The focus for my digital story is to encourage students in stage two of primary school to build a love of graphic novels by understanding the imaginative writing structure for this form of literature. This digital story has been created to link with a stage two English imaginative writing unit in the New South Wales syllabus (NSW Department of Education, 2019). This story acts as a template that students can use to develop their own imaginative narratives using creative thinking skills and the graphic novel template. Having students view and interact with the completed story on the chosen program Book Creator (Tools for School Limited, 2019) allows them to understand and depict the writing process in a digital format.
Book Creator (Tools for School Limited, 2019) provides more opportunities for students to interact with elements of digital capabilities that is encouraged throughout the curriculum. Meyer & Jiménez (2017) encourage learners to integrate a variety of digital elements throughout an interactive story. These digital elements enable the graphic novel to act as a multimodal text that can be introduced throughout this writing unit. Focusing on digital capabilities that develop a sequential story will enhance the student’s own multimodal texts by including interactive features such as hyperlinks, videos and voice recordings. Each of these features provides an opportunity for students to experiment with the digital program after being shown the completed teaching example.
Organising and structuring a graphic novel is something that needs to be taught, particularly when the reader is developing an understanding of how to interpret this form of literature. Penguin Random House (2017) encourages the reader to determine the flow and movement of a story based on the structure of the panels as well as the position of the images and text on the page. Students need to be explicitly taught to use their eyes to scan across every panel to interpret new information in the story. This includes understanding what is happening in the narrative based on the visuals and how speech or thought bubbles are positioned on the page. Developing this skill takes practice as students can learn to do this by observing imaginative writing elements in my digital story telling project.
Graphic novels can act as just one pathway to exploring creative writing (Scholastic, 2018). There are many elements in a graphic novel that require explanation and experimentation. This is particularly important when shifting from writing narratives on lined paper compared to using interactive digital comic panels that incorporate pictures and words. Pantaleo (2018) highlights that when students discuss the different formats of a graphic novel with their peers and teachers, they can gain new understanding of this writing structure. There are many ways that a graphic novel can be compiled to create a cohesive narrative. Having students understand the basics of this writing structure prior to using the digital format will encourage them to explore how they organise their own narrative.
Motivating reluctant readers with graphic novels is another aspect that the Teacher Librarian (TL) and Classroom Teacher (CT) can strive to improve. Ensuring that these types of readers are exposed to short, humorous stories is often just one way to ignite an interest in reading (Hargadon, 2018). Providing opportunities for discussions about these stories can increase the reader’s motivation to explore other texts with the same writing style. Exposing students to a variety of graphic novels will encourage them to think about the format of their own digital graphic novel while they plan, draft and publish their writing.
Providing a teaching example for these stage two students will allow them to observe just one way that a graphic novel can be created. This means that the TL and CT can communicate and work collaboratively to encourage their diverse learners when implementing literary devices throughout their own presentations. Teaching each literary device in detail will encourage each student to choose a variety of imaginative writing features that enhance the narrative. Students can also experiment and work technologically to incorporate their own knowledge of the written and drawn components of their own stories (McClanahan & Nottingham, 2019). This allows all students to use creative thinking skills and have continual conversations with their TL or CT to improve their story before publishing it.
Creating interactive narratives will appeal to learners in 21st century learning environments and encourage future students to build their own digital literature based off previous writing units. Implementing interactive digital skills that students have learnt during this unit will also provide opportunities for the TL to explore further learning areas that can use this interactive program during library lessons. Establishing communication with members of the school community through social media presence will enable parents and caregivers to view their student’s work. This work will be accessible through the Book Creator (Tools for School Limited, 2019) website once each digital graphic novel has been published using student logins.
References
McClanahan, B. J., & Nottingham, M. (2019). A suite of strategies for navigating graphic novels: A dual coding approach. International Literacy Association, 73(1), 39-50. Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1002/trtr.1797
Meyer, C. K., & Jiménez, L. M. (2017). Using every word and image: Framing graphic novel instruction in the expanded four resources model. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 61(2), 153–161. doi:10.1002/jaal.666
NSW Department of Education. (2019). Writing and representing 1. Retrieved from https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/english-year-10/english-k-10/content/887
Pantaleo, S. (2018). Elementary students’ meaning-making of graphic novels. Language & Education: An International Journal, 32(3), 242-256. doi:10.1080/09500782.2018.1434788
Penguin Random House Australia. (2017). Getting to know graphic novels – A guide to using graphic novels in the classroom. Retrieved from https://prh.azureedge.net/resources/TR_OppositeLand.pdf
Scholastic. (2018). A guide to using graphic novels with children and teens. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/lesson-plans/18-19/Graphic-Novel-Discussion-Guide-2018.pdf
Tools for School Limited. (2019). Book creator online (5.3.2) [Chrome app]. Google Chrome. Retrieved from https://bookcreator.com/
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