BLOG 5 EDRG 3321

Picture books are books that communicate or tell stories through a series of many pictures combined with relatively slight texts or no text at all (Nodelman). The illustrations are just as important if not more important then the text. Picture books can satisfy a wide age range of readers. As teachers we can use picture books for any grade level and at anytime. Some people might ask how do you use a picture book to teach. Well depends on what you are teaching. For young children in kindergarten they have books that are strictly based on letters and numbers. For example each letter will have pictures of words that start with that letter. Like an apple for a. For older students you can give them a wordless picture student and have them create a story to go along with the pictures. Now like everything we teach there will be some limitations. As teachers we are just going to have to take the time to ensure the book is age appropriate, co insides with what we are teaching, and belongs in the classroom. Like every book we bring into our classroom we will have to evaluate the picture books. When evaluating the books teachers should keep in mind their students. What will they find interesting. One should always consider the relationship between the words and the pictures when evaluating a picture book. Also when evaluating a picture book there are four factors to keep in mind. The child's age and stage of cognitive and social development, have the children been prepared by an adult for an experience with a picture book, the children's emotional state of readiness, and the number of times the children have look at the illustrations. There are also some questions to ask yourself like are the illustrations accurate and do they correspond to the content of the story, is the theme worth while, will the plot appeal to the children, do both the text and illustrations avoid stereotypes of race and sex, do the illustrations enhance the characterizations, along with many more questions. Over all I would have to say that I think picture books are a great tool for the classroom. They can help in childrens personal development. They help children with their reading, writing, thinking, oral communication, and vocabulary. Their imagination is greatly expanded. One of the first books I remember was a picture book. Dr. Seuss Green Eggs and Ham. I love that book. I will definitely be using picture books in my classroom