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PSPKK12318 Comments

How to teach reading strategies with picture books

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Reading strategies and picture books? They’re a perfect combination!

Introducing a new blog series that will show you exactly how to teach reading strategies with picture books!

Do you have a plan for teaching reading strategies to your K-2 learners?

Strategies like these:

  • making predictions
  • making connections
  • inferring
  • setting a purpose for reading
  • activating prior knowledge
  • visualizing
  • asking questions
  • determining importance
  • summarizing
  • synthesizing

Whew!

Do we really have to teach all those reading strategies in K-2?

Yes and no.

We won’t have time to teach ALL these strategies in detail over a single school year (nor should we). But we can address most of them through picture books.

So what’s the point?

Why are we teaching reading strategies to readers so young?

The point is to help them make sense of what they read. Now, let me be clear – the point is NOT to make sure they learn every single detail about a particular book. The point is NOT so they can tell you the story forward and backward.

The point, instead, is to equip them with strategies to help them understand the books they read tomorrow and the day after that. With consistent modeling and guided practice, our students will make these strategies their own.

Introducing a new blog series that will show you exactly how to teach reading strategies with picture books!

Really? Kids can learn advanced reading strategies through a basic picture book?

You bet. Especially when you find the best of children’s literature and combine it with a magical technique called the “think aloud.”

The magic of the “think aloud”

A think aloud is kind of like eavesdropping on someone’s thinking. It’s when you verbalize your thought processes as you read aloud to your students. Here are some things you can do as you think aloud:

  • Share thoughts, reactions, and confusions that pop into your head while you’re reading.
  • Show your students how you connect what you’re reading to events in your own life.
  • Share the questions you have as you read even if you know they won’t be answered in the text.
  • Share how you make inferences about the meanings of new words and new concepts.
  • Show your students how you re-read when something doesn’t make sense.

Of course, read aloud isn’t the only time to teach reading strategies with picture books. You can also do it during the teaching point of your guided reading lesson. And you can support students as they use the strategies on their own during independent reading time.

Introducing …

A  collaborative blog series! I’ve teamed up with my colleague, Becky Spence, of This Reading Mama. Over the next ten weeks, we’ll bring you blog posts that show you exactly how to use picture books to build strong readers.

Update: Here they are!

 Setting a purpose for reading Activating prior knowledge Making connections Making predictions Making inferences Visualizing Asking questions Determining importance Summarizing Synthesizing

Free Reading Printables for Pre-K-3rd Grade

Join our email list and get this sample pack of time-saving resources from our membership site! You'll get phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension resources ... all free!

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Filed Under: Reading, Comprehension Tagged With: first grade, second grade, kindergarten, reading comprehension

You May Also Enjoy These Posts:

Reading game for ee words CVC word lists Make a movie in your head! (a visualizing strategy)
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Reader Interactions

18 Comments

  1. Lynn

    April 6, 2018 at 10:33 am

    Looking forward to this – as a kindergarten teacher, I feel like my most important goal as their beginning reading teacher is to have them develop the HABIT of thinking as we/they read. If we can get this solid, by the time they are actually reading on their own, comprehending will be what they DO, not what they have to spend extra time thinking about. I love using my picture books for this – besides working on skills, it just helps them learn how amazing books are! Catch them young, right?!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:56 pm

      Yes, I agree 100%!! It sounds like you know exactly what you’re doing, Lynn!

      Reply to this comment
  2. Laura Shockley

    April 5, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    Looks great! How do I sign up?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:55 pm

      These will simply be blog posts, so there’s no need to sign up. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  3. Kibirango Mourice

    April 5, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Thank you. l am waiting eagerly to acquire those skills.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:55 pm

      We’re excited to share them!

      Reply to this comment
  4. Juanita Puchkoff

    April 5, 2018 at 9:28 am

    How do I sign up and when does it take place?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:55 pm

      These are simply blog posts, so you just need to come back to the blog each week to see them. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  5. Kelly

    April 5, 2018 at 7:22 am

    I am so excited to go through this with you! I can’t wait to put this into action.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:54 pm

      We’re excited to get started!

      Reply to this comment
  6. Shalina

    April 5, 2018 at 12:09 am

    I see that you have class starting 4/4. Is that online video to be downloaded or ?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:54 pm

      These will simply be blog posts like the one above. 🙂

      Reply to this comment
  7. Dana Sodergren

    April 4, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    Looking forward to it. Trade picture books are so much more engaging than the read-alouds included in our district adoption, with richer and more natural language.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      April 6, 2018 at 9:52 pm

      So true! We look forward to sharing some excellent books .:)

      Reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. How to teach predicting with picture books - The Measured Mom says:
    September 19, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    […] you been following along with the blog series I’m doing with This Reading Mama? We’re sharing specific ways to teach reading […]

    Reply to this comment
  2. Determining importance strategy - The Measured Mom says:
    September 19, 2020 at 9:01 pm

    […] you been following along with the collaborative blog series I’m doing with Becky Spence of This Reading Mama? Each week, we’ve shown you how to […]

    Reply to this comment
  3. Strategies for Building Reading Comprehension | Two Dogs Tutoring says:
    November 7, 2018 at 7:47 am

    […] Teach Reading Strategies with Picture Books in Grades K-2 […]

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