I
MAKE SCHOOL VISITS!
Jellicle Cats
are black and white,
right for the Jellicle Ball.
―T.S.
Elliot, "The Song of the Jellicles"
Picture books are treasures for teachers at all grade
levels and for parents who want to enhance their children's learning at home.
Share them joyfully!
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END OF THE SUMMER!
FOR PARENTS
Children who are read to at an
early age learn to read more easily. Just as important, they learn to LOVE to
read! Read to your children often, read for your own pleasure, talk about books
and provide activities that focus on books and reading. Follow the links below
for ideas.
Fun
Stuff!
10 Best Things to Do with a Book
How to Grow a Reader at Home
How to Grow a Writer at Home
Summer Learning, Summer Fun
FOR EDUCATORS
Because of their compact and
focused form, visual cues, and use of repetition, rhythm and figures of speech,
picture books are perfect for teaching a variety of literature, language and
writing lessons. Follow the links below to find lesson ideas for using picture
books to teach an array
of concepts.
Preschoolers, Primary Grades, English Language Learners
Intermediate Grades
Middle School and High School
6 + 1 Writing Traits®
Picture Books and the Arts
FUN STUFF!
10 BEST THINGS TO DO
WITH A BOOK
A GUIDE FOR KIDS
AND THEIR GROWN-UPS
1. Read it. Reread it. Read
it again!
What book do you
love to read over and over again?
2. Read it aloud. Use
different voices for every character.
Who loves to hear
you read out loud?
3. Draw it. Shade it. Color
it in.
What scene from
your favorite book would be fun to draw?
4. Dance it. Express
yourself!
What kind of music
and movements fit with your favorite fairy tale?
5. Act it out. Put on a play
with friends.
If you could play
any character from any book, who would it be?
6. Talk about it. Write
about it. Recommend it.
What book would
you recommend to a friend? What makes it good?
7. Rewrite it from a
different point of view. Think outside the box!
What would
Little Red Riding Hood be like if the Wolf told the story?
8. Give it away. A book is a
gift that keeps on giving.
Who else would
enjoy your favorite book?
9. Find the author's
website. Be an Internet Super Sleuth.
What author would
you like to learn more about?
10. Throw a party! What
could be more fun?!
If you threw a
Frog and Toad party, what kind of food would you serve? How would you dress?
What games would you play? What about a Dr. Seuss party? A Harry
Potter party?
Preschoolers,
Primary Grades, English Language Learners
Concept books (I
Like Black and White, I Like Colors) and "true" picture books—that
is, stories that depend on the illustrations as well as the text for their full
meaning (The Secret Life of Walter Kitty)—are
especially helpful for use with preschoolers and primary grade students (K-2) and English
language learners of all ages. Concept books are great early readers and can be
used as models for beginning student writing.
Lesson
Ideas: I Like Black and White and I Like Colors
Lesson Ideas: The Secret Life of Walter Kitty
Intermediate Grades
Longer, more complex
illustrated storybooks such as
Jitterbug Jam
are an easy first step for students in the intermediate grades (3-5) who are
learning how to analyze literature and write stories of their own. I developed
the
Story Sketcher™ Plot Map and the three-part
Story Sketcher™
Templates
specifically for this purpose. Many longer picture books are also language rich
and offer wonderful opportunities for language study.
Lesson
Ideas: Jitterbug Jam
Story Sketcher™ Plot
Map
Story Sketcher™
Templates
Middle School and High School
Middle and high school students
at the remedial level, in gifted programs, and anywhere between can learn a
great deal from reading, analyzing and writing children's stories in a
Children's Literature Unit.
Because of the variety of picture books available, from concept books to "true"
picture books to illustrated storybooks, lessons can be differentiated for use
with students at many levels in the same classroom.
Children's
Literature (Picture Book) Unit
6+1
Writing Traits
Picture books are also an
excellent resource for teaching writing lessons from the
6+1 Trait® Writing Model. For links to
resources for titles
suitable for use as models for each of the six traits,
click here.
Picture Books and the Arts
Visual Art: Integrating
art lessons into the curriculum is easy at every grade level using picture books
as source material and as models for student art work. Children's book
illustration has attracted and made many "stars" in the art world. There are
also a number of excellent children's books about specific artists. For some of
my favorites, click here.
Music and Dance: Picture
books, in many ways, are like poems--and poems, in many ways, are like music.
Every word counts. Every sound counts, because poets and picture book
writers choose words not only for their meaning, but for their sound. Special
attention is paid to rhythm, which makes picture books not only readable but
danceable.
For an example of a dance
created for elementary students in response to Jitterbug Jam,
click here. The dance was choreographed by
Helen Zhou, music/dance instructor at
Dearborn Park Elementary School in
Seattle, Washington. Mrs. Zhou also created the costumes, with assistance from
Quang Dang, art instructor.
Drama: Finally, picture books
(especially Illustrated storybooks) are easily adapted for use as performance
pieces in Readers' Theatre or a school or classroom play. With minimal guidance, students
in the intermediate grades and up can write their own scripts from a picture book text
and perform it for other students or the greater school community. (Be aware
that copyright laws may preclude students from performing a book if the audience
is charged to see it.) Preschoolers and primary students can "perform" simple
concept books with gestures and fingerplay.
