English.
The academic equivalent of one of our five a day – something necessary we have to have to function. So often we count it off and count it done. But does it have to be this way?
This blog is how I go about engaging some dynamic and inventive strategies to enrich English lessons for KS3 teens. This age group, brimming with curiosity and a budding sense of individuality, presents a prime opportunity to cultivate a deeper love for learning. English comes in many forms, and one of the ways I’ve had great success with students who are reluctant or struggle with traditional print books is to bypass traditional printed text altogether, first play with regular road signs to build a story, and then play with a few panels and just words to create an original story. I love this story, which then inspired my student’s adaptation of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ below
I know the notion of graphic novels conjures up cheap printed editions of the daring do of caped crusaders, but that is a hangover from the 1950s era of the comic. GCSE classics such as Of Mice and Men and The Christmas Carol, 1984 and An Inspector Calls and many Shakespeare classic school texts are available as graphic novels. That’s just the start….
Harnessing the Magic of Words and Visual Aids
Graphic novels are a great way to engage teen readers. We all know that visual aids like illustrations, diagrams, and videos are more than just attention grabbers; they’re catalysts for comprehension and retention. What happens when you take that logic and integrate graphic novels into English lessons that can help teens better understand complex concepts and engage more deeply with the material? (And just in case you’re wondering, graphic novels are not restricted to fiction and the classics, Art Spiegelman’s Maus is a moving fictionalised biography and history of the Holocaust, which, incidentally, I have taught in tandem with the award winning 1995 Anime film of The Diaries of Anne Frank both of which has brought both the words and history to life.) These visual elements cater to diverse learning styles and make lessons inclusive, ensuring every student feels part of the learning journey and something I use on my KS3 course.
The Timeless Art of Storytelling
Avid readers will tell you how stories have the unique power to transport listeners to different worlds, evoke emotions, and spark imagination. And science backs this up; reading a book can be compared to nourishing your brain with a superfood. Research involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals that reading engages multiple brain areas in a complex way. By monitoring variations in blood flow within the brain, scientists have discovered that reading actively stimulates the brain’s neural networks. Graphic novels take this one step further. They are to a story what a staged play is to the printed text. By reading and creating graphic stories you can transform abstract language concepts into vivid, memorable experiences on the page. They are also a powerful way of teaching about form and structure – one of the authorial methods that can be a struggle for teens to grasp as it is often couched in technical, dull language. Once you understand the basic elements of the graphic novel (panels types i.e. shape of the boxes; gutter types i.e. gaps in between the panels; balloons i.e. convey speech, thoughts and sounds) this can be translated into a visual representation of narrative gap, to understand plot development, setting, character, conflict and rising action. The pictures below illustration my work with students from my marked up copy of Through the Woods by Emily Carroll to their exploration of character and narrative gaps,
I find time and again that graphic novels are superb at supporting diverse students’ learning needs, such as attention, memory, language sequencing and cognition skills. The integration of the visual and verbal components is part of a highly interactive process, and readers bring their own fund coded knowledge to the text, creating a unique meaningful experience of story. This approach not only makes learning more relatable and engaging but also encourages students to connect emotionally with the material, building a foundation for a lifelong passion for reading.
Bringing Texts to Life with Illustrations
I think we tend to forget how important illustrations were to novels in the past. Dickens’ works were highly illustrated, and each serialisation contained two images. There was a select group of illustrators he worked with including John Leech George Cruikshank and Frank Stone, who were all actors in the amateur plays put on by Dickens’ circle of friends – another clear link between text, illustration and realisation. No wonder then that incorporating illustrations into reading assignments can significantly enhance the literary experience for teens. This technique helps students visualise the narrative, deepening their engagement and comprehension. It’s particularly beneficial for visual learners who thrive on images to understand and retain information. Moreover, illustrations stimulate curiosity and creativity, prompting students to explore texts more thoroughly and think critically about the connections between words and images. One great tip is to ask teens to storyboard the key moments in what they have just read – the simple act of illustrating the text compels a deep attention to detail and the information is both decoded and retained much better. Taking this a step further, I ask my students to create stick sketches of unseen exam texts as they go along if they are struggling with meaning, and annotations of emojis to track the mood. They never forget what they have read!
Storyboard pictures based on episodes in The Sign of Four – either drawn, or words and emojis in panels:
And emojis used with words to take narrative points and mood:
Cultivating Creativity Through Words and Pictures
Fostering creativity through both words and illustrations allows middle-teens to explore and express their burgeoning personal identities. This approach not only sharpens their language skills but also empowers them to articulate their thoughts and ideas confidently. In a setting that values and nurtures creativity, teens are more likely to take intellectual risks and engage deeply with the material – which is just what we want to encourage and where the freedom of home education excels by giving students the breadth to do just that.
Across all years I have integrated these creative strategies into English lessons – from KS3 to GCSE – I’m not just teaching language arts; I’m nurturing imaginative thinkers and eloquent communicators. I’m committed to creating a learning environment where the magic of words and the power of visuals not only coexist but thrive, inspiring our middle-teens to reach their full potential. I use graphic novels and an array of the techniques in my KS3 course, and free hand graphic book reviews are another creative way to engage in the elements of story.
Resources
Once you start looking there are plenty of resources online, and these are some websites to start you off;
https://departingthetext.blogspot.com/ is focused on “parenting, literacy, creativity, and having fun with your kids while making life and learning more meaningful”.
https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/comics-rule/ has starter lesson plans and ideas to get you going
These aren’t lessons in art! You might have a budding artist, but it isn’t a prerequisite for using or creating graphic novels in learning. Online sites such as StoryboardThat help get round any worries about art skills: https://www.storyboardthat.com/
If you want to go a bit deeper, then Using Content-Area Graphic Texts for Learning by Jaffe and Monnin has a great introduction and guides for using graphic novels in maths and social studies, as well as English.
And Using Graphic Novels in the English Language Arts Classroom by Boerman-Cornell and Jung Kim published by Bloomsbury is superb and in depth.
And of course, the Arts Discovery KS3 courses for home educating students, which are online and live.
Final thought
When I first encountered graphic novels I had to bypass the intrinsic snobbism that can be attached to the printed word as the foremost mode of literary expression. Having a joint degree in English and History of Art helped me overcome that perceived impediment, and I think it is imperative to embrace and teach visual culture alongside written culture. In our multimodal society, in which visual and verbal literacies are now essential skills, graphic novels create dynamic and immersive learning experiences that resonate with young learners, and open up the world of words and imagination to a vast range of teens.
Remember, as Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is contagious, pass it on.”
Note: Many thanks to my students, whose work I am using as illustrations, and all those who have kept me inspired with their joyous engagement with words and pictures. I have tried to find the original of the This is Not a Comic boat story to link or credit it, but with no luck. If you are the author, many thanks for this wonderful starting point, and please get in touch so I can credit you.
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