I remember that as a child my parents constantly urged us to read. Read books, magazines, packaging, road signs, captions and cartoons, whatever. Anything with print was fair game. I was lucky because they were able to make reading a challenging game. Mom once said that she wouldn’t be surprised if I read the inside of a toilet paper roll. I replied: ‘but mom, there is nothing printed on the cardboard roll.’ She laughed, but you looked and you would have. She was right. Now my job is to instill that reading curiosity in these children.

As a teacher of what our state calls at-risk adolescents, I am faced with the problem of woefully ill-prepared students. Students for whom reading is a chore to be avoided at all costs. These students come into my eleventh grade classroom with only the basic reading skills of a fifth or sixth grader. Now I am faced with the same problem that many teachers encounter when realizing that their students simply cannot read and understand the materials they are required to master. They just don’t want to and will use any ploy to circumvent a teacher’s attempt at class-oriented reading exercises. So what can we do?

Obviously, we must teach these children to read well enough to be able to comprehend the materials presented to them. We can’t leave it to the reading teacher who has more students than he can probably handle effectively. But if we’re concentrating on teaching reading, what about the content area materials? Integrating content with reading instruction is often a Herculean task. After all, how much reading do we have in a math class? 22 catches.

Many teachers will tell you that they are not reading teachers, and with good reason. In most states, additional courses and certificates are required to qualify as a reading teacher. But, even without this qualification, teachers must be willing and able to identify students’ reading problems and be ready to help those students reach their potential. More and more states are requiring all teachers to take additional courses to ensure they can address this issue.

I have been deeply entrenched in this problem for some time now and have learned that graphic novels or picture books, when used in conjunction with other materials, can increase student understanding and promote a feeling of success which in turn allows the student the opportunity to be successful in the classroom.

When a child comes to my class with limited reading skills, I use supplemental materials that fall into the graphic novel category. For example. One of the first books we read in my English and Literature class is The War of the Worlds by HG Wells. As he watched the faces of various struggling students, I knew they wouldn’t even try to open the book. I was lucky enough to be able to find a graphic novel version of this classic, one of the reasons I chose it, and I gave each student a copy. Suddenly, the faces of these students changed as they began to flip through the book. Some even questioned. “You mean we can read a comic?”

In reality, the students did not realize that these graphic versions actually presented a more challenging reading experience, like most graphic novels, but by changing the perception of the material and offering an alternative, I was giving these students an opportunity for success that many had not experienced for a long time. The condition attached to this book was that it be not a replacement for the original novel, but rather a study aid. They still had to read the novel, but the graphic version would help them with some of the more difficult parts. Of course my ‘good readers’ were sorry about this and I had to assure them that it was a choice and the rating would be the same for everyone.

In addition, class discussions, use of visual technology and other tools were also incorporated, but apparently the greatest success came from the incorporation of these picture books. If you think about it, your first experiences with reading were probably with picture books, picture books, and then comics.

This concept can also be applied to math and science with a little imagination. Teachers who have good computer skills may find that they can create materials that align with their subject areas and provide a similar graphical version of the lessons. For example. I use a story about a maintenance man who is faced with the task of calculating how much material he needs to renovate the school stadium. Using captioned images, students are suddenly solving word problems using more advanced math concepts or algebra and geometry when they previously struggled with simple fractions.

As I progress through the year, students ask if they can do reports and other projects using graphic novels. I have developed some guidelines, but the affirmation has resulted in about 72% of my challenged readers, those entering the 6th grade reading level, passing their 10th grade basic skills tests by the end of the year. It works, but why?

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that reading is cyclical. Success brings more success and a greater desire to read more. Reading more improves reading skills, and as skills improve, the desire increases and more reading occurs. It goes round and round. And the same applies in reverse. Students with reading problems struggle with required reading. They quickly come to ‘hate reading’. They avoid reading and their skills deteriorate.

Technology has perhaps done reading skills a disservice. We hope to learn about things from pictures, especially moving pictures. Today’s students are connected, and in many cases the classroom at school where they spend much of their day is not. These students are bored and the teachers are becoming more of the entertainment than the teacher. Students don’t have time to read and don’t want to read. By incorporating the graphic novel or picture book, we draw them in with something that they can visually connect with.

Often this is just the catalyst needed to show students that a world full of words is more open to them than they previously realized. They gain the desire to continue as each success is measured and reversed into a desire for more success. The negative cycle is broken and the successful one begins. All because of a picture book.