Using Picture Books With Older Students – A How-to Guide. I have written extensively about the use of picture books within our classroom and yet there are still questions that keep coming up. No worries as I realized that I had yet to make a central blog post about picture books and how I use them with older students and so while this post may be long, I hope it is helpful. Note that really everything I write here about using picture books with older students also goes for using them with younger kids because as we all know there no is no too old for picture books.
I have written before of why I use picture books with my middle school students, the changes it has created for us as we build our community of readers. I have shared lists upon lists of our favorite books as well, hoping to help others find the very best value in the books they bring in, hoping to inspire others to make them an integral part of their classroom. How Do I Know Which Books to Get? I am connected. I keep a written list handy. I read them beforehand, most of the time. Picture Books Are Perfect for Middle School Literacy. PART ONE: Engaging Middle School Readers Jennifer By Jennifer Sniadecki and Jason DeHart As we introduce our three-part series of articles focusing on the use of picture books with older readers, Jennifer shares a teaching experience: The data meeting went something like this… Principal: Let’s take a look at ELA.
Jason Teacher 1: We focused on similes and metaphors, but also worked with imagery using poetry. Teacher 2: Yes, and also alliteration and personification. Principal: Wow. Me: I read picture books every day. Principal: I’d like to hear more about that. Me: Yes, most people think that…at first. Principal: We need to talk about this more later. I remember thinking, “Finally!” Why picture books belong in middle school We posit that there are several reasons to use picture books in the middle school classroom; in this segment, we focus on student engagement.
“…the use of picture books increases motivation greatly for students of this [middle school] age.” “Why’d you bring baby books?” #CLASSROOMBOOKADAY. 2021 MRA - Michigan Reading Association Selecting Inclusive Texts Through a Critical Lens #ClassroomBookADay & the Power of Shared Stories How Words & Pictures Come Together Native Voices Telling Their Stories: Indigenous #OwnVoices Authors Unapologetically Me! Characters Confidently, Courageously, & Proudly Themselves (#BuildYourStack) Summer 2020 Virtual Learning Workshops #ClassroomBookADay 101 Going Deeper with #ClassroomBookADay: The Power of Critical Selection Building Community One Book at a Time Native Authors: Bringing Indigenous #ownvoices Into Your Classroom Spotlighting #ownvoices Picture Books with #classroombookaday Read Alouds (#BuildYourStack) Books to Bring Native & Muslim Representation Into the Classroom w/Traci Sorell & Jasmine Warga (#BuildYourStack) Curating Inclusive Books for the Classroom (Follett Lunch & Learn with Juila Torres) Developing Identity, Empathy, & Community through Daily Picture Book Read Alouds Seeing Themselves On & Behind the Pages 2019 #nErDcampMI.