Teaching Maus Has Had a Positive Impact on These Students' Literacy Learning

No matter Tag Heuer Carrera Replica Watches atliteracy tool kit; that of the use of personal stories to
the working place or evening party, it can certainlyconnect the personal with power relations in society.
strengthen your feminine air. In terms of theEvery student identified with the smuggling scene in
Harmony series, the Hublot Big Bang Replica design ofMaus; many related it to their own experiences
the strap offers us a vivid presentation.crossing the border via coyotes--paid smugglers.
Martha's students clamored for her to read MausTeaching Maus has had a positive impact on these
aloud to them as they followed the text; as soon asstudents' literacy learning. They have told Martha that
she stopped they pleaded for her to continue.this is the first time they have been "turned on" by
This confirms Ivey's (1999) observation that readinghistory. At the time of this writing, her students are
aloud is "a powerful practice for promoting literacyfully immersed in the story and will probably finish it
appreciation and development" and shows "reading ison their own. Martha reports that all the students
pleasurable and worthwhile" (p. 375). This also hasnow want their own copy of Maus.
been helpful when the students first ran across theShe hopes this will lead to their reading more graphic
various sound effects that are featured in thisnovels on their own. They also now have the
graphic novel: the utterances of ach, snrk, snf, andbackground from reading Maus to continue reading
tsk all came alive for the students upon hearingother books on the Holocaust--in fact, Martha plans
Martha vocalizing them.to have them read about Anne Frank next.
The teacher read-alouds also highlighted theAfterward, she will have the students write an essay
nonstandard English used by Vladek. These advancedon how different genres deliver the story of the
level ELL students immediately recognized thisHolocaust.
non-standard usage, either upon hearing or reading it.This will be their introduction to literary analysis. The
This led to a class discussion on language use and thestudents' final project will be to recount their own
notions of standard versus nonstandard language.family narratives using multimodal representations of
Although they were amazed that one could actuallytext, images, and sound aided by computer software.
write broken English in a (graphic) novel, the studentsFor those ELL students who already read graphic
also knew from firsthand knowledge that thisnovels on their own (usually in the library because
representation was true to reality: several observedthey are expensive to buy), this practice enables
"that's how he really talks."them to meet and interact with native speakers who
Indeed, seeing this affirmation of diverse ways ofare avid graphic novel readers.
speaking in print cannot help but resonate with ELLFor those who now know an important graphic novel,
students' identities when they may be positioned inthis may gain them entry into this social network that
schools as others.transcends ethnic and linguistic divides. Claiming
Reading about Art Spiegelman's quest to know moremembership in a community defined by love of these
about his family's history in detail, several studentsnovels can help facilitate the transition of ELL
now want to find out about their parents' previousstudents into mainstream classes.
life experiences--which confirms one aim of the critical