1.+Teaching+with+Comics+Overview

= = = = =Background =  There are a large number of high school students that do not have the basic algebra and problem solving skills needed to be successful in Georgia’s high school common core curriculum standards. Many of these struggling students are served in special education or they are in the Response To Intervention (RTI) tiered process. With its origins in special education legislation, RtI is a systematic, data-based method for identifying, defining, and resolving students’ academic or behavioral difficulties that relies on a collaborative, school-wide, problem-solving approach (U.S. Congress 2004). “As a proactive and prevention-focused approach, RtI encourages teams of educators to develop dynamic instructional plans to address academic or behavioral concerns of students within the classroom” (Little, p.71, 2012)
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 While all students have strengths and weaknesses that define them, I have observed that many low-level math students have difficulty organizing mathematical processes so that they make sense to the individual learner. Other lower achieving math students have trouble with problem solving because of their weaknesses in literal reading comprehension. Literal comprehension is simply recalling the facts from items of reading. Stimulating visual processes may be the answer for many under achieving students. Many of my students’ IEPs have an instructional accommodation for the use of graphic organizers because they have strengths in visual processing. Graphic organizers consist of grouped visual items that help connect meaning to students’ prior knowledge and connects the new material to the previously stored information Manoli & Papadopoulou, 2012).

 Graphic organizers or comics are more widely utilized in English and history, but I will argue that comics have a place in teaching and learning mathematics as well. “The images in comics can act as a way of making difficult concepts or texts more comprehensible” (Boerman-Cornell, p.73, 2013) Math topics are really no different than the subjects that have been known to more widely utilize graphic novels or comics to develop understanding. “Math topics are no different from other subjects when it comes to the power of visuals that comics offer” (Gavigan & Tomasevich, p.131, 2011). Gene Yang is an author that is known for drawing comics that helps guide students independently to reinforce, pre-teach, and review math skills. Using comics to break down math operations into smaller steps may help many students with disabilities remember and organize important operational steps by connecting them to highly visual elements. As I mentioned before, comics can be used for visual stimulation to connect to a student’s previous experiences and thus improve reading comprehension. Developing good math problem-solving skills are essential to be a successful member of today’s society and comics can help develop these skills as well (Gavigan & Tomasevich, p.131, 2011).

 In this instructional design project I will explore many existing math comics and develop new comics as resources for teaching the fundamental math skills covered in the common core curriculum standards. Teaching algebra skills will be the primary focus of the comics that will be developed. Along with the development of resources, I will design an instructional plan that best utilizes the math comic resources. My instructional design project attempts to deliver visually stimulating comics through innovative technological tools to help under-achieving math students build and retain a foundation of mathematical concepts.

=Target Audience = Next school year I have the added challenge of remediating first year 9th grade math students with learning disabilities. This class that I will be developing the instructional plan and resources for will consist of students with learning disabilities. This is a small group, resource class, so I should not have more than eight students in this course. The current math curriculum for 9th graders is “Coordinate Algebra”. I will be covering topics that include, but are not limited to solving basic equations, factoring polynomials, solving quadratic equations, graphing quadratics, and solving systems of equations. All of the topics in the “Coordinate Algebra” standards will have components of real-world problem solving. Learning Objectives
 * Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
 * Interpret the structure of expressions
 * Create equations that describe numbers or relationships
 * Understand solving equations as a process of reasoning and explain the reasoning
 * Solve equations with one variable

=Resources = Boerman-Cornell, B. (2013). More than comic books. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 73-77. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Gavigan, K. W., & Tomasevich, M. (2011). Connecting Comics to Curriculum : Strategies for Grades 6-12. Santa Barbara, Calif: Libraries Unlimited. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Little, M. E. (2012). Action research and response to intervention: Bridging the discourse divide. Educational Forum, 76(1), 69-80. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Manoli, P., & Papadopoulou, M. (2012). Graphic organizers as a reading strategy: Research findings and issues. Creative Education, 3(3), 348-356. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Georgia Department of Education. (2012). Common core Georgia performance standards CCGPS. Coordinate Algebra. Retrieved from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Common-Core/Pages/Math-9-12.aspx <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">U.S. Congress. (2004). Individuals with disabilities education act, reauthorization. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/policy/apeced/guid/idea2004.html <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Yang, Gene Leun. (2003) Comics in Education. Retrieved from http://www.humblecomics.com/comicsedu/

About the Author

 * [[image:jameytrask7465/jamey head crop.jpg]] || =====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">James Trask or "Jamey" is a special education teacher at Fayette County High School, in Fayetteville, GA. He has been teaching and coaching varsity football there for the past 9 years. This year he also accepted a part-time position as a teacher for the Georgia Virtual School. Jamey is currently teaching one engineering course through the GA Virtual School. Teaching online has been a great challenge for Jamey and he is glad to have been given this opportunity to be on the front-end of a movement toward online education. Jamey received his undergraduate degree from Georgia Southern University in graphic design. He completed his masters degree in Instructional Technology from the University of West Georgia in the spring of 2012. Jamey spends most of his professional time co-teaching math, but he also co-teaches a British Literature course. Jamey always looks for opportunities to use and share the knowledge he has in graphic design and technology with others that will listen. ===== ||