Adolescents+and+Comprehension

Comprehension is a trouble area for many adolescents. For the most part there are many strategies teachers are familiar with and use in the classroom such as making connections or using KWL (Ogle, 1986).

Graphica is a wonderful literature genre to help students with comprehension strategies. Graphica combines visual text variations with visual illustrations. Students study more than the written word to gain understanding of what they have read. Text variations are fonts structures that may be italicized, bolded for meaning, shaky to express an emotional feeling of fear or anxiety, small or large. The text is not necessarily reinforced through the visual illustrations, rather, the illustrations carry the meaning and the text supports the pictures. . Following are some current strategy suggestions and some have a new twist of adding technology.

** Graphica Cubing: Six Dimensions **


1.Describe the color choices (or shades) inside the panels used by the author— 2. Describe the characters (facial animations, features, dress, expressions). 3. Describe the text and text shape used to convey emotion (shaky, bold, italicized etc). 4. Analyze how the illustrations help convey the meaning in the panels. 5. Summarize the topic/theme in the selected panels. 6. Write an analysis of your reactions to the reading. Explain what evoked your reactions?

(Developed by Bennett, S.J. (2009). Graphica in Six Dimensions)

Directions: Cut sheets of paper into small squares that can be used to make a cube shape. Use the above bullets to have students describe 1-2 pages of chosen graphica. It is best to have students use “telegraphic writing” for the above. The students can then take the sheets and tape or staple them into the cube. This exercise may later be extended for a longer writing exercise.

•Online resource: http://www.toolsforeducators.com/dice/ will help you make a visual cube for use in a lesson. A cubing form is also available in @Resources

An example of how to use the modified cubing strategy is presented as an analysis of the //Maus I// cover:

The burning of Anja’s diaries. Artie is angry at his father that he burned Anja’s diaries of her feelings during her holocaust survival and loss of her firstborn son. There is anger in the family and misunderstandings. ||
 * Summarize the topic from the selected panels

I could understand Artie’s resentment and anger at his father for destroying his mother’s diaries. I also think that maybe Vladnik hides from his emotions when things are too painful and that’s why he burned the diaries. ||
 * Write an analysis of your reactions to what you’ve read

The mice represent the Jews. The eyebrows slanted and then furrowed shows the surprise and then anger of Vladnik (father). He is dressed in a sweater and appears to be old. ||
 * Describe the characters (facial animations, dress, expressions)

The colors used are black, white and shades of grey. The monochrome lends gravity to the plot of surviving the Holocaust. The stark black color also gives a more somber tone. ||
 * Describe the colors or shades in and around panels

The text is written is short telegrams and resembles a report from a journalist. The thoughts are in small font. Bold text is used to show anger ||
 * Describe the text how text shapes are used to convey meaning.

When Artie is in control of the dialogue he appears taller than his dad. When his dad is in control, the focus is on his facial expressions and Artie is more in the background. ||
 * Analyze how visual contexts help to convey meaning.


 * Maus I (Spiegleman, Art) ||

Making Connections

 * In the strategy, making connections, teachers want students to make connections from what is being read to prior background knowledge, other material that has been read, or other events they might know is happening in the world. Yet, students need to be able to connect their online multimodal texts and literacy experiences to classroom reading. This is a simple, yet efficient method to engage critical thinking and communication as well as to improve comprehension of both traditional texts and multimodal texts. **


 * Making Connections - Five Ways (New: Multimodal Texts) **

 Traditional Text || Text to  Self || Text to World || Traditional Text to  Multimodal Texts || Multimodal Texts to <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Multimodal Texts ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Traditional Text to

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Connecting with Hyperlinks
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a great follow-up activity to Making Connections and Multimodal Texts. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Have students choose one strand of thought to further develop through online searches. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students find online links that could be created (hyperlinks) across subjects and develop a URL chain. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students write a brief description of their textual connection (s), and how each URL link supports the textual connection. (start with a small number and work up as students gain an understanding and familiarity with the strategy and its uses). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Each URL should be color-coded with its own description to help students later identify each URL for further online use (ie.,the creation of a Wiki or use in a blog).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Think of each link as a different color representing a different URL for making connection follow up or as a separate strategy to be further developed in writing.