• Home
  • About
    • Our Supporters
    • Corporate Support
    • The Hub
    • Why This Site?
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Challenges
    • Missed a Post?
  • The Basics
    • Historical Tradition >
      • Cave of Altamira
      • Tutankhamun's Tomb
      • The Bayeux Tapestry
      • Stations of the Cross
      • A Rake's Progress
    • Terminology >
      • Defining the Form
      • The Language of Comics
      • Filmic Language, Part 1
      • Filmic Language, Part 2
      • Language of the Gaze
    • A Rationale for Comics
    • Next Steps
    • Glen's Portfolio >
      • Boldprint
      • Timeline
      • The 10
      • Graphic Poetry
      • Boldprint Kids Graphic Readers
      • Boldprint Graphic Novels
      • Interface and ILit
      • Remix
      • Issues 21
      • Other Books
  • Graphica
    • Scholarship
    • Happening Now
    • Graphic Novels
    • About the Form
    • For Educators
  • Classroom
    • Activities >
      • Exemplars
    • Curriculum Connections >
      • Videos
      • PowerPoints
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • Support
  • Store
    • Codes
    • Go for the Pin!
  • Contact
Comics in Education
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Supporters
    • Corporate Support
    • The Hub
    • Why This Site?
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Challenges
    • Missed a Post?
  • The Basics
    • Historical Tradition >
      • Cave of Altamira
      • Tutankhamun's Tomb
      • The Bayeux Tapestry
      • Stations of the Cross
      • A Rake's Progress
    • Terminology >
      • Defining the Form
      • The Language of Comics
      • Filmic Language, Part 1
      • Filmic Language, Part 2
      • Language of the Gaze
    • A Rationale for Comics
    • Next Steps
    • Glen's Portfolio >
      • Boldprint
      • Timeline
      • The 10
      • Graphic Poetry
      • Boldprint Kids Graphic Readers
      • Boldprint Graphic Novels
      • Interface and ILit
      • Remix
      • Issues 21
      • Other Books
  • Graphica
    • Scholarship
    • Happening Now
    • Graphic Novels
    • About the Form
    • For Educators
  • Classroom
    • Activities >
      • Exemplars
    • Curriculum Connections >
      • Videos
      • PowerPoints
    • FAQ
    • Links
    • Support
  • Store
    • Codes
    • Go for the Pin!
  • Contact
Comics in Education
What's new?

Comics in Education Presents: An Extended Essay Map that Is Every Supervisor's Dream

4/25/2014
by Glen Downey, Comics in Education, www.comicsineducation.com
Picture
(c) 2014, Heidi Holland. All rights reserved. Published with permission of the artist.

Never underestimate what the visual can do in planning a major writing task

It's easy to dismiss pictures and drawings as something that we dabbled in as children, and that now, as serious adult writers, we should get on with the business of words, words, words. This attitude presupposes, however, that words and images should not mix, and it goes back to our previous discussions about the differences and discrepancies in attitudes towards literature, visual art, and the combination of the two (i.e. visual narrative).

When it comes to planning out a major assessment task, like the International Baccalaureate's Extended Essay--a piece of persuasive prose that is 4000 words long--have a look at what a student at The York School did in planning out her paper on the character of John Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories. The great thing about the visual here is not that it simply beautifies the planning process. Rather, it gives the student an opportunity to mull things over as they write, create, make connections, and attempt to articulate an approach to the essay.

The next time you have students engage in a visual brainstorming activity, get them to consider what they are thinking in the moments when they are "merely" drawing. Chances are they are thinking about a wealth of different ideas and considering how to make additional connections among them. 

Their doodling, after all, is just the hand's way of expressing how hard at work the brain really is.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow @teachingcomics
    Follow @GlenDowney


    our  store
    our codes
    navigation
    contact us

    Picture

    Glen Downey

    Dr. Glen Downey is an award-winning children's author, educator, and academic from Oakville, Ontario. He works as a children's writer for Rubicon Publishing, a reviewer for PW Comics World, an editor for the Sequart Organization, and serves as the Chair of English and Drama at The York School in Toronto.


    Picture

    If you've found this site useful and would like to donate to Comics in Education, we'd really appreciate the support!

    Picture

    Comics in Education

    Archives

    February 2019
    September 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    April 2017
    November 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014


    RSS Feed

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

(C) 2014-21
​Comics in Education


3M Visitors

Contact Us