Graphic Novel # 2 - Dolley Madison: Salva La Historia por Roger Smalley

Mary's Thoughts:

I chose to add this book to my reluctant reader list because, not only is it a graphic novel, it is also written completely in Spanish. I am a Spanish language learner who works with English language learners, so I wanted to get a taste of the experience of my ELLs as they read books in their second language.

Dolley Madison: Salva La Historia begins with the wedding of James Madison and Dolley Payne and follows the couple through James's presidency. The highlight of the book is about how Dolley saved important artifacts from the White House from the fire the British troops set when they invaded Washington D.C. in 1814.

As a second language learner of Spanish, I found that the illustrations in the book helped me understand the text better. Of course, I brought a basic knowledge about the life of Dolley Madison to my reading of the text. This reading experience helped me be more aware, through first hand experience, of the role of background knowledge in reading comprehension. I noticed that as I negotiated some difficult portions of the text, although I did not understand the words of the text, I was able to follow the story because of the illustrations in combination with my background knowledge of Madison's life.

My initial belief about graphic novels, before I began this reluctant reader project, was that the illustrations might actually interfere with my enjoyment of the text, but I did not find this true as I read this book. Instead, the illustrations added interest and aided my comprehension.
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Pixie's Thoughts: 

Woof! When the British were getting ready to eat the banquet of food Dolley left as she fled, my mouth started salivating! The battle scenes and fire kept my attention, but the book was a little heavy on the Washington social life. Those parts seemed to drag. I give this book three and a half paws!





Classroom Application:

I think this Spanish language version of the graphic novel biography would be great for use with students in third or fourth grade who already have a foundation in Spanish literacy skill and for whom Spanish is their first language. It would also be appropriate for students in the upper grades who are learning Spanish as a second language.

• If you have students who are native Spanish speakers, but do not have literacy skills in Spanish, this book could be read aloud to them in Spanish before a study on the period of American history during James Madison's presidency. This would give them some background knowledge in their first language  before learning about the content in English. 
• In bilingual classrooms, the class could gather various texts on the life of Dolley Madison and do a group project to compare and contrast the texts with one another. For example, they could compare this graphic novel with a more traditional biography about Dolley. Later, when writing about the life of other historic figures, students could have the option of creating their own graphic novels, particularly students who enjoy art.