How To Read A Book With No Words
Fossil by Bill Thomson
When one of my sixth grade students told me that they “hate” reading…I knew exactly where to begin. Wordless Picture Books.
Would you believe me, that wordless picture books are an effective instructional material for primary to middle school students, across all content areas?
There are so many benefits for beginning “reading” without the words, trust me on this one! Read below to view the list of benefits of incorporating wordless picture books into your nighttime routine, classroom, literacy centers, private tutoring, and homeschool settings! I will then share with you some of my library favorites, and leave you with specific and creative reading and writing activities across the context areas that are sure to engage your children…here we go!
The Benefits of Wordless Picture Books
Students can learn the fictitious sequence of storytelling elements, including exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
They promote the strategy of predicting.
The format is rather shocking and intriguing to students. For those who “hate” to read, these types of books encourage them to rethink what reading is.
Students can make in-depth inferences about the characters and the setting of the story.
They provide so much rich talking and language development.
They can be used amongst whole class, small group, and independent instruction.
The art and illustrations are just so captivating. In depth discussions on tone, mood, author’s choice, perspective concerning the illustrations can be discussed.
Wordless picture books truly make you think AND use your imagination!
They allow students to step inside the story and just WONDER
These books require students to make strong connections, because without words, they have to lean on connections to self, other texts, and the world around them to form a story that “makes sense.”
Students who engage in wordless picture books can create their own story. There is no “right” version of it. So imagine a classroom with twenty five students. You, as a teacher can read twenty five different versions of the same book. How exciting for the students to share this with their classmates. Those students who don’t like to write, can be assured that their writing is uniquely their own.
They promote creative writing within the classroom.
They can be found in all content areas to teach specific topics.
Students can study similarities amongst this genre.
Teachers can collaborate with the art teacher to assist in students making his or her own wordless picture book. The art teacher focuses on the illustration and design, and you can focus on the plot development and writing elements. It’s a win win!
Teachers can provide ample experiences for teaching questioning with wordless picture books.
Elements such as mood and theme can be discussed considering the illustrator’s colors, format, characters, and other art elements.
They are the perfect opportunity to present during a read aloud time.
These types of books make a great addition to any writing center for inspiration.
They can inspire content rich vocabulary to build prior knowledge before diving into a topic.
Wordless picture books promote the instruction of social-emotional well being. I’ve discovered books that illustrate the topic of anxiety and conflict resolution with peers. They can be pretty powerful and get the discussions going!
Provide opportunities for students to compare and contrast these types of books within the same author and amongst authors.
A select picture or illustration from these books in isolation, can be an excellent story starter.
Every time a child “rereads” these types of books, his or her experience will be different. You can never tire of this type of story, even with age your perspective on its plot, or theme, and character development will change.
These stories are effective for English Language Learners, dyslexia, struggling readers, among other disabilities. They are a “safe” book to start with to change a child’s attitude toward reading.
Do I really need another reason for you to get started using these books!? (Answer is no!)
Here are my favorites…
Sample Reading & Writing Activities
Conduct picture walks during whole class or small group instruction. Encourage students to make predictions, and at the end of each page ask them, “ What do you think will happen next?”
During independent writing time, have the students work as a whole class, small group, pairs, or individually to write text to accompany the picture book.
Give students the opportunities to draw a sequel to the story.
Allow students to create their own wordless picture book and they can pair up with a classmate who can write the text or their interpretation of the book. Keep these in your classroom or home library to enjoy.
After studying a topic, students can create a wordless picture book to demonstrate understanding. Create a rubric to accompany this project.
Copy a captivating image from various wordless picture books. Laminate them and store them in your writing center to use as creative writing prompts.
Engage your classroom in creating a classroom wordless picture book. Laminate the illustrations and arrange them in order in the hallway or bulletin board outside your classroom. This will allow other students to “read” your creation.
Incorporate wordless picture books into your lessons about social emotional well being, current events, and across all content areas. If you are a gym teacher, invite students to choose a sport and create a book. Science and social studies have so many topics students can use to demonstrate his or her understanding.
Engage students in mini lessons about plot, theme, setting, character development, mood, author’s choice, tone, and perspective using these books.
Use wordless picture books to practice the reading strategies of predicting, inferring, questioning, and retelling.
Conduct reciprocal teaching by inviting a younger group of kids into your classroom and have your students “read” the story to them, engaging in conversation about the books.
Students can compare and contrast wordless picture books with a Venn diagram.
Students can conduct author studies about the illustrators/authors.
Have students create a wordless picture book about themselves, and a specific moment they want to share.
With so many benefits and creative activities in using wordless picture books within the classroom, I promise you, once you have these unique books in your hands…they will take a permanent place in your classroom or home library! Have fun!
