Tanya Sousa's Blog - Posts Tagged "guidance-counseling"
Picture Books in the Classroom
Education in Pictures
I write picture books, among other things, and I’ve been passionate about them before I ever thought of writing one. I poured over them as a child, and I use them in my role of guidance counselor both in the classroom setting and when I meet with individuals. I use them because they reach people in more than one way. They are picture books, and it’s true what they say – that a picture is worth a thousand words.
When we get into the realm of educating children, we focus so much on the written words and spoken words. These are important, of course, but there are so many levels of communicating ideas and knowledge. Images are arguably one of the strongest tools and yet are seriously under appreciated and underused. Some studies have shown that children’s behavior choices will often be more influenced by cartoon images, for instance, than by watching a real event of the same thing (For instance the Bobo Doll Experiment in the 1960’s by Albert Bandura). Our brains think in images. We dream in images. With this in mind, let’s not forget the powerful educational tool those illustrations in children’s books can be.
This is the reason I’ve always loved illustrations that are detailed rather than the simpler forms that seem so popular these days. Don’t get me wrong, there’s wonderful entertainment in bright, simple artwork! However, there’s an extra level of knowledge and wonder in the more complex images. In Jan Brett’s book about Berlioz the Bear, the text gives information, but her beautiful paintings show subtleties of the behaviors and relationships. There is also information there in the depictions of architecture and environment. I’ve used her book to stimulate not only the idea of not giving up and of helping each other, but also to stimulate discussion on other cultures. The words to the book never really offer those layers, but thanks to paying close attention to the artwork, much more learning is possible than what appears at first glance.
All of my own picture books incorporate illustrations like this, and I worked collaboratively with the artists to make sure other shades of information would be passed along through those images. In Fairy Feast, for instance, the text talks about the importance of eating a rainbow of foods, but the images show the fairies treating each other and the other living things in the book kindly. Monique Bonneau’s paintings show things that are important to growing your own garden – rain, beneficial insects, and so forth. I didn’t have to mention all of those things in the text itself.
I encourage you to use picture books in your classroom at that deeper level if you don’t already. Have your students of all ages take time with the illustrations and discuss what they see going on there. They’ll relate to the words and concepts in a deeper, natural way.
I write picture books, among other things, and I’ve been passionate about them before I ever thought of writing one. I poured over them as a child, and I use them in my role of guidance counselor both in the classroom setting and when I meet with individuals. I use them because they reach people in more than one way. They are picture books, and it’s true what they say – that a picture is worth a thousand words.
When we get into the realm of educating children, we focus so much on the written words and spoken words. These are important, of course, but there are so many levels of communicating ideas and knowledge. Images are arguably one of the strongest tools and yet are seriously under appreciated and underused. Some studies have shown that children’s behavior choices will often be more influenced by cartoon images, for instance, than by watching a real event of the same thing (For instance the Bobo Doll Experiment in the 1960’s by Albert Bandura). Our brains think in images. We dream in images. With this in mind, let’s not forget the powerful educational tool those illustrations in children’s books can be.
This is the reason I’ve always loved illustrations that are detailed rather than the simpler forms that seem so popular these days. Don’t get me wrong, there’s wonderful entertainment in bright, simple artwork! However, there’s an extra level of knowledge and wonder in the more complex images. In Jan Brett’s book about Berlioz the Bear, the text gives information, but her beautiful paintings show subtleties of the behaviors and relationships. There is also information there in the depictions of architecture and environment. I’ve used her book to stimulate not only the idea of not giving up and of helping each other, but also to stimulate discussion on other cultures. The words to the book never really offer those layers, but thanks to paying close attention to the artwork, much more learning is possible than what appears at first glance.
All of my own picture books incorporate illustrations like this, and I worked collaboratively with the artists to make sure other shades of information would be passed along through those images. In Fairy Feast, for instance, the text talks about the importance of eating a rainbow of foods, but the images show the fairies treating each other and the other living things in the book kindly. Monique Bonneau’s paintings show things that are important to growing your own garden – rain, beneficial insects, and so forth. I didn’t have to mention all of those things in the text itself.
I encourage you to use picture books in your classroom at that deeper level if you don’t already. Have your students of all ages take time with the illustrations and discuss what they see going on there. They’ll relate to the words and concepts in a deeper, natural way.
Published on July 30, 2013 09:49
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Tags:
children, education, guidance-counseling, illustrations-as-tools, learning, literacy, picture-books