Picture Books and Graphics oh my!
The Book Fair is one of my favorite times of the year. OK, aside from being amongst the most exhausting... Why do I love it so? 2 main reasons: kids and parents.
KIDS:
There is nothing more fun than watching kids be excited about books- finding books, discovering books. I understand I do this every day. I cannot explain why it's different when the book fair is here except for the defining factor of...
PARENTS.
While in years past my discussions have mainly been about relaxing on pushing kids to read higher "levels" in whatever their definition is of that~ this year's have been different. (Previous post about book fair discussion on levels.)
Parent: I want them to read more than comic books.
Me: Why? Graphic novels have more depth than you give them credit for.
Parent: But it's just pictures..
Me: But pictures are key to the reading. Whereas in a traditional chapter book ~ you have descriptive language that requires decoding, in Graphic Novels you have pictures that need reading and interpreting. Simply reading the text does not tell the story- the pictures help your student to learn to infer and draw conclusions. All of these skills are crucial to understanding plot, character development, and setting. Key components they'll need later in learning.
Parent: I never thought of it like that.
And off we'd go to find great books. Of all kinds.... both of us amazed at what a simple conversation yields. After all, the goal in the end: create a reader our of their kid.
KIDS:
There is nothing more fun than watching kids be excited about books- finding books, discovering books. I understand I do this every day. I cannot explain why it's different when the book fair is here except for the defining factor of...
PARENTS.
While in years past my discussions have mainly been about relaxing on pushing kids to read higher "levels" in whatever their definition is of that~ this year's have been different. (Previous post about book fair discussion on levels.)
Parent: I want them to read more than comic books.
Me: Why? Graphic novels have more depth than you give them credit for.
Parent: But it's just pictures..
Me: But pictures are key to the reading. Whereas in a traditional chapter book ~ you have descriptive language that requires decoding, in Graphic Novels you have pictures that need reading and interpreting. Simply reading the text does not tell the story- the pictures help your student to learn to infer and draw conclusions. All of these skills are crucial to understanding plot, character development, and setting. Key components they'll need later in learning.
Parent: I never thought of it like that.
And off we'd go to find great books. Of all kinds.... both of us amazed at what a simple conversation yields. After all, the goal in the end: create a reader our of their kid.
Comments
Post a Comment