Picture Books Part 6: 2 Engaging Reading Strategies
I love helping kids engage with pictures books while I am reading them. This blog post is about two specific strategies I have used to help kids engage with text. See the end of the post for a link to more resources I like to use. The next blog post will follow-up with post-reading activities/debriefing.
Like most of you, I do not plan my entire year of literacy before I meet my kids. I am always responsive to their needs and love using new books to help meet these needs. I have chosen to share one summarizing activity and one connecting activity that can be used with most picture books. I chose to focus on these two skills because they are universally important.
Strategy 1: Window/Mirror using Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Pena
Materials/Background:
1 piece of paper folded hotdog style (see Part 5) with titles Window and Mirror
1 writing implement
1 book you have read/placed sticky notes in to prepare for reading
This activity was introduced to me by a district literacy facilitator named Celine Feazel and it is based on a concept introduced by Rudine Sims Bishop. The idea is that books can be mirrors (reflect ourselves/our experiences) or windows (allow us to look into other worlds real or imagined).
Bishop further pushed the metaphor to include sliding glass doors (readers can walk into the story and become part of it). This part of the metaphor is not included in my strategy.
This activity has a simple setup but can dig deep.
The story I chose:
Milo Imagines the World tells the story of a young boy on a long subway ride. As he sees different people, he imagines their lives beyond the subway ride. It is a beautiful book about perspective taking and not judging people or people’s lives by just what you see in front of you.
How does the strategy work?
1. Talk about the difference between a window and a mirror with your class.
2. Draw a sample table on the board and have your kids create a table to use to record their ideas.
3. Challenge your students to write down (point form) moments in the story that are windows or mirrors.
4. Remind them that some books will be more of a mirror and others more of a window.
5. Pre-read the book and place a sticky note at 2-3 spots to remind yourself to stop and give kids time to collect their thoughts. It is important to model a window/mirror, so these sticky note should be places that have special meaning for you.
6. Post Reading: You could give each student a sticky note and have them record on it their name and their most interesting window or mirror. As a ticket out the door, they could place this sticky note on the board in the correct column.
Pro Tip: Choose 2-3 more books and do the same strategy again throughout the week. It will give your kids a chance to dig deeper into the comprehension. Strategy repetition is comforting to students because they know what they have to do, even if the content is different.
Strategy 2: Summarizing with The Little Yellow Bottle by Angele Delaunois
Materials/Background:
1 piece of paper folded hotdog AND burrito style (6 boxes) numbered 1-6
1 writing implement
1 book that you have pre-read and placed sticky notes in
Practicing summarizing text is a challenge for kids. They often either repeat EVERY SINGLE WORD or do not know where to start. Picture books are a great way to practice summarizing because there is usually a narrative to follow AND the books are relatively short.
When my students practice summarizing, I allow them to use images, words, and speech bubbles. This is instant differentiation. Many of the kids also love graphic novels, so adding the option to include images can really provide the opportunity for kids to ‘show off’ their drawing skills and add interesting details.
The story I chose:
The Little Yellow Bottle by Angele Delaunois is a book I read during my picture study about war. In this book, two children are playing soccer and they see a little yellow bottle. They don’t realize it is a bomb. The children are injured, and the story follows their recovery.
The images and story impact students. This book would actually also work very well for the previous strategy, but I have used it to practice summarization in the past.
How does the strategy work?
1. Have the kids create the piece of paper with boxes numbered 1-6.
2. Draw a sample on the board with numbers 1-6
3. Show the kids the cover/title and ask them to make a prediction in box 1/share a few
4. Read the first third of the book. Stop and have kids write/draw the most important events in that chunk. Repeat 2/3 of the way through the book and at the end. Use boxes 2-4 for these steps.
5. For longer books, you could divide the story into four chunks (boxes 2-5).
6. For shorter books, you could use box number 5 for recording juicy words or questions.
7. When you are done, have the kids share at their table groups. Give each table one piece of paper or whiteboard and challenge them to tell the story in 6 plot points. This will mean pulling ideas from multiple people at the group.
8. **Optional** have the groups share/compare as a boardwalk
9. After working with their small group, ask each student to draw/write what they think is the most important scene in the story. Ask them to include a reason they think this is the most important scene. It might be a scene they included in their original chunking, or a scene they talked about in their groups.
10. Pre-Read the book and find the natural breaks. Use sticky notes in the book to remind you where you want to take a break for chunking.
Find the needs of your students and be responsive to these needs when planning your lessons. If your kids need to work on summarization, don’t be afraid to repeat the same strategy several times with new books. It helps kids start to see/understand the concepts more deeply. There are so many amazing lessons online and different authors that can help you!
Gail Boushey and Joan Moser ‘The Sisters’
The Daily 5
The Cafe Book