Many middle school teachers are skeptical of utilizing picture books in the upper-grade curriculum. While they have positive attitudes toward picture books in general, there can be hesitancy to add them to core curriculum. Taraneh M. Haghanikar, Associate Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Northern Iowa, shares four tips on how to integrate picture books into upper-level curriculum.
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Jaclyn DeForge, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching first and second grade in the South Bronx, and went on to become a literacy coach and earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been modeling how to do a close reading at several different grade levels. Next up: Close Reading in Third Grade using the O level text Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki and illustrated by Dom Lee.
One way to structure close reading questioning is to use the format laid out by the Institute for Learning of the University of Pittsburgh. Under their framework, students read the text selection four times: first, to get the gist; second, to find significant moments or ideas; third, to interpret the ideas in the text; and finally, to analyze the author’s methods (craft). Here’s an example of how to plan out your questions for close reading of just the first 8 pages of Baseball Saved Us:
This Sunday is Veterans Day, a national holiday to honor veterans, servicemen and servicewomen who fought or are currently fighting in armed services. Originally named ‘Armistice Day’ on its creation in 1919 by President Wilson, the day was dedicated to “the heroism of those who died in the country’s service” and celebrated the WWI victory which allowed America to bestow peace and justice to other nations. In the aftermath of World War II, which caused the largest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the history of the nation up until that point, and America’s participation in the Korean War, Congress amended the day to be called ‘Veterans Day’ on June 1, 1954. Veterans Day would fall annually on November 11th and be a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
