Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels by Tim Smyth

I’m such a big fan of comics and graphic novels — and wholeheartedly endorse them as authentic and important reading material that teachers can use with students for many learning opportunities, let alone to grow passionate, thoughtful readers.

That’s why I am so excited about Tim Symth’s new book, TEACHING WITH COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS.

Teaching with Comics and Graphic Novels by Tim Smyth

In TEACHING WITH COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS, Tim Smyth shares his experiences using comic books in the classroom and shares how you can do the same whether it’s for essay writing with text-based evidence or to build an understanding of history.

He shares how YOU, a teacher at any grade level or content area, can also use comic books and graphic novels in your classroom. Smyth also includes Common Core standards that support his use of graphic novels. This will help you think about how you can use comics in your own classroom.

Tim includes so much in this book. Here are some of the topics:

• comics as artifact
• quick and easy lessons
• sequencing
• symbolism
• wordless comics
• literature adaptations
• civil rights

Smyth shows you how to inspire students and create a community of thoughtful readers with many, many examples and teacher guides.

He writes about wordless comics, “This is the power of comics and visual literacy–the reader needs to be much more introspective and self-reliant as there is no text to tell the reader what to think.” I love that, don’t you?

When asked about his favorite graphic novel to use in the classroom, Symth says unequivocably it is the March trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.

TEACHING WITH COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS is dense with helpful information, examples, and resources. Run out and buy a copy! Share with your teacher friends. They’ll thank you later. It’s a resource I wish I had when I was still in the classroom.

Connect with Tim Smyth on his website TeachingWithComics.com, Twitter @HistoryComics, Instagram @HistoryComics, and in his Facebook group Comic Book Teachers.

And, read Smyth’s essay “Using Comics to Tell Stories” on Imagination Soup.

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