"Me fail English? That's unpossible!" Leave it to the geniuses at the Maryland Department of Education to find new and creative ways to keep students stupid by calling it smart. First it was "Everyday Math" where you never actually learned anything about numbers or how to manipulate them (but you did learn about other countries and cultures), then it was "Disaster Spelling" where students misspelling is not corrected as long as it is phonetic. Now, from the supporters of "ebonics", comes the latest educational fad for TAL - Teachers Against Learning - comic books. No, sad to say, I'm not kidding. I wish I were.
More than 1000 classrooms around the country are now using comic books as a part of their curriculum. Using the likes of Garfield, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse, this curriculum is hoping to increase reading and writing skills by spiking students' interest. Hoping students will read better by putting more pictures and less words on a page is like planting a rock and hoping a tree grows. Teachers say they love the comics because they get the kids excited for reading lessons - preferring enthusiasm at the expense of substance. I could get my children really excited about dinner if I served ice cream but it doesn't mean it's good for them, just easier for me.
Hopefully it goes without saying that books that use pictures as the main tool for plot and characterization and only use written words for dialogue and minimal setting will fall far short of written narrative in reading development. Pictures rob students of the skill to interpret language into complex ideas. Pictures also limit the beauty of descriptive language in matters of emotion and intent. When you read about an event, the words can transport you like you are "right there" experiencing it. Pictures always put the viewer in the audience.
This comic book curriculum is just a part of a larger educational deficiency that occurs when teachers and administrators "dumb down" the work to fit the students instead of pushing the students to achieve higher standards. Michael Bitz, one of the founders of the comic book program, said it best, "There is a growing movement in education that's looking at literacy of all kinds." All kinds? really. Like, illiteracy, or poor literacy. The last time I checked there were no pictures on the SAT.
More than 1000 classrooms around the country are now using comic books as a part of their curriculum. Using the likes of Garfield, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse, this curriculum is hoping to increase reading and writing skills by spiking students' interest. Hoping students will read better by putting more pictures and less words on a page is like planting a rock and hoping a tree grows. Teachers say they love the comics because they get the kids excited for reading lessons - preferring enthusiasm at the expense of substance. I could get my children really excited about dinner if I served ice cream but it doesn't mean it's good for them, just easier for me.
Hopefully it goes without saying that books that use pictures as the main tool for plot and characterization and only use written words for dialogue and minimal setting will fall far short of written narrative in reading development. Pictures rob students of the skill to interpret language into complex ideas. Pictures also limit the beauty of descriptive language in matters of emotion and intent. When you read about an event, the words can transport you like you are "right there" experiencing it. Pictures always put the viewer in the audience.
This comic book curriculum is just a part of a larger educational deficiency that occurs when teachers and administrators "dumb down" the work to fit the students instead of pushing the students to achieve higher standards. Michael Bitz, one of the founders of the comic book program, said it best, "There is a growing movement in education that's looking at literacy of all kinds." All kinds? really. Like, illiteracy, or poor literacy. The last time I checked there were no pictures on the SAT.
10 comments:
I am so grateful my kids were not ever subjected to creative spelling.I have seen the aftermath and it is not pretty. A lifetime of spelling difficulties. SO so sad.
You have got to be kidding me! I thought that it was ridiculous when they added comic books to the school library, now they are using them in the classroom??
Here's where I differ a bit. I think using comic books could be good as an introduction to reading. Also, in Japan, they have some great educational ones. I remember learning all about the functions of the different components of your blood in an educational comic book (red and white blood cells, etc.). Gradually, the students can be led to less pictures and more words. What's wrong with that?
cute pic, tim.
I think there's a difference between a picture book and a comic book. Picture books, for beginning readers, have complete sentence structure, narrative, setting description, etc, presented in a flowing, sequential manner. A comic book depends on the pictures to convey the plot, the emotions and intents of the characters, etc, with words used only in dialogue or disjointed settings, like, "meanwhile....", or "but back at the ranch..."
I have nothing against picture books for K-1 levels. This comic book program is used at higher grades that should no longer be dependant on pictures.
I'm not going to advocate their overuse, but to be fair, I love having comic books in my ESL classroom. Some of my kids have learned all kinds of vocabulary from reading them and asking me questions. By the middle school level, most of the kids are quickly bored with picture books, but they don't have the language for more age appropriate reading. Comic books are a great solution.
I know, I'm just talking about a particular population of kids, but it's a population I happen to be fond of. :)
In my oldest sons 9th grade English class, the teacher required that the students read. She stated that over the years she had a difficult time enforcing this, so finally she resorted to making comics available in her room. Yes the kids were reading but what was lacking was literature requiring any deep thought . This is just my very limited experience on this subject.
Hey Tim I clicked on your picture and read your profile, I hope you don't mind.... You like Fergalicious too? Whitnie, Pennie, and Star are gonna think your so cool. Te he he he
Kristine, I'd never considered comics in an ESL setting but that makes perfect sense. Fewer words but interesting to an older audience. They are worth more than just entertainment after all.
But I would imagine that most parents would want their English-only children to read at a little higher level than ESL students.
Ambie, I do my best to stay young. Fergie helps me do that. Tell you girls to check out the other songs too.
I don't even use the comic books with my advanced students, only my beginners. I'd want to see the research done before using them in a mainstream classroom. They might have a place as a supplemental thing, I don't know, but I definitely wouldn't want them to become the main text in a classroom!
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