Picture books are a highly undervalued teaching resource, with many teachers leaving them to the early years teachers. However, having taught all grades, I can let you into a secret - picture books are powerful!
Nothing tells a story quicker than a picture book, because pictures DO speak louder than words. Facial expressions, colour and paint techniques, shades of light and dark - all of these things can be expressed to students through good quality picture books. By exploring communication through not just words but pictures, students develop a deeper understanding of text structures. They can also build their visual comprehension skills, which are vital for all subjects throughout their school years.
I want to show you 4 books by the wonderful Australian author Jackie French, each one a visual feast on the raw emotion a natural disaster can have on a community.
I have used these picture books for teaching English (visual and reading comprehension), Visual Arts (the use of colour and line to express meaning), Science (exploring natural disasters) and HASS (seasons weather patterns and their impact on the landscape).
Beautiful illustrations compliment this book so well. Bruce Whatley really captures the feeling of a real fire. Perfect for discussing the use of colour and tone to give the impression of heat.
Raw emotions are captured well. Great for a discussion about body language. What are they feeling and why? How do they know what? Encourage students to look deeper and explore the visual imagery as evidence to support their statements.
How do you show something is drenched in water? What does it feel like to be in a flood? What are the people in the flood feeling? What are the colours of a flood? The images evoke a powerful imagery of what is it like to live through a flood.
Brisbane teachers may want to pull up videos of the huge Brisbane flood of 2011 and watch some videos of the Mud Army (who helped clean up). You don't always need to focus on the negative of a natural disaster, these things actually bring people together and it's important to show students both sides of a natural disaster.
A cyclone is a terrifying experience and one that can be difficult to discuss with very young students. However, these are life experiences some of them may have already discussed with family members. Find out what they know about cyclones before discussing them. Great for older students, this book shows the emotional impact of a cyclone on families but isn't too graphic. Students often explore the scientific reasons for cyclones but talking through a book like this helps students explore the multidimensional aspects to natural disasters. Who is affected and why? How can they prepare themselves for next time?
As Australia is experiencing another drought filled year, how does the drought impact on your students? This text would tie in so beautifully with any study on where food comes from. Where do your students get their food from and how will the drought impact on their food choices? Why is it important to help the farmers?
In addition to exploring some big newsworthy topics, this text has the most endearing illustrations. The emotion on this farmer's face is full of worry, sorrow and anxiety. Drawing dry/arid objects is also another challenge so worth using topical book studies to tie in with any Science study of the properties of objects as well.
I just love these text from Jackie French and Bruce Whatley, they are so versatile for primary classrooms. How do you use yours?
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