Challenging Students to Find Connections Between Picture Books

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When you’re focusing on a picture book unit study, it can be tempting to focus on that book alone. But don’t forget to help your students to step back and make the connections with other picture books - and to share those connections with others.

 
Challenging Students to Find Connections Between Picture Books. A teaching and learning blog post focusing on text-to-text connections and how teachers can help students make these connections between different picture books #readingcomprehension #r…
 

It’s important when we’re teaching reading that we help students to make text-to-text connections with other pieces of text. This is particularly important as students get older and begin to find references to other books in the novels they are reading or need to collect information from a range of sources to write an informational report, but it’s a skill which helps students learn and develop their schema from the youngest grades at school.

When students are reading picture books, you can start with the easiest connections. Students can identify some of the basic elements of the book - like it’s a book about school, a book about animals or a book about space. Students can identify other books they know which also have this element. This allows them to identify differences and similarities as well as identifying what those books tell them about that topic.

Easy connections can also be made when students are exploring texts in a series of books or picture books written by the same author. The Pig the Pug books, for example, all include the same two characters as well as similarities in what those characters do (Pug does the wrong thing, Trevor does the right thing). Students can connect the books easily through the characters and the similarities, then use that information to look deeper at the differences in the books - what does Pig do wrong in this book? How is it different to what he does wrong in that book?

Once students have developed the easy connections, they can start looking for more difficult connections. You can assist them in this by offering students two or more books which aren’t obviously related and asking them to find the similarities between the books. This can be even more fun to do if you haven’t found the connections yourself - you might be surprised what the students will present you with when you’re not guiding them in a certain direction.

Another way to do this is by asking students to look for certain themes or characteristics as they explore books over a period of time. You might ask them to look for lost things or characters who are anxious about something or books with surprise endings. When students begin to find these connections, they can look at how the author and illustrator has portrayed that particular element or theme, gaining a better understanding of how a book can be crafted to get a response from the reader.

 
Challenging Students to Find Connections Between Picture Books. A teaching and learning blog post focusing on text-to-text connections and how teachers can help students make these connections between different picture books #readingcomprehension #r…
 

How Can Students Share the Connections They Make?

The easiest way for students to share the connections between different texts is simply by talking about them with their peers or in student conferences. You can make this easier for students by providing prompts in the room - a question on the classroom wall which asks students how books connect to each other can help it become a normal part of conversation about books.

Students can also use graphic organizers to make connections between different book - either by using prepared ones or making their own. 

When you’re working as a class on a bigger project, you can work with your students to create a display showing the connections you’ve made as a class. This might be a bulletin board within the classroom, a display in the school library or office or even an online display which can be shared with parents and other students in the school. 

Students can also share their connections with their ‘future self’ by keeping a reader’s notebook. Taking some time to go back through old entries can remind students of the connections they made back then - and allow them to make new connections with books they’ve read since then.

How do you encourage students to make text-to-text connections? Share your experiences in the comments.

 
 
 
 

Exploring Early Childhood Books in the Middle Grades

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So, you know that picture books are great for students to read, no matter what grade level they’re in. But there’s different types of picture books, and you wouldn’t use the ones aimed at early childhood with older readers, right? Right?

Well . . . not necessarily.

While you wouldn’t use some of the very simple picture books - like the ones aimed at babies and young toddlers which simply match a word and image - any early childhood picture book with more of a story can be used in the middle grades classrooms. 

Here’s how you can do it.

 
Exploring Early Childhood Books in the Middle Grades. A teaching and learning blog post looking at how books aimed at early childhood readers can be used by upper primary and middle grades teachers #picturebooks #readingcomprehension
 

The first thing you would want your older readers to do when they’re exploring a picture book aimed at preschoolers is to think about who the book is written for. Students will know that they are not the ideal audience, but this gives them some insight into the language and the pictures used in these books and allows them to start comparing them with other books aimed at a similar audience.

When students are thinking about the audience for a picture book, they are learning to assess the audience of other types of text - for example - who is that advertisement aimed at? Why does it make kids want to buy something and make adults shudder? Learning that authors use different styles for different audiences is important to know both as a reader and as a creator of texts.

Students might also question whether these books are really aimed at an early childhood audience alone. They might draw the connection with many kids movies and television shows which entertain (and sometimes teach) adults. Are these books just for young children, or can older children and adults learn from them as well?

Once students have assessed the audience of the book, they can start exploring the author’s intentions in writing the text. For example, Mem Fox’s Good Night, Sleep Tight introduces the reader to a range of nursery rhymes. Why has she chosen to do that? What does she want the audience to learn? Why has she put them into a story with characters rather than just editing a book of nursery rhymes?

Students can assess whether the author is aiming for the audience to learn something - many early childhood books are based around enhancing literacy or social and emotional skills - or whether they’re just written to entertain the audience (a lot of books about farts lean more towards entertainment).

 
Exploring Early Childhood Books in the Middle Grades. A teaching and learning blog post looking at how books aimed at early childhood readers can be used by upper primary and middle grades teachers #picturebooks #readingcomprehension
 

Part of looking at the intention of the author is examining the word choice. Many early childhood books look like they’d be easy to write. Afterall, there’s not many words in them and the words aren’t very difficult. But when you hear the authors of these books talk about how they were written, you hear that they can spend serious time making sure that they’ve chosen the best possible words and that they’ve put them in the best order. Students can explore this by rearranging the words in the book to see how it changes the text or they can experiment with putting in their own words and seeing what happens.

When students have a really good understanding of picture books for younger students, they can be challenged to write their own early childhood picture books. From coming up with an idea for the book, to planning it out, to finding the best words and creating illustrations to go with them, this is a great activity for students to engage in to explore the challenges of picture books and looking at how picture book authors and illustrators meet them.

Have you explored early childhood picture books with older students? Share your experiences in the comments

 
 
 
 

Asking Students to Create their Own Picture Book Questions

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Do your students ask questions? 

Not the questions about going to the toilet or when is it lunchtime or “why did you do that to your hair, Miss?”. Questions about the topic they’re exploring, about the concept they’re learning about . . . or the picture book they’re reading?

And if they aren’t asking questions about the picture books . . . how can we get them to start asking?

 
Asking Students to Create their Own Picture Book Questions. A teaching and learning blog post about getting students to engage in the reading comprehension practice of asking their own questions #readingcomprehension #picturebooks
 

The Value of Asking Questions

When we’re exploring a text we usually ask students to answer a range of comprehension questions. There’s the who, what, where style simple recall questions, but we also ask them to think more deeply about the text they’re reading.

But one skill we need students to develop as they are reading is learning to ask their own questions. Good readers ask questions all the time when they’re reading - questioning helps readers to monitor their own comprehension and to create connections within the text and outside of the text.

For example, I recently read Pink! By Margaret Wild. As I was reading the book, I found myself asking questions about the colours of dinosaurs (“Hasn’t there been research done on dinosaur colours recently?”), about where the story might go next (“I wonder if the author will make it easier for Pink to hide?”) and hide and seek (“They played hide and seek earlier, will that come back to that?”) Even with a text that is essentially easy for me to read, I can ask questions of connection, prediction and author choices.

 
Asking Students to Create their Own Picture Book Questions. A teaching and learning blog post about getting students to engage in the reading comprehension practice of asking their own questions #readingcomprehension #picturebooks
 

Starting With a Brainstorm

There are many ways to teach students to ask questions when they are reading - from demonstrating questioning to talking about different types of questioning. But one way for students to think more about questioning is to ask them to brainstorm before, during and after their reading.

Provide students with a familiar picture book and ask them to brainstorm all the topics they might ask questions about before they read it. As you are reading the book to them, ask them to keep brainstorming, then provide them with more time when you finish. Students can share their brainstorm ideas, allowing the class to see that there are many different areas of questioning when it comes to a text. You can then repeat this with an unfamiliar text, asking students to engage in the same brainstorming process.

Who, What, Where, When, How: Recall Questions

Once students have a brainstorm, they can start formulating more formal questions. The easiest to start with are the recall questions - the who, what, where, when, how types of questions. These can sometimes be dismissed as too simple, but while we wouldn’t want to only ask these questions, they’re important when it comes to having a solid understanding of the characters, setting and plot of a picture book.

 
Asking Students to Create their Own Picture Book Questions. A teaching and learning blog post about getting students to engage in the reading comprehension practice of asking their own questions #readingcomprehension #picturebooks
 

Asking Prediction Questions

Good readers are often asking - and answering - prediction questions as they read. One of the easiest to ask questions is ‘based on the cover and title, what do we think this book is about?’ Students might dismiss prediction questions because they find they’re answering them as soon as they ask them (What will come next? I think it’ll be . . . ) but it’s important that they know they are asking these questions and they do play a part in how they are reading.

If students are writing prediction questions for other people to answer, they might like to reflect on where the best places to ask those questions are. Should they ask them at the beginning of the book? During the book - and when during it? At the end? This is a great way at taking a closer look at how an author might have structured suspense or anticipation into a book 

The Things Which Aren’t Obvious

The inferring and author intention questions are the harder questions we ask ourselves when we are reading. Why did that character do that? Was that foreshadowed earlier in the book? Why did the author make that choice? Sometimes it can be hard to ask those questions because you need to go back to the text once you have the recall questions down. Other times it’s hard to ask those questions because you’re not sure if you’re overthinking it!

One thing we can let our students know is that it’s ok to ask ‘do you think’ questions - open-ended questions which different people might answer in different ways. Those might be the questions which get us to think the most about the book - even if the book looks simple on the first read. ‘Why . . .’ questions with many different possible answers are some of my favourite - every time I read Mem Fox’s Where is the Green Sheep I wonder why the slide sheep is wearing skis (it just doesn’t look safe!).

By modelling, encouraging exploration and explicitly teaching question asking when we’re reading picture books, we can help our students become better readers of these - and more complex texts.

Do you teach question asking? Share your experiences in the comments

 
 
 
 

5 Ways to Introduce Reading and Books at the Beginning of the School Year

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It’s the beginning of a new school year and you know you want to make books and reading an important part of your classroom environment. But how can you establish that from the beginning? How can you help your students to know that reading is valued in your classroom? How can you encourage a community of readers? Here’s 5 ideas to help you introduce reading and books as a back to school activity.

 
5 Ways to Introduce Reading and Books into your classroom at the beginning of the school year. A back to school literacy and literature post for all teachers.
 

1. Start With A Favourite

You’ve introduced yourself to your students, checked all their names, put books and stationery into some sort of organisation. It’s time to start teaching. You might have a great getting to know your students activity planned, but it’s worth waiting for just a moment to read them your favourite picture book.

Why? First of all, picture books are great transition tools. They show the students that it’s time to move from organisation mode into learning mode. They’re a quiet and calm way to get things moving. Secondly, you’re letting your students get to know you a little through your book - they know that you value reading and that this is one of the books you really value. And finally, it gives you, the teacher, a moment to breathe and enjoy what you’re doing.

As a bonus, it never hurts when someone from administration pokes their head in and sees reading happening on the first day

2. Create a List of Topics to Read About

In the first few days of school ask your students what kind of books they would like to read or what topics they would like to read about. Use this list as a display in the classroom, use it to guide some of the reading choices or book choices throughout the year and return to update it as the year progresses.

By asking students what books or topics they want to read, you’re giving them some ownership over the reading environment. You’re telling them that their reading preferences are valued in the classroom and that it’s a safe place to read all kinds of books.

 
5 Ways to Introduce Reading and Books into your classroom at the beginning of the school year. A back to school literacy and literature post for all teachers.
 

3. “Sell” a Book or Two

Book talks are one of my very favourite tools for encouraging reading in the classroom. I love them so much, I wrote a whole post about them and how to give a book talk. At the beginning of the school year it’s good to use books which might be unfamiliar to the students. This lets the students know that you love finding books they might not know about and that it’s ok to read and enjoy unfamiliar books. 

Book talks are great for generating excitement about a book and therefore excitement about reading. With lots of enthusiasm, or a well placed preview of a book, you’ve shown students that it’s ok for books to be exciting. Be aware that a really exciting book talk might generate a lot of enthusiasm for the book - you might need to create a ‘next in line’ list for potential readers. 

4. Ask Students to Write About their Ideal Book

What would the best book in the world look like? This is a great question to pose to students early in the school year. As well as getting students interested in what books could be (or what books they may not have found yet) this is a great way to learn a bit more about your students.

Be aware, though. There’s a very real possibility that you’ll have a students or two who’ll say there’s no such thing as a good book. It’s ok to get them to explain why that’s the case (they’re still writing and you’re still learning about them!) or to challenge them a little to write about what a book would have to have to be readable by them - they might like to link it to what they like about games, television shows or other activities.

5. Let Students Know Where They Can Find Books

Once you’ve got students excited about reading, you need to let them know where they can find books. You may have a complete classroom library or a small collection of books in the classroom - let students know what they can access at any time or what books you’ve set aside for classroom lessons. Take your students to the school library and talk about some of the borrowing they can do there.

You might also like to introduce the local library to your students. You can do this by visiting yourself and taking some photos of the different areas or you might like to arrange a visit from a librarian at the library who can help your students to understand what’s available to them there (it’s not unusual for people to think they need to pay to borrow books from the library.

How do you create a reading environment in your classroom at the beginning of the school year? Leave a comment below to let us know!

 
 
 
 

Taking a Deep Dive Into Picture Book Illustrations in the Classroom

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One of the benefits of using picture books in the classroom, including middle grades classrooms, is developing visual literacy. But how can we make sure we’re doing this effectively?

 
Taking a Deep Dive Into Picture Book Illustrations in the Classroom. A teaching and learning blog post exploring visual literacy in the classroom with ideas for teaching it to students #visualliteracy #picturebooks
 

The Importance of Visual Literacy

Visual literacy is the ability to understand and make meaning from information which is presented in the form of an image. We use simple visual literacy every day as adults - from the signs we use when we’re driving, to the icons on our phones. Visual literacy gets more complicated, however, when we look at artworks, media photography, social media images and advertising.

When we look at old newspapers, it’s not uncommon to see a full page of text. These days, front pages are more likely to be a combination of images and headlines, with very little news story text. Social media prioritises images over text, especially on those platforms built on images such as instagram. And advertising is using more and more complicated imagery to reach customers. Understanding what pictures are trying to say to us allows our students to be better readers and more thoughtful participants in the world as they grow older.

 
Taking a Deep Dive Into Picture Book Illustrations in the Classroom. A teaching and learning blog post exploring visual literacy in the classroom with ideas for teaching it to students #visualliteracy #picturebooks
 

Telling the Story Through Illustrations

Picture books are a great way to teach visual literacy because they ask students to take a closer look at a text form which is already familiar to them. Most children are exposed to picture books before they learn to read, so they’re used to examining the pictures, ‘reading’ what is in them and using them to help them understand what the whole book is about.

Many picture book illustrations also tell us the story that isn’t in the words. In Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French, there are all sorts of things in Bruce Whatley’s illustrations which tell us the real story about Mothball’s opponent (the doormat) and the impact Mothball is having on her surroundings (it’s very, very bad). Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey makes a lot less sense without the illustrations, and make sure you keep an eye on what those mischievous monsters are up to in Nick Bland’s The Wrong Book!

When we start pointing this out to students, we’re letting them know that images have messages for us - that they’re telling us more information and that they can be as important as the words we read. It’s definitely worth the time investment to compare the text and the images when you’re reading picture books.

 
Taking a Deep Dive Into Picture Book Illustrations in the Classroom. A teaching and learning blog post exploring visual literacy in the classroom with ideas for teaching it to students #visualliteracy #picturebooks
 

What Can We Tell From Pictures?

Have you read any books with Shaun Tan’s beautiful illustrations? I have spent a lot of time with Shaun Tan books because they are amazing, but one of my very favourite teaching memories was spending time exploring The Arrival with my students. This is a book with absolutely no words - or no words in a language we know. 

As the students read this with me, they found images they were familiar with - like photographs - and less familiar ones which we would have to dive into. Sometimes they would read the images better than me and we’d all learn from it together as we built the story out of the images.

Wordless picture books are amazing tools for developing both visual literacy and an understanding of how stories can be told. Jeannie Baker’s Window and Belonging are another example of these texts - and are a little easier to read - which students can spend ages looking over, pulling out all the little tales woven into the images.

Matching Pictures and Words

Another way to use children’s book illustrations to engage in visual literacy is by asking students to put the words and the pictures together. You should use a book the students aren’t so familiar with. You can use a photocopier or a photo and projector to share the page with the words removed. Offer the students a selection of words which could go into that space and ask them to choose the best one. Ask them to reflect on their choice and whether any of the other words might have worked.

Alternatively, you can present the students with the images and ‘incorrect’ text. Ask them if the pictures and words go together. Why? And if not, what should the words be.

By doing this, you’re asking the students to be more thoughtful when they see words and images together - this is something which can be reinforced by reading graphic novels - good visual literacy is definitely required there!

Do you explore visual literacy in your classroom? Share your experiences in the comments

 
 
 
 

Should You Read a Picture Book to Your Class Every Day?

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We all know about the benefits of picture books in the classroom and how we can use them regularly to improve literacy and learning. But should we insist on reading them to our students every day? Should we be feeling guilty if we miss a day? Why are we reading picture books every day?

 
Should You Read a Picture Book to Your Class Every Day? A teaching and learning blog post exploring the pressure to read certain books to students every day and the impact on teacher self care #picturebooks #teacherselfcare
 

The Benefits

Picture books are a wonderful tool to use in the classroom. Many of them use thoughtful language, a range of text structures and clever writing. Others use beautiful and interesting illustrations which tell us as much as the words, helping us explore visual literacy. Picture books are easy to fit into smaller amounts of time and are easier to share with groups of students.

So if they’re this good, should we make sure we’re reading them every single day?

Why and How Are You Reading Them?

You really can’t answer the question of whether you should be reading picture books every day, unless you know why you’re reading them and how you approach reading in your classroom. Is it a goal for you or for your students? Is there other reading happening in your classroom or is it your primary reading? Do you only read at one time in the day, or do you pick up books at several times? 

As you’re reflecting on this, you may like to write yourself a little ‘mission statement’ - a short piece of text which explains why reading to your students is important to you and how you’re going to share that importance.

Taking the Pressure Off Yourself

Once you have a clear idea of why and how you’re sharing picture books with your students, step back a little and take some pressure off yourself. There are going to be some days where things just don’t work and you may not get to picture books. There’s going to be some days where time restraints stress you out or new things pop up unexpectedly. It’s ok to let things go - including reading every single day.

It’s worth remembering that reading should be a joyful thing in the classroom - a thing of delight. Your students will know if you’re stressed about fitting reading in - or stressed that reading is taking time you need for other classroom activities. 

But . . . don’t forget that reading a funny or comfortable book can be regulating and calming on those stressed out days. It’s also ok to stop and read when you and your class need it.

 
Should You Read a Picture Book to Your Class Every Day? A teaching and learning blog post exploring the pressure to read certain books to students every day and the impact on teacher self care #picturebooks #teacherselfcare
 

Should You Be the Only Person to Read to Them?

Who reads aloud in your classroom? Is it you and only you? And if so . . . could you change that up a bit?

Is there a student who enjoys reading aloud? Or if your students are pre-readers, have you got a student willing to retell a familiar book to their classmates? Have you got a teacher’s assistant who would like to read to the students, or a non-classroom teacher who would like to be an occasional reader? Can you have parent or community volunteers who read to the students, or readers from another grade level?

If you’re not the only one reading, you may be able to fit more books in without feeling the pressure to fit more books in!

It Doesn’t Have to Be a Number Game

Lots of classrooms like recording the number of books they read together - and this can be a great way to get students excited about books. But if it’s a stress to you, you don’t have to do it. 

Keeping record of the books you read as a class can be as simple as adding the title to a poster on your classroom wall (something your students can do). Or you can get a little more complicated by displaying an image of the cover in your classroom or keeping a record book of all the different books and what they’re about.

Do you try to read daily with your students? Share your experiences in the comments

 
 
 
 

Exploring the Plots of Picture Books with Triptychs

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One of the important skills you’re exploring picture books with your students is identifying what happens at the beginning, the middle and the end of the picture book. One art activity you can use to help with that is the triptych. Read on to learn more about this interesting way to demonstrate understanding.

 
Exploring the Plots of Picture Books with Triptychs. A teaching and learning blog post exploring a book report alternative using art to explore plot in picture books #literacy #picturebooks
 

What is a Triptych?

The word triptych is derived from a greek word meaning three-fold. Essentially it is an art work made up from three panels. Traditionally, these panels are connected by hinges, allowing the two side panels to fold in on top of the middle panel. They were first introduced in the middle ages as religious art work - their design allowed them to be folded and stored or carried to another place while being protected. They often tell a story and are intended to be read from the left to the right. 

How Can You Use a Triptych to Discuss Plot?

Because a triptych tells a story in three parts, it’s the perfect art medium to discuss the beginning, the middle and the end of a picture book. Students look into the picture book to consider how they might portray the beginning, what elements of the story would be most important to focus on when looking at the middle of the story and how the story ends.

 
 

What Kind of Picture Books Will Work?

This is actually a great question to pose to students! Because you need to portray the beginning, the middle and the end, you do want a picture book which has those things! Some of the early childhood picture books which focus on repetitive text (like Where is the Green Sheep? or Dear Zoo) probably won’t work so well (though, you could challenge some particularly creative students to try!). A very long picture book with a lot of events may also be too difficult. 

For younger students, you will probably want to concentrate on books with a clear beginning, middle and end. For example, the Pig the Pug books start with a set up, move into some form of disaster, then show us the conclusion. For older students, you may like to challenge them with more complex story structures, though they will probably also get a lot out of the clear beginning to end books as well.

 
 

What Do Students Need to Know When They’re Creating Their Triptych?

Like any art activity, students need to start by planning. They should think about what is important at the beginning, during the middle and at the end and then brainstorm ideas of how they can portray this.

Once they have planned this, students can begin drafting ideas for their triptych. How they do this will depend on the art medium they are using, but many students will begin by sketching their ideas before they start to work on their actual project.

Before students begin working on their good copy, they need to think about how they might be hinged together. Capturing ribbon between the artwork and a backing page is an easy way to create a flexible, but strong hinge, but you can always challenge students to create their own hinges using paper, cloth, ribbon or other materials.

Are you looking for teaching materials to scaffold a plot triptych? Sign up to the free resource library to get yours now.

Have you used art as your book related activities? Share your experiences in the comments.

 
 
 
 

Bringing Book Characters to Life in the Classroom with Collage

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Are you looking for an alternative to character profiles in the classroom? What about giving this project an artistic twist? You could always try some collage . . . 

 
Bringing Book Characters to Life in the Classroom with Collage. A teaching and learning blog post exploring an art alternative to character profiles and a way to explore texts more deeply #characterprofile #bookstudy
 

A collage is a piece of art created by combining different elements. In the classroom we often see collages made from coloured paper and magazine or newspaper cut outs, but you can also use fabric and other textiles, recycled materials, photos and other materials.

A collage is a great way to represent a character since it allows the creator to show different elements of a character and even the experiences they have throughout the story. It can be used to show a snapshot of a book or as a book report alternative.

Here’s one way you might like to approach this activity with your class

1. Identify the Features of the Character

The collage begins with planning. That may not be too exciting for the students, but it allows them to produce a higher quality piece of work and allows them to demonstrate that they really understand the character and the book.

Students need to identify the features of the character - the characteristics they want to represent in the collage. They might also like to represent relationships the character has in the story or make a reference to some of the most important events in the book.

2. Use Colours, Images and Shapes to Define the Character

Students need to consider what kind of collage they want to create. Are they beginning with the shape of a person (or animal, if the character is an animal!) and filling it in with collage. Or are they intending to fill the whole page with different elements of the character. This might be a decision you wish to make for the students - you can even provide them with outlines of bodies or heads - or you may like to let them make this decision themselves.

Once they have that worked out, students need to start adding in the material. What they use will be dependent on many things - including classroom resources, time and space, but you might like to ask students to bring in material from home, you might like to provide them with additional resources, or you might like to restrict them to particular materials - such as scrap paper in the classroom or recycled packaging or coloured paper.

Remind students to refer back to their characters’ features as they choose their materials, how much of it they want to use and how they want to place it.

 
Bringing Book Characters to Life in the Classroom with Collage. A teaching and learning blog post exploring an art alternative to character profiles and a way to explore texts more deeply #characterprofile #bookstudy
 

3. Adding Text and Other Features

Once the student has the basic shape of their collage down, they might want to consider what else they can use to make their collage meaningful. Some students might want to add words - they can use the features they started with - to highlight certain characteristics. Others might want to add a paint wash over the top to highlight some parts and dull others. Bits and bobs like sequins, bottle caps, beads, string or wool might be interesting additions, or students might like to choose nature elements such as leaves or sticks.

Don’t forget you may like to let the initial work dry before adding extra material.

4. What Can a Collage Tell Us?

Once students have finished their collages, they should take the time to reflect on their work and the choices they made. This can be done by writing down some ideas, by engaging in a discussion with the teacher, by recording their voice or by making a video. Students can point out the different features they have represented in their work and why they made those particular choices based on what they know about the character. 

Have you created character collages in your classroom? Share your experiences in the comments

 
 
 
 

How to Use Book Talks to ‘Sell’ Books to Your Students

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So, you’ve just bought a brilliant book to add to your classroom library. But how can you ensure that it doesn’t sit there, unloved and dusty? How can you make sure it gets into the right hands? The answer is . . . the humble book talk.

 
How to Use Book Talks to ‘Sell’ Books to Your Students. A teaching and learning blog post about increasing student interest and engagement in reading through using book talks #booktalk #readerengagement
 

What is a Book Talk?

A book talk is a speech or talk recommending that others read a particular book. The person giving the book talk stands or sits in front of their audience (or films or records themselves for their audience) and shares information about the contents of a book. They are working to convince the listener that they absolutely HAVE to read the book.

Teachers are well placed to give book talks to their students. They’re already there in front of them. In many cases they’re selecting (and buying) the books for the classroom. And teachers often have great relationships with their students. 

But what do you need to know when you’re planning to give a book talk?

What Do They Need to Know?

You should definitely start a book talk with the title, the author and the basic premise of the story. Students will want some information about what it’s about - but the challenge is sharing that without giving away too much information.

If the author or illustrator has created other books which are well known in the classroom, you might like to mention that. Students can be very loyal to creators who have given them a good experience in the past.

 
How to Use Book Talks to ‘Sell’ Books to Your Students. A teaching and learning blog post about increasing student interest and engagement in reading through using book talks #booktalk #readerengagement
 

You Know Your Audience . . . So Don’t Forget to Hook Them In

As the teacher, you’ve usually got a pretty good idea of the likes and dislikes of your students. Remember this when you’re talking about the book. What parts of the book will appeal to your audience? Will they like the characters? The language used in the book? The plot? The appearance of a character from another story or series? Make sure you refer to those parts in your book talk.

Tell your audience enough about the book to get them interested and then stop . . . let them read the book to find out what happens next. If it’s a novel, you might even like to read a little from the book to make it extra intriguing. 

It’s Ok to Share A Personal Response

While you don’t have to tell your students every thought you had while you were reading the book, you might like to share some information about how the book made you feel or how it’s connected to an experience you’ve had. This both gives the students more information about the book and allows them to see how it might connect with someone.

Don’t forget to be enthusiastic either! Try to get the book into hands as soon as possible (though you may need a sign up system for this!)  Use the book as a prop if you can so students can see the cover and remember it in the future.

Challenge them to give the next book talk

While it’s great for teachers to give book talks, students can be the best ambassadors for new books in the classroom. If students are interested in giving book talks, you can always offer them a new book and ask them to read it and talk about it. Letting your students ‘sell’ the books can help them jump into hands like hot cakes!

Do you use book talks in your classroom? Tell us about your experience in the comments

 
 
 
 

Examining Storytelling in the Classroom through Number the Stars

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If you are teaching Number the Stars in your classroom, it’s hard to ignore the element of storytelling. The author makes reference to storytelling at several points in the story, allowing it to frame one of the most important moments in the novel. Here’s some ways you can explore storytelling with your students.

 
Examining Storytelling in the Classroom through Number the Stars. A teaching and learning blog post exploring using the Lois Lowry historical fiction novel as a novel study #novelstudy #storytelling
 

Storytelling in Number the Stars

Early in the novel, Annemarie tells a story to her little sister Kirsti, helping her to fall asleep. She reflects on the stories which make up her life, including the stories about the king and the stories her mother told her little sister when explosions at the harbour occur on Kirsti’s birthday. 

As the events of the book push forward, Annemarie finds herself part of stories, the stories which her mother and uncle tell about a pretend funeral gathering in their house and the story of Little Red Riding Hood, which Annemarie tells herself as she runs through a twisting forest path on a dangerous mission.

As you explore storytelling, students can identify and discuss these moments. They might also like to see if they can find any more examples of storytelling in the novel.

Retelling the Story of Number the Stars

An easy way for students to engage in storytelling is to retell the story of Number the Stars like it is a fairy tale or a fable. They can examine the story of Number the Stars and discuss how it might fit into the structure of the more traditional stories. Students can write and illustrate these retold stories.

 
 

Why is It Important?

Why are stories important? This is a great guiding question which you could post to your students as they discuss this topic. Students can reflect on some of the different ways stories are used and some of the places you might find stories. They can look at the role of stories and when stories can do good or can do harm.

Students can also look at the role of storytellers and who storytellers are (or could be). They might like to look at cultures where storytelling is an important part of family and community and why stories are shared (and who is allowed to share those stories). 

Finally students can discuss how stories and storytelling are important when it comes to history. They can look at oral histories and what they tell us as well as the role of historical sources such as newspapers or written material like novels or plays.  

Create a Fairy Tale

To take the discussion of stories further, students can examine an event from their own life and how they might retell it as a fairy tale. They can look at the elements of fairy tales and reflect on how they might need to exaggerate or change their true story. 

Have you explored storytelling in your classroom? Share your experiences in the comments.