Picture books are such an enjoyable avenue for teaching fiction and nonfiction writing. After attending Pernille Ripp's session on the power of picture books for all grade levels at #NerdCampMI, I realized that as a high school teacher, I, too, can use picture books meaningfully to teach my students. Tone and irony are tough to teach in isolation, but if we want our students to write clever and original stories, they’ll need to appreciate and practice how these skills are executed. Below is a list of picture books that my kids enjoyed thoroughly this year, and that I believe could be used to coach writers and use as examples. Happy reading and writing!
I Wanna Iguana by Karen Orloff. Great for teaching: argument, letter writing, point of view.
Meet the Dullards by Sara Pennypacker. Great for teaching: point of view, irony, tone.
Where Are My Books? by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Great for teaching: story mountain, irony, foreshadowing.
Snapsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book!) by Julie Falatko. Great for teaching: point of view, tone.
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett. Great for teaching: writing process, revision, point of view, irony.
Dylan the Villain by K.G. Campbell. Great for teaching: point of view, suspension of disbelief, irony.
Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big by Chris Paul. Great for teaching: process analysis, point of view
Manners Are Not for Monkeys! by Heather Tekavec. Great for teaching: irony, point of view, suspension of disbelief.
How to Clean Your Room in 10 Easy Steps by Jennifer LaRue Huget. Great for teaching: process analysis, irony, point of view
Counting Lions: Portraits from the Wild by Katie Cotton. Great for teaching: repetition, description, research.
For the past few years I have included a lot of descriptions following each picture book. Sorry that I couldn't do that this year, but I have a good excuse! I'm trying to manage the reading lives of four very different kids, each of whom has very distinct tastes and preferences. I love #PB10for10 and did not want to miss the chance to contribute, so I hope my rare brevity can be excused :-)
This is an awesome list! I love Battle Bunny, Snappsy the Alligator, and Where Are My Books! You've got several others that I've added to my To Read list. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: JanaTheTeacher | 08/10/2016 at 06:35 PM
I'm so glad you joined us again this year. I love the titles that you have selected for your post. There are several that I haven't read including Dylan the Villain and Manners Are Not for Monkeys. They're going to the top of my list.
Thanks for sharing,
Cathy
Posted by: Reflectandrefine.blogspot.com | 08/10/2016 at 07:29 PM