A Meaningful Teaching Experience

Comics—A Meaningful Teaching Experience in the Language Arts
Author(s): Dolores Bower

Source: American Annals of the Deaf, Vol. 105, No. 2 (MARCH, 1960), pp. 230-231
Published by: Gallaudet University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44399989
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Comics - A Meaningful Teaching Experience
in the Language Arts
Dolores Bower, B.S.
Indianola Elementary Day Class for the Deaf , Columbus , Ohio
Comics are fun! They are an institution among hearing chil-

dren, so why should they not be more commonplace with our deaf
children? It is just another channel for better reading and
language - one of our prime objectives. Of course, the teacher
of the deaf must use similar standards of judgment and evalua-
tion as does the teacher in the regular classroom. At the same
time, she must never underestimate the complexity of the language
in comic strips and comic books. Many of us are deceived into
thinking that the general content and vocabulary load are infan-
tile; however, careful examination reveals that a number of the
comics would go beyond the understanding of most of the children
in the intermediate grades if it were not for the pictures. While
the children may be content with picture reading, suggestion and
guidance from a resourceful teacher carries them to a higher level.
Comic strips from your Sunday newspaper, such as Henry and
others which have little or no discourse, consist of simple generali-
zations confined to objects, material things, and one general idea.
The children in the class write the story collectively, using one
picture at a time, and then together select the best sentence from
the group and write it on the board. As the teacher circulates
around looking at each sentence, she is in a position to help
everyone make a contribution. When the story is finished it may
be copied on chart paper for oral and silent reading and for
repetition of vocabulary, phrases, and concepts; for dramatization
and question work; and, for sequence of ideas. Using comic
strips is a revelation in visual interpretation, and an opportunity
for the teacher's first-hand observation of each child's apprecia-
tion of the comic's humor. Facial expression often furnishes
ample clues as to how the little minds work.
Comics may be integrated with subject matter in your course
of study. With this as an aid, the child learns faster, reasons
better, and remembers longer. Because his thinking has been
structured by a visual representation, he is able to draw conclu-
sions and retain a considerable amount. Here, the emphasis is on
content. (Items pertaining to history, geography, science, etc.)
Another satisfactory method is giving a story in comic form
providing several children with the same copy for group reading
and discussion purposes. After reading the comic book, the
teacher or parent can use the same story in narrative form with
repetition of vocabulary, phrases, and concepts. This facilitates
retention, and perhaps the child might eventually incorporate
230
Comics - A Meaningful Teaching Experience 231
the vocabulary, phrases, and concepts into his own situations

and experiences.
It is quite a challenge when the children are divided into
groups to compose their own stories from comic strips, and they
themselves are the teachers and judges of the quality.
If you are artistically endowed, create your own comic strip
in which the children will have to impose their own story line
telling what they think the characters are saying, dreaming,
hoping, or thinking. In this way they are learning to verbalize
others ideas, while the teacher may also be using it as a check
for comprehension.

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Comics—A Meaningful Teaching Experience in the Language Arts

Author(s): Dolores Bower

Comics are fun! They are an institution among hearing chil-

the vocabulary, phrases, and concepts into his own situations

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