"The best books for children aren't written for kids, they're written for adults to charm and astonish us, to prickle the hairs on the back of our necks, so kids will sense our delight and will want to become readers themselves."
—Paul Johnson, The New York Times
Picture this: A classroom of eager learners poring over texts, calling out phrases, sharing pieces of information, and making the reading/writing connection quickly and with great skill. Where would you find such a place? Surprisingly, you'll find scenarios like these occurring daily in many middle and high school classrooms across the country. In these classrooms, teachers in all disciplines have discovered a readily available but often untapped resource—picture books.
As hundreds of teachers have discovered through NWREL's wildly popular Picture Books teaching guide, picture books can be a highly visual and motivating means to teach students about quality writing. Now, educators can get a firsthand look at the power of picture books through a new video, "Picture This: Using Picture Books in Middle and High School to Teach Writing." The 20-minute video shows actual students using picture books as models to help organize their thoughts in meaningful ways, to explore new topics, and to share multiple viewpoints about a similar topic. Using picture books, students can try out effective writing techniques (such as interesting leads and conclusions), examine how an author uses specific and precise word choice, and see how an edited and polished piece of work should be presented.
| "Picture books are a powerful means to explore the craft behind the keyboard." |
Picture books have long been a tool of the writing and reading teacher in our primary and elementary schools. Now, these enchanting publications are being used in classrooms of older students as well. Many picture books have extended text to complement images. They explore current and relevant topics. They present fresh perspectives on ideas and themes found in traditional texts and resources. The controlled amount of text makes them readily accessible to readers at all levels of ability, and their topics are often fascinating and lead to opportunities for further research and writing. They are short on pages, but long on meaning. They can engage and challenge the reader to think differently or more deeply about the topic at hand. Used as an implement in the writer's toolbox, picture books are a powerful means to explore the craft behind the keyboard.
The video—the latest addition to NWREL's In the Classroom Series—features students hard at work dissecting good writing, collecting multiple resources on research-related topics, and examining multiple points of view on significant and relevant issues. Also featured are teachers sharing their ideas on how to use picture books in their classrooms and talking with nationally acclaimed author Ralph Fletcher, author of several picture books and texts on the art of teaching writing.
The video comes with a bonus: a copy of NWREL's hit publication, Picture Books: An Annotated Bibliography with Teaching Activities, which is organized around the six-trait writing assessment model. Also included is a facilitator's guidebook for using the video and text in a workshop format to encourage others to integrate picture books into their curriculum.
The video is available for $165 from IOX Educational Research and Development, 28170 SW Boberg Rd, Suite 1, Wilsonville, OR 97070. Phone (503) 582-8958, Fax (503) 582-8938.
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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
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