Using Graphic Novels... and American Born Chinese

I thought this was a very good article, and certainly encouraging. The teachers observed not only the lack of willingness to read in the remedial students but took the time to notice those who read on their own time were reading graphic novels or drawing anime figures on their notebooks. They cleverly incorporated this into the class. though the media is nontraditional and lacks many formal techniques that most lit teachers are going to want to emphasize to their students, it was a great stepping stone to get the students involved in reading and to be excited about it. I thought it was especially clever to start outside-the-box by "reading" a graphic novel with NO text. This took away the mental stumbling-block the kids faced with their anxieties or disinterest in reading. It instead allowed them to focus on and develop a plot. Furthermore, they were then encouraged to implement their own telling of the tale and to eventually write a story using vocabulary discussed in class. There were two additional points i honed in on and hope to remember:
1. The "shades of meaning" chart as a vocabulary boosting and comprehension guide.
2. Having students share their ideas and progress with teachers verbally, rather than writing them. I never would have thought of this, though it seems so obvious; kids who do poorly at reading and writing are not going to do well when this is the only way of communication between instructor and student.
* i did also appreciate the sidebars incorporated into the article, like the "manga primer" and the list of graphic novels used.
American Born Chinese- What a book! I really enjoyed this book
 much more than i ever thought i would! First off, this was the first
graphic novel i ever read, and was honestly hesitant and doubting its
 merit. This book was easy to read and incredibly entertaining! That
 being said, it was also very clever and poignant; it stared in the face
 of discrimination and stereotype and was incredibly relateable. I
 think the tongue in cheek humor was smartly done and easy to
 interpret so that anyone who felt like a minority could appreciate,
 but it also dealt with such universal issues of acceptance,prejudice,
coming of age,defining of the self, love, and misunderstanding that
this could easily become apart of any curriculum.