Picture books are delightful. I can’t get enough of them (which proves that there is no age limit for enjoying picture books). Once a month, during the school year, I am going to pull together some picture books available on SORA that are just a delight to read. I encourage you to share them with your students. You never know what conversations might be sparked, and what insights might be found.
Enjoy!
Many educators (including myself) will advocate that no students are too old for picture books. Picture books, as shared by Jill Davidson in an earlier Margin Notes post, Picture Books in Gr
ades 6-12,
“…make excellent mentor texts to use in mini-lessons or to demonstrate writing techniques since you can read them more than once in a short amount of time. They can be used to develop background knowledge about a concept or topic or for quick writes and writer’s notebook responses. Picture books can invite dialogue about tough topics and complex ideas. Most importantly, though, they bring students together into a shared experience that invites everyone in the reading community to celebrate beautiful words and images.”
Daddy Speaks Love by Leah Henderson is just one of these books that will provide teachers a segue to discussing difficult topics, the sharing of ideas and opportunities for critical thinking. Motivated by the death of George Floyd during the summer of 2020 and the statement by his then six-year-old daughter that, “Daddy changed the world”, Henderson explores the relationship that fathers or father figures play in the lives of their children. Love, support, and guidance are all explored in the text, as is unfairness and injustice. The illustrations by E. B. Lewis will also provide teachers with opportunities to explore critical thinking activities, such as, “What does this picture say? What does it not say.”
Henderson’s words and Lewis’ illustrations provide a powerful and timely reflection on the state of social justice issues facing much of the world in 2022. To learn more about this book and other powerful picture books check out our K-12 Virtual Books shelves on our ASD-W Margin Notes K-12 Literacy sharepoint.
Ernesto Cisneros’ debut novel, Efren Divided, is a must have for all middle level classroom libraries. This powerful and moving, but often humorous story of undocumented immigrants in California sheds important light on the hardships faced by individuals striving to provide a better life for their children. Through the eyes of Efren Nava, the oldest son, Cisneros paints a vivid picture of Efren’s life in middle school with his best friend, David, and in the poor working-class neighborhood.
As the oldest son of the Navas, undocumented Mexican immigrants, Efren accepts and understands why his parents need to work as hard as they do to provide for himself and his twin siblings, Max, and Mia. He knows they do not have the resources to provide a great deal, but he is never hungry, and his mother’s love and affection is never in question.
It is against this backdrop that Efren must find the strength and resiliency to grow up much faster than either his Ama (mother) or Apa (father) wanted and when Ama fails to return home one day, the family eventually learns that she has been deported. This news sets in motion a chain of events that requires Efren to put family first, school second and embark on a dangerous journey in the hopes of reuniting his family.
Efren Divided is a heartbreakingly realistic depiction of life for many immigrant families. I shed many tears as Efren shared his story and hope that Cisneros will soon provide the next chapter in Efren’s life.
Read-Alouds are a powerful, and we believe essential, component to building an engaged and empowered community of readers in the literacy classroom. Frank Seragini and Suzette Serafini-Youngs say it best in their professional resource Around the Reading Workshop in 180 Days:
“What occurs during reading aloud and discussing literature affects how individuals transact with texts independently. How literature is discussed during the read-aloud provides the most concrete demonstration of the ways we want students to read and think on their own and in small groups. If things don’t happen during whole-group instructions, why would we expect them to happen when we send students off on their own to read?”
When we are reading aloud, we want our students to be engaged and captivated. Anne Elliott and Mary Lynch, in their book Cultivating Readers, discuss the ways students are drawn in by a read-aloud: “Students need to hear and see a reader who reads with great pace, tone, phrasing, expression, and intonation.” They also explore the many purposes a read aloud can have in our classrooms:
• Exposure to different genres
• Reading for enjoyment
• As a mentor text for writing
• For making thinking visible
• As opportunities for dialogue and discussion about rich text and topics
• As fuel for higher-order thinking questions
Knowing our purpose, selecting quality texts, planning how the read-aloud will benefit the readers in front of us, and responding to the “teachable moments” that arise during the authentic discussions all work together in creating a community of readers in our classrooms.
When selecting a read-aloud for your classroom, keep in mind all of the rich, quality types of text that are available aside from an engaging full-length novel:
• Sections from novels
• Non-fiction
• Poetry
• Short stories
• Images
• Articles
• Videos
• Comics
• Infographics
• Artwork
• Picture Books
To help you get started in exploring options for read-alouds in your classroom, we put together this Read-Aloud Padlet of resources that includes a variety of texts you might consider. If you are interested in learning more about how read-alouds can contribute to growing an engaged community of readers in your classroom, we suggest checking out the following:
Article: “The Power and Promise of Read-Alouds and Independent Reading” by The International Literacy Association
Blog Post: “Never too old: Reading aloud to independent readers” by Donalyn Miler
Blog Post: “Reading Books Aloud – Teaching Readers, Knitting Hearts” by Valinda Kimmel
Podcast: “Why Read Aloud Matters” with Rebecca Bellingham
Podcast: “A Novel-Approach Read Aloud” with Kate Roberts
As always, if you are looking for support or want to chat further about how to use read-alouds in your classroom, please send us an email!
Every locked door has a key. These words have stayed with Emika Chen since the moment her father said them. Ever since his death, she has been dealing with debt and struggling to make ends meet. The story begins with Emika, bounty hunter and hacker, mere days before eviction, hunting down petty criminals in the hopes of scoring some extra cash.
When she is not hunting criminals, Emika, along with the rest of the world, spends her time escaping reality and living in Warcross – a virtual world created by 21-year-old tech mogul, Hideo Tanaka. On the opening night of the annual Warcross Tournament, Emika decides to hack into the game and attempt to steal a power-up in an effort to one day sell it for real cash. This starts her on an exciting adventure, beyond her wildest dreams.
In the notes about the author, it mentions that Marie Lu was previously an artist in the video game industry and this comes across in every paragraph of Warcross. Her ability to paint a colourful dystopian future is matched by few other authors and the opportunities to apply this to lessons on descriptive writing are endless. Despite many claiming this is Ready Player One meets The Hunger Games, Marie Lu has managed to create something both unique and like Warcross itself, addictive.
I am already using this book as a read-aloud to grade 7’s and 8’s and they are begging for me to keep reading every single day. Whether you are a fan of action/adventure, video games, or incredible world-building, there is something in Warcross for just about everyone. Many students in middle and high school will be pleased to have this on the class bookshelf or used as a read-aloud but, of course, you know your students best.
My name is Devin McLaughlin and I am a middle school Language Arts teacher at Harold Peterson Middle School in Oromocto, NB. I love reading and my favourite aspect of teaching is introducing students to new and exciting books and seeing their reactions as they make their way through them.
A bad fall has left eighth-grade Chase Ambrose with amnesia. He can’t remember anything about his life before the accident. As he slowly pieces together clues about his life, Chase realizes that he was a star athlete, team captain, and a bully. He is horrified to discover that people are afraid of him. As he becomes reacquainted with his two best friends, Chase wonders what they ever had in common.
Sidelined from the football field by his concussion, Chase begins spending time making videos with one of his former targets, Brendan Espinoza. He joins the video club and finds himself facing the wrath of Shoshanna Webber, whose twin brother was so victimized by Chase and his friends that he left home to attend music school.