5 Reasons Your Older Students Need Picture Books!

Using picture books with older students will help them as they work through various different literacy skills.

You wonder, you think ~ how can older students need picture books? We want them to be reading chapter books and really thinking about what is going on. Picture books are for the younger crowd. Bur really, are they? Research has shown that students, even in high school, can benefit from high quality picture books that teach lessons and help children learn. Here are five good reasons for using picture books in the upper grades.

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Comprehension skills


Picture books help with various comprehension skills.


Picture books are great for so many comprehension skills for older students.  The simple plots help students see beyond the words and dig into the comprehension skills. I love using them for everything from simple plot elements to the more intense making inferences. ReadWorks has a plethora of awesome comprehension lessons that use picture books, a great starting point!  Though you have to sign up to use it, it is completely free!

Vocabulary and Context Clues

Use picture books to help with context clues and build vocabulary.


Picture books have a very rich vocabulary and are great for building that in so many ways. The book Baloney (Henry P.)  by Jon Scieska has words from other languages the students must figure out as they are reading it.  Many picture books help students learn new vocabulary through words and pictures.  How awesome is that!

Mentor Texts for Writing

Picture books are great for helping with writing lessons.


Picture books are great for helping students become better writers. The letter above was written by some fourth graders after reading Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague.  The site Writing Fix has a ton of great writing mentor text lessons, and don't forget Read Write Think!

Build Background Knowledge

Picture books help students build background knowledge.

Building background knowledge is important for so many different subjects. Picture books not only give great information, but also have great picture to help get the point across. The book Animal Ark by Kwame Alexander tell about the animals through poem and have great photographs to help children gain a better understanding of the subjects.

Engagement

Get students of all ages engaged with fun picture books!

Older students can be mesmerized by picture books.  In the book, Are We There Yet, students will have to turn the book in different directions and even use QR codes. How much fun! Kids of all ages will love it, even your older students.

So, don't hold back! Read those pictures books with your older students! They won't forget it!
Using picture books with older students will help them as they work through various different literacy skills.




Hop over to all of these posts from The Reading Crew in our May Extravaganza!
   
   

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