Tips for Using Picture Books to Teach Middle School ELA
Have you been skeptical about using picture books in your classroom? Or are you already using picture books and want new ideas? If either of these sound like you, I’m glad you’re here!
Picture books are usually associated with elementary education, but picture books are a hidden gem for engaging and inspiring middle school students.
Far beyond their colorful illustrations and simple narratives, picture books offer many benefits that make them invaluable in middle school ELA instruction.
This episode covers using picture books to teach secondary ELA and all the reasons you should as well as suggestions for how to use picture books along with some text suggestions.
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Melissa Burch 0:00
Hey friends, welcome to Annotated ELA. Have you been skeptical about using picture books in your classroom? Or are you already using picture books and want new ideas? If either of these sounds like you, I am so glad you're here today. We are chatting about using picture books to teach secondary ELA. If you would like a copy of a growing list of picture books, short stories, and passages to use in your classroom, send me a DM on Instagram @annotatedela. The link will be in the show notes.
Melissa Burch 0:30
Let's chat about why we should use picture books in the secondary classroom. Reason number one, picture books are less intimidating than novels or even short stories. Students are able to get through the entire story in one sitting and begin practicing reading and writing skills after reading such a powerful practice. Number two, is to engage all students, including the reluctant readers. Picture books or bite-sized literature that allow for deep teaching and learning. This is so true, and your older kids might act too cool for it. But keep going, keep being silly, and keep loving it and they will begin to love it too. I promise you. Number three, picture books can spark a conversation among students. Because it's so easily digested, they will start talking about it. It feels accessible; it feels below them, even though there is deep, rich concepts and teaching, they will feel comfortable talking about it because it feels easy for them. They're really digging into what they need to be learning because they understand the basic foundation of the story. Number four, students can practice more complex reading and comprehension skills. Picture books can be a scaffold to a more complex text and analysis of those texts. Again, they're just practicing with a text that feels accessible, but they're practicing skills that they need for more difficult reading. Number five is practice with asking questions. Students can practice levels of questioning, and think more critically about a piece of writing. Number six, the final reason why we should use picture books in our secondary classroom is for the pure enjoyment of reading and literature. It's so easy and quick to sit down and read a picture book with your students. It really does spark that love of reading because it's something to get excited about. Oftentimes, they can be silly stories. And it just brings back the enjoyment of reading and how it creates community. The reasons for why using picture books and secondary ELA as a powerful practice really is a no brainer. It's just a powerful way to get kids reading and thinking about reading; and thinking like a writer.
Melissa Burch 2:51
Now that we have our why, let's discuss the different ways to use picture books. The first way you can use a picture book in your classroom is to introduce elements of the writer's craft. Picture books can be a great way to teach a specific technique, because students view picture books as less threatening, and it makes them feel more confident in their ability. Because of this, students feel more confident. What a powerful confidence booster for our secondary ELA students, or even our secondary students in any content area. There's so many nonfiction pairings that any content area teacher can read picture books. Spread the word of picture books to all of your teacher colleagues. Okay, now that I'm off my soapbox. A second way to use picture books in the classroom is for literary analysis. Students feel confident and they can practice that analysis skill, for example, analyzing character motivation, or identifying and evaluating themes. Because picture books feel less intimidating, all of those big analysis skills don't feel so scary and they may not even realize that they're doing it; because they're not grappling with what the story is about. They can grapple with the skill and the analysis that we want them to. A third way to use picture books in the classroom is as a scaffold for a new skill that can later be applied to a longer and more challenging text. Teach the mini- lesson on the skill and then have students work together to practice the skill with different picture books or with a picture book that you read together as a class. The fourth way to use picture books in your classroom is as supplemental text. I know that I'm always searching for nonfiction pairings for our fiction reading. And while I love to do poetry, there are also amazing nonfiction picture books that I can use as a pairing and it is just as powerful as finding a more difficult nonfiction text. The fifth way to use picture books in your classroom is to build community. Students love being read to, no matter their age, and no matter how cool they act, they love it. And there is rarely enough time to stop and enjoy a read-aloud with our students. Picture books can make that magical moment in our classrooms happen, reading to our students is a time to stop and come together as a classroom community. Oftentimes, they fully grasp that concept in the picture book. And so when you read a powerful book about a powerful topic, you can hear a pin drop in your classroom, because they got it, they get it, and it really, really is magical. Oh, I'm just excited thinking about it. Sixth way that we can use picture books in our classroom is that picture books can build confidence. There are always students who claim not to be good at reading or writing, or to not like reading or writing. Can we say most of them? Picture books are accessible. And there are books about writing and reading. After all, picture books are meant to teach a lesson. Oh my goodness, when authors talk about their struggles with reading and writing, what a connection, what a way for students to build their confidence and truly believe, wow, if this author can love it, and can do it, maybe I can, too. It just takes one book to spark that one kid. And the more we read, the more likely we are to help make that connection. And I mean, as teachers we love to feel good. That's part of why we do it. So if we can get those feel good, light bulb moments more often. Why wouldn't we? And the seventh and final way to use picture books in your classroom is for discussion. This goes along with community and confidence because students often won't talk or share in class because they are not engaged. They might be shy, or they don't want to be wrong. Picture books are a way to engage students, teach lessons about being shy, and through confidence building students may be more likely to share their thoughts. Generally speaking though, picture books are most commonly used to teach specific topics and elements of literature and or writing.
Melissa Burch 7:22
This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some ideas for topics to teach using picture books. First is the theme. This topic is so abstract for my students, they are masters at identifying topics, but the theme suddenly becomes tricky. Picture books are a great way to present and practice this difficult topic in a very low stakes way. One book that I suggest is Tracy, Ludwig's, The Invisible Boy; a great way to introduce or teach a theme. Second is personification.Personifying animals is one of the most common forms of personification, so I was excited to find Schools First Day of School by Adam Rex. This breaks away from the animal personification and personifies the school. Sidenote, School's First Day of School by Adam Rex is also a great book for point of view. I was excited to find this because it helps students see that we don't always have to just personify animals. When we're writing there are lots of objects that we can personify. Third is point of view. Such a powerful writing tool, and helping students understand and harness the power of point of view is so important. There are so many books that showcase point of view. Some of my favorites are the mixed up fairy tales, such as The True Story of The Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. And Seriously, Cinderella is So Annoying, by Tricia Speed Shaskan, and School's First Day of School, which you can also use for personification,also works for point of view. There are many other books to use, but helping students see how a story changes based on point of view is really going to help them understand point of view and why it's important to use it and identify it. Fourth, figurative language as a broad topic, including simile, metaphor, rhyme, and repetition, etc. Two books that are poetry that showcase figurative language are Science Verse and Math Curse by Jon Scieszka.Those are always fun poetry books. Jon Scieszka is one of my favorite authors. Number five is transitions. I know you might be thinking "Melissa, transitions are such a simple thing." Yes, they are, and yet my students don't use them. So helping them understand the importance is vital for my sanity. Transitions are important because they guide the reader and connect ideas. So showing students how to do this is important. Chris Van Allsburg the Witch's Broom is a really sweet story with good use of transitions. Of course they are narrative transitions, because they show transitions in time and place and not the more practical transitions of informative or argumentative writing. Six is teaching symbolism. Another abstract concept for my middle-grade little lovelies. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats follows a young boy's adventures in the snow, and it can be used to discuss the symbolism of snow and the changing of seasons. Also check out Love by Matt De La Peña. Oh, my goodness, the topic is love, but helping students find the symbolism behind it and even the theme of that book is amazing. Seven is word choice. Oh goodness, word choice is lost on so many of my middle school students. My guess behind it is that they don't have the vocabulary to choose words that are specific and paint a picture. Vocabulary is a whole other episode. But a book that is fun and showcases the importance of words is The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak. It's a fun and silly read. But it shows students that words are powerful, and when they're on the page, they're meant to be spoken, and to bring meaning to them. Such a great book, check it out if you haven't read it already. Number eight is the main idea or a central idea. This leads us to our nonfiction picture books. Pink is for Blobfish or any of the other books in that family by Jess Keating is a nonfiction picture book that has lots of fun facts. It will have your students so engaged in the random trivia that they will be able to answer and share and also gets them thinking about the main idea and central idea. Number nine is inference. Oh my goodness, another abstract concept. This is where wordless picture books are just the perfect fit. One of them is The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. It's a wordless picture book that retails the classic Aesop fable, and it emphasizes the topic of kindness and symbolism showing that small acts have significant impact. The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney hits so many literary elements, as do all of the picture books, you will find that any of these picture books that I have mentioned will meet many needs, but you can pick and choose what works for you and your students.
Melissa Burch 12:35
Let's recap. There are so many ways to use picture books in your secondary classroom as well as so many powerful picture books to do it with. I hope this has sparked some new ideas or convinced you to give picture books a try this coming school year. If you want a copy of that growing list of picture books, and yes, it is growing. I'm constantly adding to it. So if you have ideas, send them over, send me a DM on Instagram @annotatedela. The link will be in the show notes to get in touch with me. Let me know if you'd like that list. And if you have any recommendations. As always friends, the magic is in the process.
