Visual literacy is a skill that is becoming critical for us as 21st-century learners who are exposed to and must interpret more diverse forms of media. When we look at and work with visuals, you learn to notice details, understand what they mean, and see how they fit into the bigger story. This unit stands on the shoulders of the short stories we have read in the previous grades, helping us transfer what we have learned through short stories into a new medium.


Typically, graphic novels are more inventive and sometimes chaotic compared to traditional linear reading. Yet the added use of thought balloons, panels, gutters, and other comic designs allow us as readers to use our imagination and practise visual literacy. Graphic novels will teach similar story elements and writing skills, but they will be disguised in a fun new medium that will help us learn to read and write stories in multiple media.


In this unit we will be: