Picture Books: The Heart of Teaching— Keeping the Human Element and Rigor Together by Laurie Higgins and Kathleen Monahan Laurie Higgins is co-chair of the Studies and Research Committee for the Massachusetts Reading Association. She is a reading specialist with the Stoughton, MA, public schools.
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t’s a typical week in an elementary school classroom. A teacher sits in her reading chair each day and reads a favorite book about this time of year. Eve Bunting’s, The Wednesday Surprise, Cynthia Rylant’s The Relatives Came, and Jacqueline Woodson’s, The Other Side, are just some of the titles shared. While the books vary in terms of content and complexity, the enjoyment of the listeners remain constant. But this did not happen during story time in a first- or second-grade classroom. Students in a fifth-grade classroom gather each afternoon to celebrate reading as they actively listen to their teacher read aloud each day. People of all ages enjoy being read to, and the perfect medium for this well-loved activity are picture books. Award winning author, Kate DiCamillo (2018), recently shared on PBS NewsHour her thoughts on reading books aloud. She believes that stories bind us together. Whether old or young, reading aloud a new or favorite story forges connections. “Reading aloud ushers us into a third place, a safe room. It’s a room where everyone involved, the reader and the listener, can put down their defenses and lower their guard. We humans long not just for story, not just for the flow of language, but for the connection that comes when words are read aloud. That connection provides illumination. It lets us see each other” (DiCamillo, 2018). With the ever increasing demands placed on educators, teachers are searching for different ways to connect academically with their students. Using picture books in a classroom is the glue that binds all good teaching together. Picture books offer an accessible,
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Kathleen Monahan is a co-chair of the Studies and Research Committee for the Massachusetts Reading Association. She is a third-grade teacher with the Stoughton, MA, public schools.
yet relevant, medium for teaching countless topics for students of all ages.
Relevant, but Not Revolutionary Teachers constantly strive to find current resources when teaching the content areas. When trying to appeal to today’s youth, teachers are also searching for the newest title that might hook that reluctant reader. But, what is bright, shiny, and new is not always the only reliable source. Books published years ago may still have relevance today. Think about Ezra Jack Keats’A Snowy Day and Peter’s Chair, or Eve Bunting’s Smoky Night, or Jane Yolen’s Owl Moon. Some of these books were published over 50 years ago, yet teachers return to these tried-and-true stories time again to anchor lessons on writing as well as for addressing tender social topics. In our efforts to remain up to date, teachers should not forget the timeless classics that grace classroom shelves. The same holds true for the pedagogy surrounding the use of picture books as a popular and reliable medium in a classroom. Jim Trelease wrote The Read Aloud Handbook in 1982. Since then, he has traveled to all 50 states numerous times championing the idea that reading aloud to students is a powerful teaching tool. Back in 1982, there was no Internet or email, no cell phones, DVD players, iTunes, iPods, iPads, Amazon, e-books, Wi-Fi, or Facebook. The closest thing to an “instant message” was a facial
