So many teachers seem nervous to make time for picture books in their classrooms. Others think their kids will reject them. Most troubling, I hear some teachers worried their administrators won’t approve. I can’t imagine my classroom without picture books. Picture books absolutely belong in the Upper Elementary Classroom. Here are six reasons why.
1. Kids love them. Yes, even my fifth graders, who are trying so hard to show they are “big,” LOVE being read to, especially when it is a picture book. Kids would spy new picture books on my desk or near the board and interrupt “are we going to read that.” “When are we going to read that one.” “Are we going to read that yet?” The anticipation and excitement are wonderful, especially for an activity that has so much academic value- read on!
2. They ensure all students feel represented. I love the diversity where I teach. I have students with a variety of racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. I have students who identify across the spectrum of gender and sexuality from all sorts of different families. I strive to make sure that they all feel represented and seen in our classroom in many ways. With my chapter book read-aloud that is really difficult- if I’m lucky, I am sure I’d get five read-aloud books in in a year. I haven’t topped four yet. While some books check LOTS of boxes, it’s still imperfect. But I can fit lots of picture books into the year. The look on the faces of some of my kids when I announce that we’re reading a book from their heritage is so exciting and worth it.
3. They bring content to life. Whether we are talking about exploration and reading Encounter, using A Big Mooncake for Little Star while learning about the phases of the moon, or The Other Side to teach about the Civil Rights era, students, especially our more dependent learners, can make more authentic connections to content when they are exposed to it through picture books alongside your lessons.
4. They are great for assessment. Unlike chapter books where students may or may not be where they should be in reading or the book a child is reading may or may not have great examples of what you are trying to assess, picture books are in your nexus of control. It is much easier to know that all students have had time to process a full story and that it is a story with what you need. I can also easily differentiate- with the same picture book I can test one reading group’s ability to identify a theme and another’s ability to infer meaning of tricky words using context clues. All of the picture book projects in my store have multiple activities for this reason.
5. They support discreet teaching of specific skills. I know there is figurative language in Two Roads by Joseph Bruchac and places to infer character traits in From the Desk of Zoe Washington, but there is no guarantee I will be at those places in the book on the days I want to teach them. Instead, I can align specific picture book read-alouds to the reading skills I need to teach.
6. They have important SEL implications. Picture books are often talked about for their SEL value. I know that Secret Bully will need to be pulled out when our community meeting turns to the annual outbreak of girl drama. Every year I love using Red by Michael Hall to talk about being good allies to one another. Download a free SEL activity to accompany Red. Yet it’s not just the traditional “SEL” picture books that support these. Take the Encounter example above- it is a great book to connect to your teaching about Age of Exploration, and to teach about symbolism. It is also a useful book to assess with. Yet the idea of someone not being heard because they are seen as a child is also a super important discussion for my kiddos. Further, we can talk about how we communicate with each other when we don’t feel heard.
Encounter isn’t the only book that checks many of these boxes. There are a variety of picture books that will allow students to feel seen, bring your content to life, give options for assessment and teaching specific skills while also exciting your kids and connecting to their emotional needs. One last bonus? Excited, engaged students who remind you that they are in fact cute kids.
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