Picture books are great for all grade levels. And, not only are they good for all grade levels, they are great for all content areas. Picture books are not a threat to any reader. They provide a pleasant reading experience with rich content. Also, they are referred to by many names such as Wisdom Books, Mentor texts and Micro-Texts by Ralph Fletcher.
Students who show difficulty with reading and lose the focus of a book are able to better comprehend the content with pictures. Plus, these books focus on a particular skill and help all students participate in a discussion.
Picture Books Create Opportunities
• Illustrated books show a student’s prior knowledge. Therefore, teachers and parents are able to see a student’s attitude, belief, and even misconceptions about a subject.
• Illustrated books provide essential background knowledge when there is none. They create a common conception for the classroom to begin a level of understanding of a new concept.
• They provide students with a visual and builds a level of comprehension. Struggling with written text causes students lose comprehension.
• Also, illustrated books aide writing skills as students talk, discuss and write about the story.
Picture Books for Middle and High School
Much like picture books for preschoolers and elementary school children, they are useful in both middle and high school. In addition, they set the stage for many skills.
• They introduce key vocabulary.
• Students are taught to locate context clues.
• Listening skills are heightened as an understanding of story elements develop.
• Furthermore, through illustrated books, students make inferences and predictions throughout the story.
Everyone likes to listen to a good story. Hence, picture books are a great teaching tool. Plus, they are short.
So, do not rush students out of picture books and into chapter books. Picture books are a valuable resource for all grade levels. The important factor is it doesn’t matter what children read. What matters is they learn to love books. Thus, eventually become good readers.
