How Can A Picturebook Be Used To Teach Reading?

My friend & colleague, Ann Fiala, keeps telling me much she likes The Angry Thunderstorm. Well, of course I liked hearing that.

Lately, she's also been telling me how much she appreciates The Angry Thunderstorm as an instructional tool. My first response (as a non-educator) was, Say that again. I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you are telling others about it. BUT, explain to me how it can be an instructional tool!
How can a picturebook be used to teach reading?

You may recall that Ann is the founder of Reading Instruction Co. She works with schools, districts, and state education departments all over the country to improve reading instruction. She seems to really know her stuff, so I waited patiently for her answer. Knowing how excited Ann gets when she starts talking about teaching reading, I expected a fairly verbose response. Here's what I learned...

A picturebook can be effectively used to teach reading to students of all ages. Paula Parkinson, a high school teacher, used The Angry Thunderstorm to review the literary elements before the final exam with her English I students recently. Some of the 9th graders who had been struggling with the entire concept of personification finally got it after they connected the text with the illustrations.The brevity of a picturebook works well in a 50 minute class period!

Fifth graders read the book to increase their fluency skills. First, they read it silently (checking with a partner or the teacher about pronunciation and/or meaning when they encountered unknown words). Then the teacher assigned Book Buddies and each pair of students read it aloud, taking turns with each page. They switched pages and read it to each other again. Then, they timed each student orally read the entire story. Wow, it was fun to read. There are lots of different ways to "say" those words (like R-r-r-r-o-a-r-r-r-r).

Kindergarten students loved listening to the text and carefully looking at each of the illustrations.
Three times, they begged, Please read it again? The teacher decided to record the book and let the students "read" the book while they listen to it at the Listening Center.

Well, Ann could have kept on telling me more ways a picturebook, especially this picturebook, can be used as an instructional tool; but, I finally said, I get it, I get it. The Angry Thunderstorm is a great story with wonderful illustrations, but when it helps kids become better readers, it is an instructional tool.

Recently I presented Top Ten Ways to Motivate Parents to Encourage Children to Read More! at the Tennessee Reading Summit in Murfreesboro, TN. During that session, I read The Angry Thunderstorm and talked about how parents and teachers can use this new children's book in a variety of ways.

It obviously calms children's fears and deepens their understanding about thunderstorms. The clever illustrations show the thunderstorm's true nature...and the text explains ways that thunderstorms help our world.

Writers (of all ages) are often able to more quickly refine their writing skills after seeing how an author personifies a subject in an amusing story. Both the text and illustrations of this book provide multiple examples of personification. One of the great things about picture books are the way snippets can be effectively used as springboards for further discussion.

It wasn't too long ago that a nasty tornado devestated parts of Murfreesboro, TN. Many of the conference participants talked about how timely this book will be to share with their children.

Consider making the opportunity to share this book with someone you love, or use it during writing instruction...even with Middle School students! It's the kind of book that many will find valuable...and for different reasons!

Teaching this Author a New Lesson

Our post today is a huge "shout out" to Ms. H and her fifth-grade students at Pond Springs Elementary School. For those of you who do not know Ms. H., she is my son's teacher. Ryan adores her and thinks that she is the best teacher ever. I happen to agree. Not only because she has helped Ryan improve his grades and test scores by leaps and bounds, but because she teaches more than reading, writing, science and math. She teaches integrity, respect and accountability - all those fine subjects that go into building great character - no matter how old you are.

Ryan has been waiting patiently to share the new book with Ms. H. Finally, we had the opportunity give her a copy of The Angry Thunderstorm. She was so excited and told me that she was going to read the book with her class. "Oh no," I said. "This book is for children ages two to eight," thinking that the fifth-graders would be much too advanced for the book. Much to my surprise, I was wrrr.... (can't seem to be spit it out) wrroo... (one more try) WRONG!

Ms. H led her students through a read aloud. Afterwards, the class talked about the literary language, especially the personification of the thundercloud. They discussed the main idea of the book and the message takeaway. They talked about concepting and why I might have decided to write this story. While her fifth-graders may have sat in her classroom, it was I who learned the lesson: Picture books are still very useful for upper grades - and enjoyable at any age.