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Junior High Text:

Maus: by Art Spiegelman

This stunning graphic novel tells the story of the Holocaust in an imminently accessible and yet undeniably profound way.  The story is useful to talk about war and genocide as well as skillful use of voice and medium.  The use of the graphic novel as the format lends itself to unconventional learning methods, but it also goes a long way towards legitimizing this art form for students who would not typically pick up a comic book.  Take a look at a few of my lesson plans below to see how I would incorporate this book into a 7th or 8th grade classroom unit.

Click the names of the strategies to open a new page with a more lengthy description.

Pre-reading Strategy: Anticipation Guide

This book deals with some controversial topics.  An anticipation guide, with questions about group-think mentality, submission, and politics will "prime the pump" of student thinking.  As we fill out the worksheets individually, we will break into a class discussion of some of these controversial issues.  As we read and these topics come up, we can refer back to these guides and fill in the "after reading" sections.  This activity serves to ground the students on the pertinent issues by providing a persistent anchor that they can periodically return to.

During-reading Strategy: Think-Aloud

Not everyone in class will be familiar with reading graphic novels.  I will occasionally demonstrate to the class the conventional way to read the panels, as well as make visible for them my example of relating the images to the text.  After showing the class how I read something, I will ask for volunteers to continue the demonstration for their peers, which will show my respect for students who are familiar with this extra-academic literacy.  This activity offers those students who are not familiar with the medium the chance to see how to get the most information out of the art and text as possible, and it also gives students a chance to watch an experienced reader break down a text for the first time.

Post-reading Strategy: Style Study-Mimicry

This mimicry activity will allow the students to get creative by making their own graphic novel.  These short comic strips will focus on serious issues and concerns, using a genre commonly employed for entertainment in a way that encourages education and discussion--just as Maus does.  We will work in small groups of three or four for this project, which will help to mitigate the "but I can't draw" factor as well as make the project fun and less stressful.

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