their hands full fighting illegal drugs, dealing with the issues surrounding the Vietnam War, the new morality, and the hippie culture. Now they deal with nuclear energy and the energy crisis. Because of their tie with the “real world,” they are well suited to enrich a history curriculum. They give the mood of the country and what the hot issues were at a particular period.
You could also explore the history of comics. This can be done from different perspectives. We have listed some examples:
1. History of Marvel
2. History of D.C.
3. History of comics starting with political cartoons.
4. How women have been portrayed in comics over the years.
5. How minorities have been portrayed.
6. History of individual comic characters.
The history of comics gives the class a clearer understanding of how they developed, an appreciation for different eras, and a basis for considering some comics more valuable than others.
If there is one thing comic book enthusiasts crave, it’s dialogue. Playful, vivid, witty sentences full of alliterations, onomatopoeia, puns and metaphors. Sentences where words and concepts interact playfully together. Comics are perfect for adventurous use of words, where writers are free to explore distant universes and span time zones, meeting beings with altered genes and from other worlds. Dialogue and illustration are without exception the only tools comics use for description. It is the manner in which the characters speak that communicates their personalities.
Consequently comic book enthusiasts make marvelous (no pun intended) speakers. It’s an opportunity for them to share their thoughts on a subject they enjoy. It’s an opportunity for the class to experience the speaker’s enthusiasm, and hear new information.
Now where do you find speakers? All you need to do is find one person involved in comics and you are on the road. The Connecticut area is an ideal location to find people to speak on comics. There are comic dealers, professionals, and collectors. Dealers know what is selling well, the value of different comics, and where to find rare comic books. Professionals such as artists, writers, and editors can supply information on how a comic is produced, and insight on what is happening in the various companies. The collectors are involved in fanciness, Apazines, and their own collections. Most important, they are ideal for advice on what artists and writers are good as well as what comics are worth reading.
Translations are an excellent exercise to increase student writing skill and style. Have the class translate a news article into a short story, a science fiction short story into a comic, or a written description from a picture, etc. Then reverse the same exercise. Wonderful things can happen.
The following is an outline of reading skills taught in the 6 week lesson plan.
-
A. Developmental Reading
-
1. Skills in the mechanics of reading
-
a. Development of good eyemovement habit
-
b. Development of speed and fluency in silent reading
-
c. Development of oral reading skills, phrasing, expressions, pitch and enunciation
-
2. Skills in reading comprehension
-
a. Ability to grasp the meaning of units of increasing size, phrase, sentence, paragraph, whole selections
-
b. Ability to find answers to specific questions
-
c. Ability to understand a sequence of events
-
d. Ability to note and recall details
-
e. Ability to grasp the organization of the author’s plan
-
f. Ability to evaluate what one
-
g. Ability to remember what one has read
-
B. Functional Reading
-
1. Ability to locate needed reading material
-
a. Use of skimming in search of information
-
b. Use of index (example: The Comic Book Price Guide)
-
2. Ability to organize what is read
-
a. Ability to summarize
-
b. Ability to outline
-
C. Recreational Reading
-
1. Development of interest in reading
-
2. Achievement of personal development through reading
-
3. Establishment of differential criteria for fiction and nonfiction, prose, and drama
-
4. Development of appreciation for style and beauty of language
