4 Literacy Skills to Teach With Picture Books

04 February 2016 / Leave a Comment
I have many tools in my literacy toolbox, but picture books are my absolute favorite to use. Picture books can teach so many different literacy skills in a quick and easy way.

Now for the 4 literacy skills!



So many books cover those early literacy skills.  Simply reading aloud to students gives them many of those skills, and those that cover skills such as rhyming, alphabet, and beginning sounds.  Some of the kindergarten students I work with struggle with rhyming, so I really love to use rhyming books with them.  Oh, A-Hunting We Will Go is a perfect book to use with them.  They love to try to guess the next rhyme and laugh at the ones in the book.



With older students, I love to use picture books to help them understand complex comprehension skills.  Many picture books have tough concepts to understand and can be used in many different ways.  Most books, like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, are great for sequencing since they have a great story.  Curious George books are perfect for teaching cause and effect relationships. Jan Brett books make it easy for students to make predictions with the pictures. There are so many other great skills to cover with good picture books.


Many pictures books have complex vocabulary words in them. Books like Fancy Nancy even make it easy to figure out what the different words mean.  Nancy is always using big words for simple words, making it perfect for learning new words.  Amelia Bedelia books are perfect for working with figurative language.  They are full of idioms and multiple-meaning words that really get kids thinking.



All books are perfect for helping students with writing. The more students read, the better writers they will become.  Many books are perfect for modeling writing styles, and students can use them to help them become stronger writers.

Never underestimate the power of a good picture book! They hold the key to so many literacy skills and can many times cover more than one skill.  Definitely more bang for your buck!

Each Thursday on my blog, I post about a book and give ideas for how it can be used in your classroom. Today I am highlighting one of the books in the picture above.  Stop by my blog, Reading Toward the Stars, to see how you can use it in your classroom!





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