Response #4--Letter to Parents about Ms. Marvel

Dear Parents,

            I am sending out this letter to all the parents/guardians of my English 11 classes. I want to keep you all informed on what we will be discussing and reading over the course of this school year. Periodically, you will receive letters mailed home to let you know what it is your child will be learning in my classroom, the techniques in which I will be teaching the material, and how it relates to the bigger picture outside of the classroom. Along with my administration, I want to have your support as we ALL contribute to the students’ education. I consider this to be a team effort and appreciate any and all questions or suggestions about any material we are expected to cover in the next 180 days.

            To start off the first 9 week marking period, I will be introducing a text titled Ms. Marvel. What makes this text so special and unique is that it is in the form of a comic book! Alongside the illustrations you will find deep and complex situations that will provide a great learning experience for the students, as well as enjoyable and educational. We will focus heavily on what the images are saying that the dialogue does not. This will provide your child with a substantial amount of higher-order thinking and appreciation for art that is explicitly shown. Besides going through a fantastic storyline, students will also gain an understanding of symbolism, cultural diversity, and a new love for reading across a different medium (just to name a few!)

            While I can understand how some might find this slightly strange, and for good reason, I assure you that students will not be missing out on any teachable moments simply because the first text will contain more pictures than words. Upon research on teaching a comic as a form of an educational text, I have found staggering support that shows students do indeed learn from these nontraditional formats. In a text by Butcher and Hinton, they assert “contemporary comics address themes that are important to young adults, including issues of acceptance, nonconformity, prejudice, social injustice, coming of age, triumph over adversity, and personal growth” (332). It is absolutely true that Ms. Marvel embodies almost all of the above themes listed in which many would argue constitutes a successful novel. The main character, Kamala Khan, gives us an insight about what it is to be a Muslim young lady trying to figure out who she is and what her powers allows her to do.

            I have found students to be excited and surprised when they find out we are reading a comic book. I am still early in my teaching career—this will be my 5^th year—and had great success last year when I introduced this text in the second 9 week marking period. I found many of my students last year became more excited about reading after seeing how involved a comic book could be in an English classroom setting. Many of my students went out and bought the other four volumes to continue reading about the Ms. Marvel adventures, and that is the goal: to get our students reading and LOVING to learn! I want to have this same reaction from this year’s English 11 classes. I am going to introduce this text first in hopes that students will be motivated to read other types of literature throughout the year. To start off the year right, I want to have this English 11 class stand out from the rest. I want it to be fun and educational to the point where students are completely unaware how much effort they really are putting into reading Ms. Marvel (even though they think it is simply a picture book!) Butcher and Hinton also state, “comic readers are expected to apply different ‘reading’ skills” (332). I can agree with you that this comic will not give your students the same word count that The Scarlet Letter has, however this different reading embodies what Common Core Standards expect from the school systems, as well as implementing important Universal Design Learning methods (which ensures that all students are learning material in a variety of ways, rather than educators teaching to the middle-achieving students.)

            As I stated in the opening of this letter, I want to keep everyone informed about what will be happening in the walls of my classroom. My intentions with this comic book is to allow students to see Muslim individuals in a different light. With many of the horrible acts happening around our world, I want to build a classroom of students who are thinkers and world changers. I don’t want the stereotypes to come into my classroom and degrade the many wonderful qualities of ANY group of individuals. I intend to do lessons that involve deep classroom discussion about the main character and her family, activities that allow students to make their own identity through a superhero—despite their many differences between one another—and provide opportunities to compliment this comic book with past and current events. It is my goal to have students reading efficiently while broadening their thinking to other cultures. Opening with this comic book brings me great hope for future readings we will do as a class. I know with your help I will have a classroom full of accepting individuals who break down the stereotypical walls that divide us.

            We will start reading this novel in two weeks. I plan on prepping the class about different genres of text and doing a review of important concepts before diving into a literary realm many have not experienced. I hope to see your support and enthusiasm line up with my own. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions on how I can make this experience better for your child, please do not hesitate to contact me or my administrator.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                            Ms. Ryan

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherina and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and     Appreciation. 3^rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Wilson, G. Willow, Adrian Alphona, Ian Herring, and Joe Caramagna. Ms. Marvel Volume 1 No   Normal. New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2014. Print.