<div dir="ltr">Two things:<div><br></div><div>One, when you get a chance, check out the Lexile (yuk!) ratings for graphic novels. They're all over the place, because the art allows for inference in service to the words. Stan Lee regularly got fan mail from high school and college students who told him how they learned advanced vocabulary from the comics he wrote. Mr. Lee was chagrinned, because it never occurred to him to do anything more than tell a compelling story.</div><div><br></div><div>Two, (and this is really evil, but, Whee!!!), say to the teacher, "Well, let's meet halfway. They will check out the book you want them to check out, and I will allow them to check out the book they actually want to check out. Good?" And if the teacher does not "get it", say, "If you wonder why students who love to read suddenly stop, it's because someone criticized their reading selections, and in that moment, they realize, 'Well, if you don't respect what I read, why should I respect what you want me to read?' A week from now, we'll ask them which books they read. Would you rather they read something they want to read, or no book at all? Because that's totally a choice for them."</div><div><br></div><div>I am a high school librarian, and I begin each year with Juniors apologizing to them, because once they loved to read. Once they loved to go to the library. And then someone reached inside of them and snuffed out that candle. They didn't mean to do it. They thought that they were helping. They shouldn't have. "I am here to relight that candle." In the ten years I've given that speech, more than one student looks stricken, as if I know exactly what happened to them.</div><div><br></div><div>tt<br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><br><div>Timothy Toner</div><div>Librarian </div><div>John Hancock College Prep HS</div><div>5437 West 64th Pl</div><div>Chicago, IL 60638<br></div><div>773-535-2410</div><div>he | him | his</div><div><span style="color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:small;line-height:16px"><i>Omnes mundum facimus</i></span><br></div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 10:05 AM Honkoski, Trisha via AISLE <<a href="mailto:aisle@list.railslibraries.info">aisle@list.railslibraries.info</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">I am so sorry that your students – and you – are confronted with such an ill-informed limited point-of-view. Here is how I responded to one such teacher. (Note: this is before New Kid by Jerry Craft won the Newbery in 2020!)<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)">First, it is best practice for students to have free choice in their book selection from the library to encourage a love of reading and to read for enjoyment. As Donalyn
Miller states in <i>The Book Whisperer</i>, </span><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(0,0,10)">“Providing students with the opportunity to choose their own books to read empowers and encourages them. Readers without power to make their own choice are unmotivated.”
</span><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)">This is one of the many reasons I advocate for at least one free choice selection.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)">With respect to your concerns about graphic novels in particular, I can assure you that there is much evidence to support the contrary and how graphic novels benefit
readers, especially reluctant readers. </span><a href="https://minnesotaenglishjournalonline.org/2014/03/11/praxis-strategies-for-teaching-literature-3-graphic-novels/" title="(opens new window)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white">Research
from the University of Oregon</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;color:black;letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white"> found that comic books averaged 53.5 rare, or more complex, words per 1,000. That's more than children's books which average 30.9 and even
adult books at 52.7. </span><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1080569913482574" title="(opens new window)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(89,89,89);letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white">One study</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;color:black;letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white"> found
that graphic texts promote learning and better recall. Another found that </span><a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1053749" title="(opens new window)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(89,89,89);letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white">students
had the best reading comprehension</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;color:black;letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white"> and enjoyed reading the most when they read graphic novels. They also </span><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234751892_A_Novel_Approach_Using_Graphic_Novels_to_Attract_Reluctant_Readers_and_Promote_Literacy" title="(opens new window)" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(89,89,89);letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white">motivate
reluctant readers</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;color:black;letter-spacing:0.4pt;background:white"> to pick up a book.</span><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)">I’ve included some additional resources here that I hope will help put your mind at ease and reduce your stress.
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<li class="gmail-m_5711365527739558933MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in"><a href="https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/blog/article/graphic-novels/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=autopilot&utm_campaign=fictionreaders&utm_content=blog" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The
Power of Graphic Novels</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></li><li class="gmail-m_5711365527739558933MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in"><a href="https://youtu.be/QqQ6QgXQdYc" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Librarian Ro for Teach Graphix Week (short video clip)</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></li><li class="gmail-m_5711365527739558933MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left:0in"><a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/graphic-novels-kids-classroom-ideas-booklists-and-more?fbclid=IwAR14WaSLeLhGYdUTjMCdYS2PVaidvAOKFnlRISQ0qPdaLnGUqnQrN6G5_9A" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Graphic
Novels for Kids: Classroom Ideas, Booklists, and More</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></li></ul>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;color:rgb(31,73,125)">Lastly, if they are struggling with how to read them – as far as following the sequence of the panels and such – I would love to teach a lesson (or more) on graphic novels.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;color:rgb(0,32,96)">Mrs. Trisha Honkoski</span>
<img border="0" width="40" height="40" style="width: 0.4166in; height: 0.4166in;" id="gmail-m_5711365527739558933Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:17e91ff55174ce8e91"><u></u><u></u></li></ul>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> AISLE <<a href="mailto:aisle-bounces@list.railslibraries.info" target="_blank">aisle-bounces@list.railslibraries.info</a>> <b>
On Behalf Of </b>Elena Menicocci via AISLE<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 25, 2022 10:01 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> AISLE-Share: Association of Illinois School Library Educators discussion list <<a href="mailto:aisle@list.railslibraries.info" target="_blank">aisle@list.railslibraries.info</a>><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Elena Menicocci <<a href="mailto:emenicocci@gmail.com" target="_blank">emenicocci@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [aisle] Help with Teacher Relationships Needed<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I am curious about how others would handle this as I too am having the same issue! <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Recently I had one teacher tell her entire class in front of me that they were babies because graphic novels are baby books. Then she looked at me as if I were in agreeance. She has also banned her class from checking them out. <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Elena <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 9:55 AM Leanne Brown via AISLE <<a href="mailto:aisle@list.railslibraries.info" target="_blank">aisle@list.railslibraries.info</a>> wrote:<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">Good morning,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">I am in need of some wisdom, if you have the time to share it.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">I am in my 7th year of being a librarian, and this year I am in a new school in my district. My administration is very supportive of students taking out whatever they would like
to read, as long as they are doing some "stretching" and trying new things, challenging themselves, etc. My admin are great to work with.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">My struggle is with some staff members; they have some very specific ideas on what their students should check out, particularly avoiding "candy books," as they are called--books
with lots of pictures. Some teachers even say picture books aren't welcomed, even though I have been educating on how some are made for older readers, such as our Bluestem selections. Graphic novels aren't particularly welcomed either, and my efforts to have
the students take a balance of graphic novels with traditional novels has lead one teacher to banning graphic novels altogether with a "No Graphic Novel November."<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">I am trying not to go hard on this because I am new to the building, and relationships and trust need to be built so that I can do my job the way it needs to be done. However,
the daily struggle is getting to me. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">I would appreciate any ideas you have; please email me off-list so we don't clog everyone's emails. Many thanks in advance!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">Leanne Brown, MLIS</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">Librarian</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">Meadow Ridge School </span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">10959 W. 159th Street</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">Orland Park, IL 60467</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Garamond,serif">(708) 364-3600</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">MAILMAN_MIMEDEFANG<br>
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