Web Watch:
Picture Book Read-Alouds
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Student 1: Did you know we're having a social studies test today? Student 2: No. Student 1: So, you didn't study? Student 2: No. Student 1: Aren't you worried you'll do bad? Student 2: No, I remember all of the wonderful books the teacher read to us! |
I overheard the above conversation between two second-grade children on their way to school one day. The child's simple comment, "I remember all of the wonderful books the teacher read to us," is a testament to the benefits of reading aloud. Becoming A Nation of Readers, a report from the Commission on Reading states, "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children" There is no substitute for a teacher who reads children good stories" It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades" (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1984, p. 51).
You might wonder why such a seemingly simple act as reading aloud is so important. Research indicates that reading aloud motivates young children to want to learn to read, and nurtures language development, concepts of print, comprehension, understanding of story structure, literary development, and real world knowledge. Reading aloud to older readers results in continued vocabulary, language, reading, and literary development, as well as content knowledge and experiences. When discussion is part of the read-aloud experience, children learn how to respond to literature and participate in literary discussion.
Picture books may be one of the best read-aloud resources for teachers of all ages. All of the benefits listed above apply, along with the addition of visual literacy. Visual literacy, the ability to discriminate and interpret images, is increasingly important as visual images play a dominate role through the Internet, television, and print media in our society. As we enter the information age "the adage 'a picture is worth a thousand words' suggests the expressive power of images" (Manifold, 1997, online document). Goldstone (1989) states,
Children come to school with the ability to interpret on a literal level and perceive the image as a whole. However, the higher order thinking skills of analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting the visual image does not come naturally. To be able to interpret visual images from pictorial or media sources, the viewer must use abstract thinking skills. This is ultimately what the educational system is trying to promote (p. 592).
Reading aloud a picture book may seem like a simple act, but many important decisions go into a quality read-aloud experience. First, teachers must select an appropriate book. Huck, Hepler and Hickman (1993) suggest the following guidelines:
The best reason for choosing a book is simply because you love it--enthusiasm is contagious! Teachers may also choose a book that lends itself to teaching certain strategies. Harvey and Goudvis (2000) point out, "Realistic fiction and memoirs often spur connections and questions in readers. Poetry is likely to stimulate visualizing and inferential thinking. We frequently choose nonfiction pieces to teach determining importance and synthesizing information when we read" (p. 53).
Once the read-aloud book has been selected, seat the children closely and hold the book so everyone can see the pictures. Though, as Mem Fox (2001) affirms in her book, Reading Magic, "there's no exact right way of reading aloud," do try to communicate the mood and meaning of the story and characters through vocal variation and pace, body position, and eye expression and contact.
Of course, to benefit from a read-aloud, children must listen and "build the world of the story in their minds" (Calkins, 2001, p. 228). Calkins states, "Helping children think about texts is as essential to the teaching of reading as it is to the whole of our lives, and the most powerful way to teach this kind of thinking is through book talks based on read aloud books" (p. 226). Research by Sipe (1998) suggests that young children may not be able to hold their response until the end of the story and advocates "the possibility of scaffolding the children's meaning construction as it is in the process of being constructed" (p. 378). Teachers can model engagement and responsiveness during the read-aloud by sharing their thoughts, observations, or predictions at interesting parts of the story and encouraging children to join in.
After the-read aloud, children should be encouraged to continue to talk about the book, thus making connections to their own experiences or those of others, to other books they have read in the same genre or by the same author or illustrator, to subject area content, or to the emotional impact of the book. Over time, children will learn to become sophisticated critics of literature.
The purpose of this Web Watch is to provide educators with resources available on the Internet for selecting and using quality children's literature in the classroom. I describe first websites that provide articles and information on picture books and then those that offer resources for picture book selection.
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Articles and Information on Picture Books
Looking Critically at Picture Books
This article posted on Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site describes activities teachers can use to make encounters with picture books more meaningful and enjoyable. Specific picture books are highlighted that work well with the suggested activities, such as, I'm In Charge of Celebrations, written by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall, The Wall, written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Ronald Himler, and The Sunsets of Miss Olivia Wiggins, written by Lester Laminack and illustrated by Constance Bergum.
Picturing Books: A Web Site About Picture Books
Denise I. Matulka, America Reads coordinator at King Elementary School in Champaign, Illinois, USA, developed and maintains this comprehensive website on children's picture books. The site includes information on evaluating and using picture books for young and older children, book lists, visual elements, artistic media, and numerous links. This site must be visited to truly be appreciated!
Picture Books as a Social Studies Resource in the Elementary School Classroom
The ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Educations website hosts this informative article written by Marjorie Cohee Manifold. The article supports picture books as useful tools for teaching many abstract and complex concepts of the social studies at the elementary level.
A useful Web page hosted by the Children's Book Council, this resource presents basic points listed by specific age group to keep in mind when choosing a book for children.
Examining Multicultural Picture Books for the Early Childhood Classroom
This article, written by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, and published in the online journal Early Childhood Research and Practice discusses the possibilities and the pitfalls involved in the selection of multicultural literature for use with young children.
Gender and Culture in Picture Books
Developed by Kay Vandergrift, professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, this Web page seeks to ensure that schools and libraries respect the many peoples who share our world, regardless of national origins, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, class, race, or gender. The page provides information on illustration and picture books, translation of texts, background readings on gender and culture, and gender websites. The bibliographies included here contain samplings of picture books that present positive images of females as well as those representing various cultures.
Picture Books for Middle and Secondary Students
This Web page, sponsored by James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, hosts two informative articles, Using Picture Books in the Secondary Classroom by Mara Peluso and Selecting Picture Books for the Middle & Secondary Classroom by Theresa Perez.
Resources for Picture Book Selection
One Hundred Picture Books Everyone Should Know
The Office of Children's Services at the New York Public Library has listed 100 young children's picture books by title and includes author, illustrator, and publisher information.
Recommended Picture Books Featuring Interracial Families
This Web page, hosted by the Cooperative Children's Book Center consists of a bibliography compiled by Kathleen T. Horning of picture books featuring interracial families listed by title and includes a short synopsis, author, illustrator, publisher information, and year of publication.
Barahona Academic Center for Books in Spanish
The Barahona Academic Center at California State University San Marcos, USA, promotes literacy in English and Spanish. The Center endeavors to inform current and future educational decision makers about books centered on Latino people and culture and also about books in Spanish and their value in education of English-speaking and Spanish-speaking children and adolescents. This comprehensive site is searchable by title, age and grade, subject, country, Dewy Call Number, publisher, journal in which the book was reviewed, translator, series title, illustrator, and author.
Database of Award Winning Children's Literature
This website, hosting a database of children's literature, was developed by Lisa Bartle, a reference librarian at California State University, San Bernardino, USA. This database includes books that have received over 20 awards and can be searched according to age, format, genre, historical period, ethnicity or nationality of protagonist, gender of protagonist, languages other than English, keywords, award type, and year of publication.
Children's Picture Book Database
The Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University, Florida, USA, contains abstracts of over 5,000 picture books for children, preschool to Grade 3, with search capabilities for over 950 keywords including topics, concepts, and skills which describe each book. The site also has Web links for keywords so the reader can integrate content knowledge with picture book resources.
Jim Trelease's Treasury of Read Alouds
Jim Trelease has long been an advocate of reading aloud and is the author of four editions of The Read Aloud Handbook (Penguin, 2001). His website features several excerpts from his book, including a list of wordless picture books, picture books, short novels, and novels.
Worth a Thousand Words: Picture Books for Older Readers
This website lists a variety of links to resources on books for older readers in upper, middle, and secondary school.
Picture Books for Older Readers
This resource from the Providence Public Library, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, lists picture books for older readers by author and by theme.
Themed Reviews: Picture Books for Older Readers
The Children's Literature website has a very nice collection of picture books for older readers that include poetry, fairy tales, social issues, and even books with clever presentations to explicate literary devices. Each book listing includes a review as well as author, illustrator, publisher, publication year, ISBN, and price.
Conclusion
Most teachers would agree that creating lifelong readers is a major goal of any reading curriculum. Yet, according to Perez (1986), nothing in the entire school has a greater impact on convincing children that books are worthwhile than teachers' reading habits. Simply stated, actions speak louder than words. To observe and engage in a quality read-aloud experience with an adult does more good than any educational program (Darigan, Tunnell & Jacobs, 2002). In modeling their own joy of reading by reading aloud every day, several times a day, teachers can have a powerful influence on the lives of the children they teach.
References
Anderson, R., Hiebert, E., Scott, J., & Wilkinson, I. (1984). Becoming a nation of readers. Champaign-Urbana, IL: Center for the Study of Reading.
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Calkins, L. (2001). The art of teaching reading. New York, NY: Longman
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Darigan, D., Tunnell, M., & Jacobs, J. (2002). Children's literature: Engaging teachers and children in good books. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
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Fox, M. (2001). Reading magic. New York, NY: Harcourt.
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Goldstone, B. (1989). Visual interpretation of children's books. The Reading Teacher, 42, 592-595.
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Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that work. York, MA: Stenhouse.
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Huck, C., Hepler, S., & Hickman, J. (1993). Children's literature in the elementary school (5th ed.). Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace.
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Manifold, M. (1997). Picture books as a social studies resource in the elementary school classroom. ERIC Digest. ED412168 (available online: http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed412168.html)
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Perez, S. (1986). Children see, children do: Teachers as reading models. The Reading Teacher, 40, 8-11.
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Sipe, L. (1998). The construction of literary understanding by first and second graders in response to picture storybook read-alouds. Reading Research Quarterly, 33(4), 376-378.
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Denise Johnson is an assistant professor of reading education at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virigina, USA. She received her Ed.D. in reading from the University of Memphis, Tennessee. She has worked as an elementary classroom teacher, a middle school reading specialist, and a Reading Recovery teacher. She now teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy education and conducts research on the integration of technology into preservice and inservice education courses and within elementary classrooms. Her articles on literacy and technology have been published in a variety of journals and she is active in several professional organizations. She enjoys traveling with her family and reading to her son, Derek. Contact her by e-mail at cdjohn@wm.edu. |
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Citation: Johnson, D. (2002, May). Web watch: Picture book read-alouds. Reading Online, 5(9). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=webwatch/picturebook/index.html
Reading Online, www.readingonline.org
Posted May 2002
© 2002 International Reading Association, Inc. ISSN 1096-1232