Chapter 5 discusses all the wonderful points of picture books. I especially enjoy reading this type of book to children. Dr. Walizer read one of my favorite books on the podcast of the chapter. The book is titled A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester. I enjoy sharing it with children because of the humor and friendship in the plot. In this story, as in all good storybooks, the pictures help create the fun. I have read it to many groups and my own children, and I still giggle. The children also laugh at the exaggerated reactions of the characters.
Another topic that interested me in this chapter was the importance of nursery rhymes. Children catch on quickly to the rhythm and rhyme of this type of stories. These types of rhymes help teach a variety of skills in math and reading, as well as reinforcing positive social skills. I would enjoy preparing a unit on the similar cultural folktales and rhymes of our world.
Once again the book provides a discussion about sharing different types of books with students. I have not had much experience with wordless books and took ideas about writing projects from that section. I have encouraged my students to write a story and then illustrate it, but had never thought of sharing a wordless book and then creating a story as a class. I am enjoying getting new ideas from the text.
In Chapter 5, there was a lot of information to be shared about children's books that I hadn't given a lot of thought to before taking this course. This chapter focuses on evaluating and discussing different types of picture books, counting books, Mother Goose, and many others. Mother Goose books have always fascinated me every since I can remember. I had one of those Mother Goose, I believe Volume 1 from the encyclopedia. I would follow my mother around begging her to read them to me. And then I would sit and try to memorize them. When I was in Kindergarten we would study one nursery rhyme a week. During the week if you thought you knew your rhyme you would go up and the teacher would give you the microphone and you would have to recite your nursery rhyme. When you accomplished this you got to color your picture of the rhyme and hang it on your accomplishment board. I remember knowing those rhymes but always being terrified to get up and say them in front of the class. Teaching CAP, I found that not very many children today, know those nursery rhymes and many of them haven't ever heard of a lot of the rhymes. I found that introducing them to my CAP kids really help their reading recognition as well as their reading fluency. Cat in the Hat books are also a wonderful way to get your young beginning readers attention while they practice learning high frequency words. I can relate to the preparing to read aloud book. Some of the characters names, if your not familiar with the character, can be tricky. I have had students correct me on their names. That's kind of embarrassing. As well as, stumbling on to that word that your not real sure about. It has happened to me. What makes it even more embarrassing is if that happens and another teacher is in the room. And they kind of give you that look, like what are you doing?. As I was reading the developing aesthetic sensitivity, it talked about allowing children to experiment with collage, having them tear, cut and paste. I have noticed in our school children don't get the opportunity to be creative on their own. At the after school program, I allow a lot of this creativity and all ages from 5-12 enjoyed being allowed to put their imagination on paper. Lots of good ideas in this chapter with a lot of titles to some interesting books. I have always enjoyed reading to my children, but this course is opening my eyes to things I never thought of before.
I have always loved Mother Goose, but now I see these stories as so much more. I never realized how important those silly little rhymes could be to the language development of a small child. I don’t recall being intrigued by the illustrations as much as I was by the rhyming words. It is very sad to me to know that many children are not familiar with Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. I am also a little shocked that I have never seen a Mother Goose book in any of our elementary class rooms. Children who are so far behind in the English Language would benefit greatly from these fun little rhymes.
I taught a reading program last year to help 2nd and 3rd graders that were behind in their reading skills. As I was researching ways to more efficiently help one child in particular, I came across some Fry Readability phrases. I copied and laminated them, and surprisingly enough used them on all my students. The sentences were very easy for most, but their fluency started to build as we used them on a regular basis. I also turned to Dr. Seuss books to go along with the Fry Phrases. I would really like to have read more about the Fry Readability Formula. With the large amount of ESL students entering our schools, the Fry phrases would be great practice for sentence building. I work with ESL 1st graders right now, and I see how much of a struggle it is for some of them to come up with simple sentences. I don’t have questions about this chapter, but I do wish it was a required reading for parents. If they only knew how important reading to your child is
I highlighted many book titles in this chapter that I would really like to read. No matter what grade level I decide to teach, I have an unlimited supply of literature to choose from. I learned so much about Mother Goose and the importance of simple alphabet books. I am going to copy the Evaluation Criteria into my notebook for later on. Who knew that wordless picture books could be so educational. Our school has just adopted the Literacy First Program and I really do think that some of the teachers need a childrens Literature refresher course. I haven’t seen very many teachers using the methods I have read about in this chapter, let alone in this text. I plan to read this chapter many times before taking on a class of my own.
I am not very familiar with wordless picture books either. I am not sure I would go about sharing it with a large group, but I think I would like to introduce it to a small group to see their reaction. I definately agree with the texts ideas on using them to motivate writing. I am interested to see some nursery rhymes from other countries and compare them to our versions.
Picture books are ideal for younger students. One thing we used to always do when I was observing in a Kindergarten class is sing rhymes or sing the words of a book. Needless to say there was a lot of singing! I like reading books to small children such as kindergarten age, the singing part I could do without.
Shadra, Last year I was a long term sub and used the phrase/sentences in the teachers edition for assessing readers with each unit. I graphed their progress after each assessment. It was so helpful to see how they improved, or which phonics skill they were struggling with. You are so right about the importance of reading. I don't think parents always see it. We have AR here and sometimes I think parents see reading as more homework. This creates a dislike in our students because they see the deadlines, rather than the enjoyment and learning. We have no ESL here, but I remember that being an important job when we were in Liberal. Great work!
Chapter 5 taught me a lot about picture books, that I didn't know. I have always thought picture books, were books with just pictures. I was wrong; books that are easy-to-read, or that have little text on them are also considered picture books.
I enjoy picture books. I enjoy art, so books with pictures are my favorite. I believe all pictures can teach us something, and can open a discussion on many topics, depending on the picture.
Shadra, I am too also interested in viewing nursery rhymes from other countries. I think that would be neat to compare the two types.
Chapter 5 started off with a barrage of descriptions again! It reminded me of Chapter 1 in being too fast-paced and giving way too much information at once. It got better toward the middle, though, and I saw a lot of titles that I would like to get for my kids, and some that I just want to look at out of curiosity. I thought that a lot of the WWII titles seemed intriguing, but not as something I would want to read to children unless I had a very specific lesson plan in mind and a class old enough to understand the material.
I think in this chapter, though, the most intriguing section for me was the wordless picture book section. I have never really thought of using these for classrooms or for reading to my kids because, obviously, they can’t be read. I thought they were more for private viewing and letting your imagination run wild. As I was reading, though, I was thinking about how much fun it would be to use these books to let kids write their own stories. I was thinking, what if I copied one or two pages from the book each day, had the kids write about the picture to narrate, and then let them color it to determine the mood of the story they were writing? That would be an awesome way to help kids understand the aspect of mood in a story and to get some creative writing out of it! I also could relate this to the ESL class I have. One of the strategies I’ve learned so far is to allow CLD students to learn vocabulary by defining words in their own language or by drawing pictures if they don’t have enough vocabulary in English to do so. I think the wordless picture books would be an awesome strategy for those students as well. They would get the chance to express themselves in their own language and really participate in a classroom activity without having to worry about a language barrier (our district has translators in every building now, I think, because of our very high CLD population, so I don’t think it would be hard for me to find someone to translate the stories if I couldn’t read them myself).
I also very highly agree with the section on page 195 that suggests reading the stories yourself first to avoid embarrassing or inappropriate situations. I haven’t made this mistake in a classroom, but I have with my own children. In fact, two night ago I was reading them a bedtime story called “A Fairy Tale” which is mostly a cute story, but at the end the girl’s husband goes off to war and gets killed. It’s not really inappropriate, but it was something I wished I had read beforehand so I could prepare my kids for that part of the story or maybe skip over entirely. It just wasn’t something I wanted them to think about before going to bed, and I think it’s also something they’re a little young to understand. What if I had done that in a classroom and found out that I had a student whose dad had been killed recently in the war? I would have felt horrible! I will definitely screen all books that I ever use for my classroom!
I think that teaching kids nursery rhymes is a good idea! Your teacher's strategy of having the kids get up and recite one reminds me of something my 5th grade teacher did. We had to memorize a different quote each week, and on Friday we each had to get in front of the class and recite it. Honestly, I'm not sure what her intentions were, but we did it anyway.
The IRC students I used to work with weren't familiar with nursery rhymes at all, either. We worked with them on nursery rhymes and fairy tales thinking it would help their creative processes and abstract thinking skills, and maybe some linguistic development for a couple of them. I really think that for most of those students, their lack of knowledge of the nursery rhymes was a cultural thing. I was really glad this text mentioned the book "Tortillas Para Mama and other Spanish Nursery Rhymes." I think it will be one I'll look up, and I'm betting I'll be surprised by their knowledge and my lack of it!
Miranda, I never thought about Spanish or any other cultures Nursery Rhymes being different. That is a very interesting point. I also like your interpretation of what you felt in Kindergarten. I do often wonder how my students are going to perceive some of the things I try with them.
I would have never guessed this chapter over picture books would be so insightful. The most interesting thing I read was the exert on page 175,regarding the controversy and censorship of several picture books . I guess when I think about children books I automatically assume they will be suitable for children . Another topic I found useful was how important nursery rhymes are for children. I enjoyed when the author encouraged teachers/adults to ask older children their favorite nursery rhymes and they would more than likely be able to recite them. I know nursery rhymes are something I have never forgotten. Another interesting topic was the people disguised as animals in many children stories. I can remember numerous stories where animals in stories took human characters in regards to lifestyles. This is something as a child I did not pay attention to. but giving the animals human traits is more entertaining for a child than just a human form. It allows children to use their imaginations. It was neat to learn these such stories allow children to easily identify with the characters emotions and actions because they are not human. It was also insightful to learn there are picture books for older children or young adults as well. I personally have stereotyped children's picture books for only children. And after taking this course I have realized I can still enjoy children's books just as much as I do children's movies. Yes they are easy to read but I analyze and look at the book in a completely different way in comparison to when I was a child. I believe books can teach us a lot from just the illustrations. I personally enjoy picture books because they allow the reader to interpret the pictures and they don't tell the story. The reader can commentate and add their own imagination and perception.
Miranda- I agree with you regarding allowing the students to write their own stories with the illustrations of picture books. I feel children these days are "told" what to think and not allowed to think for themselves in many classrooms. I can remember going to college and being shocked because I was allowed to have an opinion. I believe this is how we grow and learn as children and people by interrupting and exploring situations and experiences ourselves. I enjoyed reading how excited you were about allowing the children to write their own stories. Think about how entertaining hearing their stories would be.
Chapter 5 on picture books has given me an extreme wake up call. I have never been a fan of picuture books because unfortunately I do not recall having any teacher read them to me at an early age. I have always seen picture books as only that, a picture book. I never thought that the illustrations of the books had so much meaning or that a child can perceive these picture books as whatever they would like. These picture books allow children to interpret the pictures how they want and not how they are told. I have learning so many useful things in this chapter that I can apply in my classroom as well as with my own children. I feel very sad that I cannot relate with other people when they say that they have a favorite nursery rhymes or that they can recall when they were read a certain book when they were in kindergarden. I will not make this mistake with my own children I want them to be able to learn as much as they can about literature at a very young age so that they can learn to appreciate books. I have had my daughter listening to the podcasts and I have also had her check out books at the library every week aside from the one she brings home from school. I intend to push the importance of literature to her so that she will not have difficulty reading and comprehending literature.
I agree with you when you say that children should be allowed to be more creative in school. Allowing them to cut and paste and do other hands on things allow them to let their imagination go free. In school they just assume that they cannot think for themselves and that they are not allowed to have an opinion. By allowing them to do creative things it lets them be able to use there imagination and portray how they fell about the things that they have learned. If they are doing an activity about family or the community allowing them to draw they will be able to color the way they see there family or there surroundings.
Chapter 5 made me look at picture books in a whole different way. Next time I try to get someone to read something and they ask "does it come with pictures?" I won't roll my eyes. Although the rhyming books are fun to read, so are the pictures to look at. I must admit though in the past I've avoided mother goose books because they never really made much sence to me, they were just words that rhyme but now I know it helps with language development. Children are attracted to these books because they are rediculous and funny, just how they are attracted to loud noise and bright colors. But still, no matter how "non sence" they are, their language is developing. I think every type of picture book opens the imagination but I think I admire the authors/illustrators of wordless books the most. It is a true talent, I think, when you are able to tell a story by using pictures alone. The controversy with the picture books being removed from the bookshelves in the 60's was interesting to read. I was amazed at how even the educators were offended but those were different times. I really enjoyed this chapter and also enjoyed everything I learned about what I thought were simple childrens books.
Jade B, I know what you mean about thinking that the picture books should only be for children until this chapter. It has really helped me look at picture books in a different way and I almost wish the books I read would have more pictures included other than the one on the cover.
Nursery Rhymes, picture books are ideal for Kindergarten ages. I have enjoyed the picture book theme for this week. Amazing how far a simple picture can go.
The thing that really stuck with me in this chapter is the importance of interaction with a book. A lot of kids, especially very young children, have a hard time keeping interest. Having good illustrations that help tell the story keeps the kids into the story.
I remember when I worked for a preschool, it was really hard to keep those kids interested when I read to them. I had to really look at books that would keep them interested. I tried to find books with great illustrations that caught their eye and kept them wanted to see and hear more.
I also like the toy books. They work for groups, but I think they are much better for individual or pairs reading. It is fun to have a book that the kids touch as you read, and then you discuss what they felt, and what they thought of it. Those can lead to some really fun and interesting discussions.
Has anyone done much with books that just have pictures? I think that would be fun to do and have discussions with the kids. I think it would really work their imaginations.
I have to agree with Gracie on how much I'm learning. I am really surprised at how much I didn't know about children's books. I wish I would have taken this class about 13 years ago, when my son was born. I always read to him when he was little, but I could have taught him more about the importance of books, and used more strategies in evaluating books to read to him, and for him to read.
I am still going to use these things now to help him know the importance of books and reading. He will also be able to pass it on to his kids someday.
So far, of the 5 chapters we have read, I would say I have liked this one the best. I think this I understood this chapter better than the previous ones. I think the author tries to give way too much information. I think she expects you to read all the books that she tells you about in the text, because she is regularly telling the reader to analyze this or compare that to certain stories. I think that is too much of an assumption for her to make, that we will read all the books she talks about. I did think I got more out of this chapter to the simple fact that I have either read or heard about many of the books and nursery rhymes that she talked about in this chapter.
I actually have read the book Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetable From A to Z to a Kindergarten class. They seemed to enjoy it. I had them trying to guess whether the items were fruits or vegetables. Some of them were so rare, I didn't know and we had to look them up in the index at the back of the book.
There were actually several books in this chapter that I took a note of and plan on purchasing the book. I have not done that in any of the previous chapters.
I liked how she talked about the different ways and things you can do to help children learn different things using picture books. I also agreed with her that even as children get older they still need to be read to. I still read to my 11 year old and he loves it. I also read to my 11 month old, she spends the majority of the reading time either trying to turn pages, eat the book, or kissing pictures. I get a lot of the interactive books for her, the touchy feely books.
I agree with you both. I am a big believer in reading to children, but I did not realize just how much the type of book and what you read to a child mattered. I know concept books are great because they do teach them specific concepts. I did not realize that Mother Goose rhymes were as important as they are, I too avoided them for the most part. I did a few nursery rhymes with my son maybe about a dozen or so but I didn't do much. I currently only do a few with my daughter who is 11 months old. I will do more in the future, from the information this chapter has given me.
rrballuch- I also took the course in English Literature which opened my eyes to reading. Before that I have never loved books. I would read what I had to and I was a quick reader, but I preferred movies. During my literature course I was falling into the books completely and was visualizing the whole scene. I could not put book down. Now with Childrens Literature I have jumped right in to these children's books and sharing my passion with my own children.
Before being introduced to this course and especially this chapter, I never really thought about genre as being so important when choosing a book to read to a particular child/ children! Chapter 5 really does an explicit job listing, explaining and giving specific examples of the different genres we as parents and educators should have a little understanding of when choosing that “perfect” book for out little ones.
I was astounded to see that Mother Goose Rhymes are a particular source in aiding the development of children. It seems to me from my experiences that nursery rhymes are somehow being forgotten. I don’t think teachers and parents for that matter are teaching the “old” nursery rhymes like they used to. There’s so much literature out there today, perhaps we/they are looking past it because it is an older source of literature?
This chapter also does a wonderful job of listing so many Titles and a brief descriptions of books to use in the classroom. For instance, if I were a preschool teacher introducing colors into my classroom and I wanted a book that is designed to help young children learn basic concepts of both color and shapes I could look in this chapter and find Eric Carl’s My Very First Book Of Colors.
Another thing I found helpful was the paragraph that talked about the fact that it’s important to read a selection yourself before reading it to a group of children. I think this is very important! I’ve been in situations while subbing in school when I have to read a book, especially a chapter book that I’m catching right in the middle of the story, so I’m unaware of what’s going on. The Children often ask questions and it is a little embarrassing to not know what has been happening.
It’s even a great source for those who want to be teachers in upper grade school levels. The very last of the chapter gives great ideas for motivating writing among students. The ideas are very stimulating and would be very beneficial to teachers who are in their early years of teaching.
The chapter on picture books was wonderful. These are the first books that children are exposed to. They are building blocks of their futures as readers. These books at first may seem like the easiest to write. But in this chapter I learned allt hat has to go into these books and how important they are. They must be eye catching and have something to offer to interest the child and help the child with something. Socially, concepts or whatever that may be.
Before being introduced to this course and especially this chapter, I never really thought about genre as being so important when choosing a book to read to a particular child/ children! Chapter 5 really does an explicit job listing, explaining and giving specific examples of the different genres we as parents and educators should have a little understanding of when choosing that “perfect” book for out little ones.
I was astounded to see that Mother Goose Rhymes are a particular source in aiding the development of children. It seems to me from my experiences that nursery rhymes are somehow being forgotten. I don’t think teachers and parents for that matter are teaching the “old” nursery rhymes like they used to. There’s so much literature out there today, perhaps we/they are looking past it because it is an older source of literature?
This chapter also does a wonderful job of listing so many Titles and a brief descriptions of books to use in the classroom. For instance, if I were a preschool teacher introducing colors into my classroom and I wanted a book that is designed to help young children learn basic concepts of both color and shapes I could look in this chapter and find Eric Carl’s My Very First Book Of Colors.
Another thing I found helpful was the paragraph that talked about the fact that it’s important to read a selection yourself before reading it to a group of children. I think this is very important! I’ve been in situations while subbing in school when I have to read a book, especially a chapter book that I’m catching right in the middle of the story, so I’m unaware of what’s going on. The Children often ask questions and it is a little embarrassing to not know what has been happening.
It’s even a great source for those who want to be teachers in upper grade school levels. The very last of the chapter gives great ideas for motivating writing among students. The ideas are very stimulating and would be very beneficial to teachers who are in their early years of teaching.
You are so right about picture books being ideal for young children. Although I have to disagree with you about singing! Singing is a wonderful way for little ones to learn. I happen to have a horrible voice, but I’m not afraid to sing amongst the little ones, they are so innocent still at this age and don’t criticize about how bad you are because they just are so caught up in the music. And little do they realize they’re learning while they’re having funJ
I really enjoyed this chapter. I absolutely love little children's books. I have always enjoyed the numbers and alphabet books. I lovedgetting to read more indepth on these. Storybooks have always been my favorite. I can sit down and read them nonstop. All the beautiful illustrations and colorings and the nonsense lines have always been a favortie to me. I love how the authors get on the same level as children and make things fun and enjoyable. I can still remember the books that we read in Kindergarten and first grade. When storybooks have surprises and unexpected things (like pop ups and look to find) I always feel like my inner child comes out and I love it! I love searching and looking for this that are hidden.
I agree with Terram. It does seem as though nursery rhymes are being forgotten and are not used as much as they have been. I think nursery rhymes are sometimes makes things the easiest way to remember stuff.
Chapter 5 was very interesting. I have truly found a new respect and appreciation for picture books. I really do enjoy art and I am guilty of choosing books based on their appearance. It is so amazing to me just how influential these picture books are to a child’s development. I really enjoyed the section in this chapter which discusses how to teach with picture books. The activities that were suggested were very helpful and I know I will be referring back to this section often to get ideas on how to make book related activities more enjoyable for students. I also enjoyed the discussion on the importance of reading aloud to children, especially when it was mentioned that reading aloud to children should not end in the elementary grades. I thought back to when I was in school and I remembered how much I enjoyed it when my teachers read out loud to the class. I also remember a teacher I had in high school who would at times read out loud to the class. He did a wonderful job of putting emotion into his reading and getting the students interested in what he was reading as well. He is the only teacher I can recall who did this past my 6th grade year of school. I definitely see how it can be beneficial to getting more students interested in literature. Hopefully this is something that will become more common in middle and high schools.
MirandaH, I think you have many great ideas on how you could use wordless picture books in a classroom with diverse students. I think that it is so great that you can get so much out of a book that does not even have words in it. This chapter really did give me a new appreciation for picture books.
By far, Chapter 5 has been my most enjoyable chapter. I have always enjoyed picture books as a child, and now sharing them with my children. I have always chosen children’s picture books based on the illustrations and the meaning of the story and how they complement each other. It was this chapter that helped me realize that sometimes the illustrations have more significance to the book than the words do.
The chapter did a great job of explaining why certain types of books are more appealing to different age groups. My youngest son, who is in preschool, comes home singing or reciting a different nursery rhyme every week. Prior to starting school, if he heard anyone recite a nursery rhyme in a sing song voice, he would ask you to be quiet and bring a book about trucks or tractors for you to read to him. I think his acceptance and enjoyment of rhymes has arisen due to the activities that are shared during the classroom with his own peers.
Toy books, including board and flap books, have always been a favorite among my children. We have flap books that teach opposites, shapes, sounds, and colors. They have always been how I’ve introduced my children to reading and my youngest son still enjoys having some of his favorites read to him on a weekly basis. Toy books do a wonderful job of allowing children to interact with their books and help to hold the attention of young readers.
Alphabet, counting and concept books are a great way of introducing letters, numbers and new ideas to young children. Alphabet books are a wonderful way to help children associate how a letter looks, the sounds it makes, and what common words or animals begin with that letter. My youngest son’s favorite counting book is “Ten Little Lady Bugs.” We use this to reinforce the order of numbers and in counting the lady bugs. His favorite concept book is “Trucks” and it shows us all the different types of trucks and what they are used for.
I really enjoyed the section about wordless picture books. Prior to our wordless picture book, I had never purchased a book with no words for my children. In my mind, how could a book with no words promote learning to read? That assignment helped me realize that those types of books are a wonderful way to tap into a child’s imagination and creativity. The section provided us with some wonderful titles of wordless picture books to analyze and evaluate on our own.
This chapter also provided some wonderful teaching activities for picture books. I really look forward to incorporating these ideas into my own classroom in the future. I found it very interesting how picture books can be written at many different grade levels. As an adult, I had a tendency to categorize all picture books as meant for children at lower grade levels. However, with the accelerated reading program in the schools, and the reinforcement in this chapter, I have come to realize that picture books can be written to children at a higher level.
Shanna S - I really enjoyed your post about continuing reading out loud even when you are past high school. My husband travels a lot for work and he enjoys listening to audio books while he drives. I've listened to a couple with him and it is a very enjoyable experience! Hearing the emotion and tone used and different voices for different characters adds such an enjoyable aspect to the books. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I liked reading this chapter. I have read a lot of picture books to my children but had no idea there was that many ways to describe them. Pictures can be an essential part of a story. This chapter listed so many that I had never heard of but think would be very interesting. The most interesting part to me was the Fry Readability Formula. I have often wondered how books were rated for ages.
Jason R, I also like toy books. Children love to be able to touch things. Creating interaction is key to reading but you are right when you say you have to find books that have colorful pictures that catch their eye.
When I think of picture books I always just thought about silly books with silly pictures to entertain children. I never thought of them the first major stepping stone for children learning to read. I never considered nursery rhymes to be in the picture book category but since they convey their story through the pictures more so than the words they are considered picture books. I never really remember any picture books growing up or even nursery rhymes. One of the books I did for an assignment for this class was the picture book Flotsam. This book was awesome I wish I would have some of the books when I was younger. It took me about 20 years to really appreciate books and maybe if I would have had some more picture books in my early life I would have figured out the joy of books sooner. I also found it interesting about children being able to catch on to rhythm and rhyming very quickly and this would affect their reading and even their math skills.
Geoff – I am with you on the singer part, I would have no kids coming to class if I would sing to them.
Some people have been talking about nursery rhymes from other countries. I think that is a brilliant idea. After the children read them they may have no idea what is happening but then they could study a little bit about that country then see if they understand the nursery rhyme better.
Well, because I am always the last person to respond to everything I can never seem to think of anything to add that hasn't already been said. I love picture books though and I haven't really looked into any of the wordless picture books for my own children. I am not sure why, but I feel like I maybe should get a few to see how it goes. Also, I never thought of picture books as having words either. Before taking this class I just referred to all books that I would read to my kids as children's books. i thought that Chapter 5 really helped me think more about how to create activities in the classroom to go along with picture books. It also helped me figure out age levels to read certain books to. I seem to always have a hard time figuring out what the age level should be.
Chapter five was interesting. Bascially because I didn't know such depth could be discussed about picture books! I thought it was interesting that there are actual different methods to teaching a picture book. Picture books can also really do a lot to a child's development. This is the thought that just clicked to me when I read this chapter. I remember as a child when I couldn't quite read well and only payed attention to the pictures inside of books. I was so narrative that I actually made up real stories. I guess right now I'm wondering how close I actually was to the story. There is a wonderful example of this on youtube about a little girl narrating to the book Kittens. If anyone is interested the actual video is called Kittens Inspired By Kittens. I enjoyed reading about the different types of picture books. Until now, I do not think I would have paid attention that some picture books are more advanced than others.
I agree with your thoughts on the Reading Aloud to students section. I can also remember getting read to up to the 7th grade. It would be neat to see things like that happening in high school!
Really, how many people stop and think about what the pictures are really all about? How many people really think in depths when reading or looking at pictures books. When I am looking at picture book, I don’t question rather it’s in harmony, if the plot will appeal to children or any other questions that is on page 163. I don’t think about these things in depth. I just look at it and go on. As a child, I didn’t check out the size, shape, texture, or if there was moving parts of the unfamiliar objects. When I was looking for books for my son when he was born till he got old enough to read and he was able to pick out books himself was bright colors, and what type of message the book was trying to give. I don’t remember a lot of nursery rhymes from my childhood; I only remember those that were said over and over in school by friends and teachers. Those I do remember are not that many. I did read books of nursery rhymes to my son though. I like nursery rhymes because they sometimes repeat themselves. They are short, they tell a story in about two to three stanzas. I bought a few of those toy books because they were neat and my son really enjoyed opening the flaps to see what was underneath. His favorite one was the one that was of a farm and what things were in the barn. Alphabet books are wonderful and so are counting books and wordless books. I like the different ones that are out there. I still have the ones that my son had and I use them with my kidos that I help. I think the pictures are what they look at more than trying to learn what letter is being trying to be taught. There are a lot of books that I haven’t heard of or read, so as soon as I have time to read them, I will be checking them out if I can find them in the libraries here in town. Wordless books I really like because they give you an opportunity to come up with your own story to the pictures. When reading some of these books that we are reading for this class, especially the ones without pictures, I try to picture the story in my head and the books with pictures, I try to come up with my own story. I use to ask my son to come up with his own story with the pictures.
I agree with JadeB. I really never thought about that children’s books weren’t always suitable for children. I always thought if they were written for children, they were for children. I myself have enjoyed children’s books even as an adult. I really enjoy them when I am reading them to children.
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Chapter 5 discusses all the wonderful points of picture books. I especially enjoy reading this type of book to children. Dr. Walizer read one of my favorite books on the podcast of the chapter. The book is titled A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester. I enjoy sharing it with children because of the humor and friendship in the plot. In this story, as in all good storybooks, the pictures help create the fun. I have read it to many groups and my own children, and I still giggle. The children also laugh at the exaggerated reactions of the characters.
ReplyDeleteAnother topic that interested me in this chapter was the importance of nursery rhymes. Children catch on quickly to the rhythm and rhyme of this type of stories. These types of rhymes help teach a variety of skills in math and reading, as well as reinforcing positive social skills. I would enjoy preparing a unit on the similar cultural folktales and rhymes of our world.
Once again the book provides a discussion about sharing different types of books with students. I have not had much experience with wordless books and took ideas about writing projects from that section. I have encouraged my students to write a story and then illustrate it, but had never thought of sharing a wordless book and then creating a story as a class. I am enjoying getting new ideas from the text.
In Chapter 5, there was a lot of information to be shared about children's books that I hadn't given a lot of thought to before taking this course. This chapter focuses on evaluating and discussing different types of picture books, counting books, Mother Goose, and many others.
ReplyDeleteMother Goose books have always fascinated me every since I can remember. I had one of those Mother Goose, I believe Volume 1 from the encyclopedia. I would follow my mother around begging her to read them to me. And then I would sit and try to memorize them.
When I was in Kindergarten we would study one nursery rhyme a week. During the week if you thought you knew your rhyme you would go up and the teacher would give you the microphone and you would have to recite your nursery rhyme. When you accomplished this you got to color your picture of the rhyme and hang it on your accomplishment board. I remember knowing those rhymes but always being terrified to get up and say them in front of the class.
Teaching CAP, I found that not very many children today, know those nursery rhymes and many of them haven't ever heard of a lot of the rhymes. I found that introducing them to my CAP kids really help their reading recognition as well as their reading fluency.
Cat in the Hat books are also a wonderful way to get your young beginning readers attention while they practice learning high frequency words.
I can relate to the preparing to read aloud book. Some of the characters names, if your not familiar with the character, can be tricky. I have had students correct me on their names. That's kind of embarrassing. As well as, stumbling on to that word that your not real sure about. It has happened to me. What makes it even more embarrassing is if that happens and another teacher is in the room. And they kind of give you that look, like what are you doing?.
As I was reading the developing aesthetic sensitivity, it talked about allowing children to experiment with collage, having them tear, cut and paste. I have noticed in our school children don't get the opportunity to be creative on their own. At the after school program, I allow a lot of this creativity and all ages from 5-12 enjoyed being allowed to put their imagination on paper.
Lots of good ideas in this chapter with a lot of titles to some interesting books. I have always enjoyed reading to my children, but this course is opening my eyes to things I never thought of before.
Chris C,
ReplyDeleteI have not read the book you mention, A Porcupine named Fluffy. I am going to look into this book tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.
I have always loved Mother Goose, but now I see these stories as so much more. I never realized how important those silly little rhymes could be to the language development of a small child. I don’t recall being intrigued by the illustrations as much as I was by the rhyming words. It is very sad to me to know that many children are not familiar with Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes. I am also a little shocked that I have never seen a Mother Goose book in any of our elementary class rooms. Children who are so far behind in the English Language would benefit greatly from these fun little rhymes.
ReplyDeleteI taught a reading program last year to help 2nd and 3rd graders that were behind in their reading skills. As I was researching ways to more efficiently help one child in particular, I came across some Fry Readability phrases. I copied and laminated them, and surprisingly enough used them on all my students. The sentences were very easy for most, but their fluency started to build as we used them on a regular basis. I also turned to Dr. Seuss books to go along with the Fry Phrases. I would really like to have read more about the Fry Readability Formula. With the large amount of ESL students entering our schools, the Fry phrases would be great practice for sentence building. I work with ESL 1st graders right now, and I see how much of a struggle it is for some of them to come up with simple sentences. I don’t have questions about this chapter, but I do wish it was a required reading for parents. If they only knew how important reading to your child is
I highlighted many book titles in this chapter that I would really like to read. No matter what grade level I decide to teach, I have an unlimited supply of literature to choose from. I learned so much about Mother Goose and the importance of simple alphabet books. I am going to copy the Evaluation Criteria into my notebook for later on. Who knew that wordless picture books could be so educational. Our school has just adopted the Literacy First Program and I really do think that some of the teachers need a childrens Literature refresher course. I haven’t seen very many teachers using the methods I have read about in this chapter, let alone in this text. I plan to read this chapter many times before taking on a class of my own.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI am not very familiar with wordless picture books either. I am not sure I would go about sharing it with a large group, but I think I would like to introduce it to a small group to see their reaction. I definately agree with the texts ideas on using them to motivate writing. I am interested to see some nursery rhymes from other countries and compare them to our versions.
Picture books are ideal for younger students. One thing we used to always do when I was observing in a Kindergarten class is sing rhymes or sing the words of a book. Needless to say there was a lot of singing! I like reading books to small children such as kindergarten age, the singing part I could do without.
ReplyDeleteShadra,
ReplyDeleteLast year I was a long term sub and used the phrase/sentences in the teachers edition for assessing readers with each unit. I graphed their progress after each assessment. It was so helpful to see how they improved, or which phonics skill they were struggling with. You are so right about the importance of reading. I don't think parents always see it. We have AR here and sometimes I think parents see reading as more homework. This creates a dislike in our students because they see the deadlines, rather than the enjoyment and learning. We have no ESL here, but I remember that being an important job when we were in Liberal. Great work!
Chapter 5 taught me a lot about picture books, that I didn't know. I have always thought picture books, were books with just pictures. I was wrong; books that are easy-to-read, or that have little text on them are also considered picture books.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy picture books. I enjoy art, so books with pictures are my favorite. I believe all pictures can teach us something, and can open a discussion on many topics, depending on the picture.
Shadra, I am too also interested in viewing nursery rhymes from other countries. I think that would be neat to compare the two types.
Chapter 5 started off with a barrage of descriptions again! It reminded me of Chapter 1 in being too fast-paced and giving way too much information at once. It got better toward the middle, though, and I saw a lot of titles that I would like to get for my kids, and some that I just want to look at out of curiosity. I thought that a lot of the WWII titles seemed intriguing, but not as something I would want to read to children unless I had a very specific lesson plan in mind and a class old enough to understand the material.
ReplyDeleteI think in this chapter, though, the most intriguing section for me was the wordless picture book section. I have never really thought of using these for classrooms or for reading to my kids because, obviously, they can’t be read. I thought they were more for private viewing and letting your imagination run wild. As I was reading, though, I was thinking about how much fun it would be to use these books to let kids write their own stories. I was thinking, what if I copied one or two pages from the book each day, had the kids write about the picture to narrate, and then let them color it to determine the mood of the story they were writing? That would be an awesome way to help kids understand the aspect of mood in a story and to get some creative writing out of it! I also could relate this to the ESL class I have. One of the strategies I’ve learned so far is to allow CLD students to learn vocabulary by defining words in their own language or by drawing pictures if they don’t have enough vocabulary in English to do so. I think the wordless picture books would be an awesome strategy for those students as well. They would get the chance to express themselves in their own language and really participate in a classroom activity without having to worry about a language barrier (our district has translators in every building now, I think, because of our very high CLD population, so I don’t think it would be hard for me to find someone to translate the stories if I couldn’t read them myself).
I also very highly agree with the section on page 195 that suggests reading the stories yourself first to avoid embarrassing or inappropriate situations. I haven’t made this mistake in a classroom, but I have with my own children. In fact, two night ago I was reading them a bedtime story called “A Fairy Tale” which is mostly a cute story, but at the end the girl’s husband goes off to war and gets killed. It’s not really inappropriate, but it was something I wished I had read beforehand so I could prepare my kids for that part of the story or maybe skip over entirely. It just wasn’t something I wanted them to think about before going to bed, and I think it’s also something they’re a little young to understand. What if I had done that in a classroom and found out that I had a student whose dad had been killed recently in the war? I would have felt horrible! I will definitely screen all books that I ever use for my classroom!
rrbaluch -
ReplyDeleteI think that teaching kids nursery rhymes is a good idea! Your teacher's strategy of having the kids get up and recite one reminds me of something my 5th grade teacher did. We had to memorize a different quote each week, and on Friday we each had to get in front of the class and recite it. Honestly, I'm not sure what her intentions were, but we did it anyway.
The IRC students I used to work with weren't familiar with nursery rhymes at all, either. We worked with them on nursery rhymes and fairy tales thinking it would help their creative processes and abstract thinking skills, and maybe some linguistic development for a couple of them. I really think that for most of those students, their lack of knowledge of the nursery rhymes was a cultural thing. I was really glad this text mentioned the book "Tortillas Para Mama and other Spanish Nursery Rhymes." I think it will be one I'll look up, and I'm betting I'll be surprised by their knowledge and my lack of it!
Miranda,
ReplyDeleteI never thought about Spanish or any other cultures Nursery Rhymes being different. That is a very interesting point. I also like your interpretation of what you felt in Kindergarten. I do often wonder how my students are going to perceive some of the things I try with them.
I would have never guessed this chapter over picture books would be so insightful. The most interesting thing I read was the exert on page 175,regarding the controversy and censorship of several picture books . I guess when I think about children books I automatically assume they will be suitable for children . Another topic I found useful was how important nursery rhymes are for children. I enjoyed when the author encouraged teachers/adults to ask older children their favorite nursery rhymes and they would more than likely be able to recite them. I know nursery rhymes are something I have never forgotten.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting topic was the people disguised as animals in many children stories. I can remember numerous stories where animals in stories took human characters in regards to lifestyles. This is something as a child I did not pay attention to. but giving the animals human traits is more entertaining for a child than just a human form. It allows children to use their imaginations. It was neat to learn these such stories allow children to easily identify with the characters emotions and actions because they are not human.
It was also insightful to learn there are picture books for older children or young adults as well. I personally have stereotyped children's picture books for only children. And after taking this course I have realized I can still enjoy children's books just as much as I do children's movies. Yes they are easy to read but I analyze and look at the book in a completely different way in comparison to when I was a child. I believe books can teach us a lot from just the illustrations. I personally enjoy picture books because they allow the reader to interpret the pictures and they don't tell the story. The reader can commentate and add their own imagination and perception.
Miranda-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you regarding allowing the students to write their own stories with the illustrations of picture books. I feel children these days are "told" what to think and not allowed to think for themselves in many classrooms. I can remember going to college and being shocked because I was allowed to have an opinion. I believe this is how we grow and learn as children and people by interrupting and exploring situations and experiences ourselves. I enjoyed reading how excited you were about allowing the children to write their own stories. Think about how entertaining hearing their stories would be.
Chapter 5 on picture books has given me an extreme wake up call. I have never been a fan of picuture books because unfortunately I do not recall having any teacher read them to me at an early age. I have always seen picture books as only that, a picture book. I never thought that the illustrations of the books had so much meaning or that a child can perceive these picture books as whatever they would like. These picture books allow children to interpret the pictures how they want and not how they are told. I have learning so many useful things in this chapter that I can apply in my classroom as well as with my own children. I feel very sad that I cannot relate with other people when they say that they have a favorite nursery rhymes or that they can recall when they were read a certain book when they were in kindergarden. I will not make this mistake with my own children I want them to be able to learn as much as they can about literature at a very young age so that they can learn to appreciate books. I have had my daughter listening to the podcasts and I have also had her check out books at the library every week aside from the one she brings home from school. I intend to push the importance of literature to her so that she will not have difficulty reading and comprehending literature.
ReplyDeleteRRBalluch,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that children should be allowed to be more creative in school. Allowing them to cut and paste and do other hands on things allow them to let their imagination go free. In school they just assume that they cannot think for themselves and that they are not allowed to have an opinion. By allowing them to do creative things it lets them be able to use there imagination and portray how they fell about the things that they have learned. If they are doing an activity about family or the community allowing them to draw they will be able to color the way they see there family or there surroundings.
Chapter 5 made me look at picture books in a whole different way. Next time I try to get someone to read something and they ask "does it come with pictures?" I won't roll my eyes. Although the rhyming books are fun to read, so are the pictures to look at. I must admit though in the past I've avoided mother goose books because they never really made much sence to me, they were just words that rhyme but now I know it helps with language development. Children are attracted to these books because they are rediculous and funny, just how they are attracted to loud noise and bright colors. But still, no matter how "non sence" they are, their language is developing. I think every type of picture book opens the imagination but I think I admire the authors/illustrators of wordless books the most. It is a true talent, I think, when you are able to tell a story by using pictures alone.
ReplyDeleteThe controversy with the picture books being removed from the bookshelves in the 60's was interesting to read. I was amazed at how even the educators were offended but those were different times.
I really enjoyed this chapter and also enjoyed everything I learned about what I thought were simple childrens books.
Jade B, I know what you mean about thinking that the picture books should only be for children until this chapter. It has really helped me look at picture books in a different way and I almost wish the books I read would have more pictures included other than the one on the cover.
ReplyDeleteNursery Rhymes, picture books are ideal for Kindergarten ages. I have enjoyed the picture book theme for this week. Amazing how far a simple picture can go.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that really stuck with me in this chapter is the importance of interaction with a book. A lot of kids, especially very young children, have a hard time keeping interest. Having good illustrations that help tell the story keeps the kids into the story.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I worked for a preschool, it was really hard to keep those kids interested when I read to them. I had to really look at books that would keep them interested. I tried to find books with great illustrations that caught their eye and kept them wanted to see and hear more.
I also like the toy books. They work for groups, but I think they are much better for individual or pairs reading. It is fun to have a book that the kids touch as you read, and then you discuss what they felt, and what they thought of it. Those can lead to some really fun and interesting discussions.
Has anyone done much with books that just have pictures? I think that would be fun to do and have discussions with the kids. I think it would really work their imaginations.
I have to agree with Gracie on how much I'm learning. I am really surprised at how much I didn't know about children's books. I wish I would have taken this class about 13 years ago, when my son was born. I always read to him when he was little, but I could have taught him more about the importance of books, and used more strategies in evaluating books to read to him, and for him to read.
ReplyDeleteI am still going to use these things now to help him know the importance of books and reading. He will also be able to pass it on to his kids someday.
So far, of the 5 chapters we have read, I would say I have liked this one the best. I think this I understood this chapter better than the previous ones. I think the author tries to give way too much information. I think she expects you to read all the books that she tells you about in the text, because she is regularly telling the reader to analyze this or compare that to certain stories. I think that is too much of an assumption for her to make, that we will read all the books she talks about. I did think I got more out of this chapter to the simple fact that I have either read or heard about many of the books and nursery rhymes that she talked about in this chapter.
ReplyDeleteI actually have read the book Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetable From A to Z to a Kindergarten class. They seemed to enjoy it. I had them trying to guess whether the items were fruits or vegetables. Some of them were so rare, I didn't know and we had to look them up in the index at the back of the book.
There were actually several books in this chapter that I took a note of and plan on purchasing the book. I have not done that in any of the previous chapters.
I liked how she talked about the different ways and things you can do to help children learn different things using picture books. I also agreed with her that even as children get older they still need to be read to. I still read to my 11 year old and he loves it. I also read to my 11 month old, she spends the majority of the reading time either trying to turn pages, eat the book, or kissing pictures. I get a lot of the interactive books for her, the touchy feely books.
Gracie and Jason,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. I am a big believer in reading to children, but I did not realize just how much the type of book and what you read to a child mattered. I know concept books are great because they do teach them specific concepts. I did not realize that Mother Goose rhymes were as important as they are, I too avoided them for the most part. I did a few nursery rhymes with my son maybe about a dozen or so but I didn't do much. I currently only do a few with my daughter who is 11 months old. I will do more in the future, from the information this chapter has given me.
rrballuch-
ReplyDeleteI also took the course in English Literature which opened my eyes to reading. Before that I have never loved books. I would read what I had to and I was a quick reader, but I preferred movies. During my literature course I was falling into the books completely and was visualizing the whole scene. I could not put book down. Now with Childrens Literature I have jumped right in to these children's books and sharing my passion with my own children.
Before being introduced to this course and especially this chapter, I never really thought about genre as being so important when choosing a book to read to a particular child/ children! Chapter 5 really does an explicit job listing, explaining and giving specific examples of the different genres we as parents and educators should have a little understanding of when choosing that “perfect” book for out little ones.
ReplyDeleteI was astounded to see that Mother Goose Rhymes are a particular source in aiding the development of children. It seems to me from my experiences that nursery rhymes are somehow being forgotten. I don’t think teachers and parents for that matter are teaching the “old” nursery rhymes like they used to. There’s so much literature out there today, perhaps we/they are looking past it because it is an older source of literature?
This chapter also does a wonderful job of listing so many Titles and a brief descriptions of books to use in the classroom. For instance, if I were a preschool teacher introducing colors into my classroom and I wanted a book that is designed to help young children learn basic concepts of both color and shapes I could look in this chapter and find Eric Carl’s My Very First Book Of Colors.
Another thing I found helpful was the paragraph that talked about the fact that it’s important to read a selection yourself before reading it to a group of children. I think this is very important! I’ve been in situations while subbing in school when I have to read a book, especially a chapter book that I’m catching right in the middle of the story, so I’m unaware of what’s going on. The Children often ask questions and it is a little embarrassing to not know what has been happening.
It’s even a great source for those who want to be teachers in upper grade school levels. The very last of the chapter gives great ideas for motivating writing among students. The ideas are very stimulating and would be very beneficial to teachers who are in their early years of teaching.
The chapter on picture books was wonderful. These are the first books that children are exposed to. They are building blocks of their futures as readers. These books at first may seem like the easiest to write. But in this chapter I learned allt hat has to go into these books and how important they are. They must be eye catching and have something to offer to interest the child and help the child with something. Socially, concepts or whatever that may be.
ReplyDeleteBefore being introduced to this course and especially this chapter, I never really thought about genre as being so important when choosing a book to read to a particular child/ children! Chapter 5 really does an explicit job listing, explaining and giving specific examples of the different genres we as parents and educators should have a little understanding of when choosing that “perfect” book for out little ones.
ReplyDeleteI was astounded to see that Mother Goose Rhymes are a particular source in aiding the development of children. It seems to me from my experiences that nursery rhymes are somehow being forgotten. I don’t think teachers and parents for that matter are teaching the “old” nursery rhymes like they used to. There’s so much literature out there today, perhaps we/they are looking past it because it is an older source of literature?
This chapter also does a wonderful job of listing so many Titles and a brief descriptions of books to use in the classroom. For instance, if I were a preschool teacher introducing colors into my classroom and I wanted a book that is designed to help young children learn basic concepts of both color and shapes I could look in this chapter and find Eric Carl’s My Very First Book Of Colors.
Another thing I found helpful was the paragraph that talked about the fact that it’s important to read a selection yourself before reading it to a group of children. I think this is very important! I’ve been in situations while subbing in school when I have to read a book, especially a chapter book that I’m catching right in the middle of the story, so I’m unaware of what’s going on. The Children often ask questions and it is a little embarrassing to not know what has been happening.
It’s even a great source for those who want to be teachers in upper grade school levels. The very last of the chapter gives great ideas for motivating writing among students. The ideas are very stimulating and would be very beneficial to teachers who are in their early years of teaching.
Geoff
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about picture books being ideal for young children. Although I have to disagree with you about singing! Singing is a wonderful way for little ones to learn. I happen to have a horrible voice, but I’m not afraid to sing amongst the little ones, they are so innocent still at this age and don’t criticize about how bad you are because they just are so caught up in the music. And little do they realize they’re learning while they’re having funJ
I really enjoyed this chapter. I absolutely love little children's books. I have always enjoyed the numbers and alphabet books. I lovedgetting to read more indepth on these. Storybooks have always been my favorite. I can sit down and read them nonstop. All the beautiful illustrations and colorings and the nonsense lines have always been a favortie to me. I love how the authors get on the same level as children and make things fun and enjoyable. I can still remember the books that we read in Kindergarten and first grade. When storybooks have surprises and unexpected things (like pop ups and look to find) I always feel like my inner child comes out and I love it! I love searching and looking for this that are hidden.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Terram. It does seem as though nursery rhymes are being forgotten and are not used as much as they have been. I think nursery rhymes are sometimes makes things the easiest way to remember stuff.
Chapter 5 was very interesting. I have truly found a new respect and appreciation for picture books. I really do enjoy art and I am guilty of choosing books based on their appearance. It is so amazing to me just how influential these picture books are to a child’s development. I really enjoyed the section in this chapter which discusses how to teach with picture books. The activities that were suggested were very helpful and I know I will be referring back to this section often to get ideas on how to make book related activities more enjoyable for students.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the discussion on the importance of reading aloud to children, especially when it was mentioned that reading aloud to children should not end in the elementary grades. I thought back to when I was in school and I remembered how much I enjoyed it when my teachers read out loud to the class. I also remember a teacher I had in high school who would at times read out loud to the class. He did a wonderful job of putting emotion into his reading and getting the students interested in what he was reading as well. He is the only teacher I can recall who did this past my 6th grade year of school. I definitely see how it can be beneficial to getting more students interested in literature. Hopefully this is something that will become more common in middle and high schools.
MirandaH, I think you have many great ideas on how you could use wordless picture books in a classroom with diverse students. I think that it is so great that you can get so much out of a book that does not even have words in it. This chapter really did give me a new appreciation for picture books.
ReplyDeleteBy far, Chapter 5 has been my most enjoyable chapter. I have always enjoyed picture books as a child, and now sharing them with my children. I have always chosen children’s picture books based on the illustrations and the meaning of the story and how they complement each other. It was this chapter that helped me realize that sometimes the illustrations have more significance to the book than the words do.
ReplyDeleteThe chapter did a great job of explaining why certain types of books are more appealing to different age groups. My youngest son, who is in preschool, comes home singing or reciting a different nursery rhyme every week. Prior to starting school, if he heard anyone recite a nursery rhyme in a sing song voice, he would ask you to be quiet and bring a book about trucks or tractors for you to read to him. I think his acceptance and enjoyment of rhymes has arisen due to the activities that are shared during the classroom with his own peers.
Toy books, including board and flap books, have always been a favorite among my children. We have flap books that teach opposites, shapes, sounds, and colors. They have always been how I’ve introduced my children to reading and my youngest son still enjoys having some of his favorites read to him on a weekly basis. Toy books do a wonderful job of allowing children to interact with their books and help to hold the attention of young readers.
Alphabet, counting and concept books are a great way of introducing letters, numbers and new ideas to young children. Alphabet books are a wonderful way to help children associate how a letter looks, the sounds it makes, and what common words or animals begin with that letter. My youngest son’s favorite counting book is “Ten Little Lady Bugs.” We use this to reinforce the order of numbers and in counting the lady bugs. His favorite concept book is “Trucks” and it shows us all the different types of trucks and what they are used for.
I really enjoyed the section about wordless picture books. Prior to our wordless picture book, I had never purchased a book with no words for my children. In my mind, how could a book with no words promote learning to read? That assignment helped me realize that those types of books are a wonderful way to tap into a child’s imagination and creativity. The section provided us with some wonderful titles of wordless picture books to analyze and evaluate on our own.
This chapter also provided some wonderful teaching activities for picture books. I really look forward to incorporating these ideas into my own classroom in the future. I found it very interesting how picture books can be written at many different grade levels. As an adult, I had a tendency to categorize all picture books as meant for children at lower grade levels. However, with the accelerated reading program in the schools, and the reinforcement in this chapter, I have come to realize that picture books can be written to children at a higher level.
Shanna S - I really enjoyed your post about continuing reading out loud even when you are past high school. My husband travels a lot for work and he enjoys listening to audio books while he drives. I've listened to a couple with him and it is a very enjoyable experience! Hearing the emotion and tone used and different voices for different characters adds such an enjoyable aspect to the books. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI liked reading this chapter. I have read a lot of picture books to my children but had no idea there was that many ways to describe them. Pictures can be an essential part of a story. This chapter listed so many that I had never heard of but think would be very interesting. The most interesting part to me was the Fry Readability Formula. I have often wondered how books were rated for ages.
ReplyDeleteJason R, I also like toy books. Children love to be able to touch things. Creating interaction is key to reading but you are right when you say you have to find books that have colorful pictures that catch their eye.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of picture books I always just thought about silly books with silly pictures to entertain children. I never thought of them the first major stepping stone for children learning to read. I never considered nursery rhymes to be in the picture book category but since they convey their story through the pictures more so than the words they are considered picture books. I never really remember any picture books growing up or even nursery rhymes. One of the books I did for an assignment for this class was the picture book Flotsam. This book was awesome I wish I would have some of the books when I was younger. It took me about 20 years to really appreciate books and maybe if I would have had some more picture books in my early life I would have figured out the joy of books sooner. I also found it interesting about children being able to catch on to rhythm and rhyming very quickly and this would affect their reading and even their math skills.
ReplyDeleteGeoff – I am with you on the singer part, I would have no kids coming to class if I would sing to them.
ReplyDeleteSome people have been talking about nursery rhymes from other countries. I think that is a brilliant idea. After the children read them they may have no idea what is happening but then they could study a little bit about that country then see if they understand the nursery rhyme better.
Well, because I am always the last person to respond to everything I can never seem to think of anything to add that hasn't already been said. I love picture books though and I haven't really looked into any of the wordless picture books for my own children. I am not sure why, but I feel like I maybe should get a few to see how it goes. Also, I never thought of picture books as having words either. Before taking this class I just referred to all books that I would read to my kids as children's books. i thought that Chapter 5 really helped me think more about how to create activities in the classroom to go along with picture books. It also helped me figure out age levels to read certain books to. I seem to always have a hard time figuring out what the age level should be.
ReplyDeleteChapter five was interesting. Bascially because I didn't know such depth could be discussed about picture books! I thought it was interesting that there are actual different methods to teaching a picture book. Picture books can also really do a lot to a child's development. This is the thought that just clicked to me when I read this chapter. I remember as a child when I couldn't quite read well and only payed attention to the pictures inside of books. I was so narrative that I actually made up real stories. I guess right now I'm wondering how close I actually was to the story. There is a wonderful example of this on youtube about a little girl narrating to the book Kittens. If anyone is interested the actual video is called Kittens Inspired By Kittens. I enjoyed reading about the different types of picture books. Until now, I do not think I would have paid attention that some picture books are more advanced than others.
ReplyDeleteShanna S-
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts on the Reading Aloud to students section. I can also remember getting read to up to the 7th grade. It would be neat to see things like that happening in high school!
Really, how many people stop and think about what the pictures are really all about? How many people really think in depths when reading or looking at pictures books. When I am looking at picture book, I don’t question rather it’s in harmony, if the plot will appeal to children or any other questions that is on page 163. I don’t think about these things in depth. I just look at it and go on.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, I didn’t check out the size, shape, texture, or if there was moving parts of the unfamiliar objects.
When I was looking for books for my son when he was born till he got old enough to read and he was able to pick out books himself was bright colors, and what type of message the book was trying to give.
I don’t remember a lot of nursery rhymes from my childhood; I only remember those that were said over and over in school by friends and teachers. Those I do remember are not that many. I did read books of nursery rhymes to my son though.
I like nursery rhymes because they sometimes repeat themselves. They are short, they tell a story in about two to three stanzas.
I bought a few of those toy books because they were neat and my son really enjoyed opening the flaps to see what was underneath. His favorite one was the one that was of a farm and what things were in the barn.
Alphabet books are wonderful and so are counting books and wordless books. I like the different ones that are out there. I still have the ones that my son had and I use them with my kidos that I help. I think the pictures are what they look at more than trying to learn what letter is being trying to be taught.
There are a lot of books that I haven’t heard of or read, so as soon as I have time to read them, I will be checking them out if I can find them in the libraries here in town.
Wordless books I really like because they give you an opportunity to come up with your own story to the pictures.
When reading some of these books that we are reading for this class, especially the ones without pictures, I try to picture the story in my head and the books with pictures, I try to come up with my own story. I use to ask my son to come up with his own story with the pictures.
I agree with JadeB. I really never thought about that children’s books weren’t always suitable for children. I always thought if they were written for children, they were for children. I myself have enjoyed children’s books even as an adult. I really enjoy them when I am reading them to children.
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