Wow....what a lot of great responses I had to this Target! Thanks to all who took
the time to share ideas. I'm sorry if I missed anyone. I truly appreciate
everyone's help! There are about 25 responses...if this idea interests you, be sure
to read through all of them. There are a lot of good ideas! Thanks to many of the
suggestions, I'm giving it a try! Here is my original post and the responses:
ORIGINAL POST:
I'm looking to rely on your collective library experience. How do you "read" a
wordless picture book to children? I've always stayed away from sharing them with
a group of students because I wasn't sure how much to talk about the pictures, when
to explain what's going on or just be quiet and let them look at the illustrations.
I feel with the newest Caldecott winning book, Flotsam, I have to face my fears
and go for it! I'd love some hints, tips and suggestions on how to share a
wordless picture book...especially Flotsam. I'll post a HIT if anyone else is
interested. Thanks!
RESPONSES:
When I do David Wiesner's Tuesday with first grade, I explain
first that this book has almost no words and that we will be trying to
figure out the story by looking at the pictures -- that we will be
reading the pictures. I also tell them that there will be some jokes in
the pictures to look for. As I turn the pages I ask the students what
is happening on the page. How did they know that? I may direct their
attention to a joke (the frog flying out the leg of the longjohns on the
clothes line) or ask them to look at a character's face and tell me what
they think the character is thinking (such as the man in his pajamas
eating a late night snack in his kitchen.)
The children love "reading" this book and have a great time
taking out the other wordless picture books I put on display.
-----------------
I am doing my evaluation lesson with book "Flotsam". I started by "reading"
Tomie DePaola's book "Pancakes for Breakfast". I slowly turned the pages
and used my facial expressions to give clues. I also "read" "Tuesday" by
Weisner. During the book, the kids told each other what they thought was
happening. Before I "read" "Flotsam" I got out my story bag and put a
seashell, a camera, a glass fish, and a magnifying glass in it. As each
item was pulled out, we discussed what it might have to do with the story.
Next, I "read" the book. Finally, we went through the items that were in
the story bag and reviewed what they had to do with the story. I did this
lesson with first graders and they really got it.
-----------------
Some years back, I had a group of kindergartners write a story to go along
with one of the "Carl" books by Day. Carl is such a great dog! The kids
each took a page and wrote about the activity going on, adding to what had
already been written by the kids previously. (actually, if memory
serves....they told me and I did the writing) Obviously each group of kids
will come up with a new scenario. What fun!
-------------------
I have the Carl books by Alexandra Day in my library and I use one of
them each year with first. I show them the pictures and let them tell
the story. I make them look at each picture before they speak. They
really enjoy it and it's simple.
--------------------
Yes, often.
First you have to red the book, once, twice, three times whatever it takes to see
the pictures and gain an understanding of what the artist/illustrator is trying to
do. For me that includes the blurbs. On the back of Flotsam there is a picture of
the author, or one of his children looking very much like the boy in the story,
with a camera in hand on the beach.
Then, I try to figure out how to read the pages: vertically, picture block by
block within the illustration of the page. Actually, Molly Bang's book on the art
of seeing was very helpful, as was Lyn Lacy's old book (ALA) about art design of
the Caldecott's. They have proved invaluable for other pictue books as. well.
When I use the book with classes I tell them their minds will be making up the
story so they have to pay very close attention to the pictures.
----------------
The trick is to ask them what is going on, what do they see and guide
the discussion. Include aspects about how the illustrations work to
guide the reader. Depending on the level of the audience will affect the
depth of the discussion. The kids will amaze you.
------------------
I remember sharing The Red Book right after it got a
Caldecott honor. I showed the pictures to the kids and
asked them to tell me what was happening. They loved
that book!
With other wordless books, I told the kindergarten and
pre-K kids "today you are going to read some books to
ME" and they definitely enjoyed that concept.
-------------------
I share all the Weisner books with my second graders for our Caldecott unit.
We sit close. I show each page, asking questions that help them interpret
the pictures, pointing out details. Such as in Tuesday - What is happening
to the frog? How does he feel about it? Where are they going now? Does
the old lady know they are there? Look, one frog has the remote and is
using his tongue to push the buttons. They love that and Sector 7. It is a
very interactive experience. They were so excited to hear that he won again.
I can't wait to share it this week.
One teacher has them write the words for wordless books.
------------
explain ahead of time how "cool" wordless picture books are because 30 different
people can see 30 different things and that you must be "silent" as I go through
the pages so as not to interfere with any one else's thoughts. About every 4 pages
I ask a question. I am very animated when I explain how you MUST be silent or
(wordless). Quiet giggles are ok. In the case of FLOTSAM I want to be sure they
knew it was an underwater camera or they would miss the point of the book.
Be brave- you can do it-It's a whole new way of sharing books! I love it although
I was a little fearful at first.
-------------
I was never one to do this either but with Flotsam we had some fun making
predictions (big test skill) and the students were so fascinated by the concept of
the picture within the picture within the picture that they did most of the
talking. I just let them roll with it and we had a great story time.
--------------
I shared with first graders all 3 of Wiesner's Caldecott winners. I
discussed that he his books are fantasy. In Flotsam, it doesn't look like
fantasy at the beginning. We talk about setting, what the boy in the
picture is doing. I guide them through the book, adlibbing. I point out
things in the illustrations that I want them to notice. Believe me, they
speak up with very little prodding. They also laughed a lot. For example,
in Tuesday, I like when the frog uses his tongue to change the channel on
the remote, so I make sure to point it out. The Three Pigs has more words
and is easier to "read". I don't really like Flotsam, so that was my least
favorite to show. I feel it's a bit complicated and just not my tastes.
---------------
I recently did a really fun lesson with my kindergarten classes using Barbara
Lehman's The Red Book and David Weisner's Tuesday. I explained that each book had
been recognized for having great illustrations (we've been talking about the
Caldecott) and quickly paged through both, then asked what the class saw that was
"missing" from these books. They all got it very quickly. I then introduced each
book as I usually would, showing the cover, endpapers and title page, then
explained that we would be telling the story of these books together. I modeled
with first page of the first book (usually Tuesday because the story is a little
simpler to tell) and started with "Once upon a time, a turtle was sitting on a log
in a pond, minding his own business. He looked up and all of a sudden..." Each
student has a turn to come up and tell the story of what happened on one page. I
read any words that were included (Tuesday has a few). I prompt them occasionally
if they've missed anything really important or I want them to notice something in
particular. They often find things I hadn't noticed! We did both books and then
drew wordless stories on manila paper folded in half. This lesson worked well,
even for the shyest kids. Let me know if I can help you further!
----------------
Depending upon the age of the kids, could you let them tell the story?
Perhaps share it using a document camera and have them share or write about
the pictures. It might take more than one lesson.
------------------
For my 5th graders I did a lesson on alternate story telling methods. I sometimes
use Power Point or PhotoStory and project these using a digital projector on a
screen. I'm sure there are copyright issues if I share those with you, but here
are some of my Book Talks/LRC Lessons
Uncommon Storytelling Methods
Book Talk
àStories in Pictures - Flotsam by Wiesner, Tuesday by Wiesner, Zoom or Re-Zoom by
Banyai, etc...
àStories in Letters, Memos, and Advertisements
* Use power point on different books and visit web site at end
* http://kateandsarahklise.com/
àStories told Aloud - slowly becoming a lost art...
* Tell one of Joseph Bruchac's native American stories aloud
Read Once Upon a Time, the End (asleep in 60 seconds)
àFollow up discussion on details and what's missing
àWhy would a father do this to his son/daughter?
àDo you think the child might have gone to sleep quicker if the story was longer?
OR
Read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
àUse PowerPoint for picture part and read aloud words
àHow is this a different way of typical story telling?
Hope it helps,
Josh Mika
LRC Director
Beebe Elementary
Naperville, IL
------------------
I have "read" wordless books to children by simply showing the
illustrations.
Instead of telling the story, I pair students and ask them to take turns
whispering their telling of alternate pages to each other.
After the students have shared, I review the book and we conduct a group
retelling. (You can do this during the first read if the book is complex or
students need more support.)
-------------------
I kind of "set the scene" and then just show the
pictures. I tell the kids that each one of them will
have their own story so they should look in silence. I
will occasionally point to a particluar spot after
giving kids time to look for themselves.
Sometimes at the end we will talk about the book,
sometimes not. I just close the book, repeat the
title, author and illustrator (as I do with all books)
and then go on.
Definitely leave it out for them to look at on their
own.
-------------------
I shared this book with all grade levels after doing a Caldecott unit. First few
classes I tried my new document camera - everyone got dizzy and I gave up on that.
Then I tried it without talking and only a few got it (fifth grade!!!!) Then
because I had listened to his interviews about the book - then what seemed most
successful with students was to talk as little as possible - but share some things.
I did explain the camera - told them he said the film held only 8 pictures.
http://thefishknowthesecret.com/logs/2006/08/question_25.html (The other Flotsam
logs are good too)
I explained the last picture because the first few classes didn't "get it" - about
taking a picture holding a picture and back in time doing that - then talked how he
used the magnifying glass, then microscope (most of our younger students don't
have the background knowledge to understand the microscope and 8x, 32x etc or the
clothing showing back in time) I also said something like, then he did something
that surprised me - threw the camera back in the ocean with only the one picture on
the new film - and the next pictures you see are photos he will never see
I first used the video from TeachingBooks to introduce him and his process.
-------------------
I've always approached wordless books dependent upon the group. If I am in a small
group, I usually have the students tell the story and talk about beginning, middle,
end. If I am with a larger group, I sometimes tell the story I see and then have
them share what they see if it is a Kindergarten group. For students who are more
savvy I remind them about how the pictures can sometimes tell more than one story
and we make up a story based on what is going on in the pictures--the ones that
tell the intended story and the ones that tell the sub-stories.
Because I have story cards (picture cut from old trade catalogs glued to
construction paper cards and laminated) that they use to make up stories at the
activity table, this is nothing new to them. We talk about facial expressions, etc.
If the group is ready for it, we talk about the book in terms of art--technique,
line, color, etc.
I think it would be fun to do a "reading" with a group that is past the picture
book stage to see what kinds of ideas they have.
---------------------
Try showing the book to music... with Floatsam perhaps some ocean sounds?
-------------------
I love to use wordless picture books with beginning readers. It teaches them to
use picture clues when reading a text. When I read a wordless picture book with
students, I ask them to "read the pictures". I call on different students to
explain/interpret what is happening on each page. I teach my students that there
are different ways to read and that everyone can read pictures! After a class is
comfortable with this process or as they get older, we will read wordless books
without anyone's interpretation, pausing long enough on each page for students to
understand what is happening in the story.
--------------------
I've done wordless books a couple of ways:
For Flotsam I just showed the book and we "walked and talked" through the story.
The kids picked up on nuances from the pictures. I guided them on a couple, but
they quickly caught on and I honestly found something new each time we went through
it. The kids were mesmerized by this book.
Other times (and I'm not sure this is copyright ok) I've taken digital photographs
and done a book in power point so that I could zoom in on details. I put the book
out for check out following the lesson and it is circulated widely.
------------------------
I just did that very thing last week, first for three
1st grade classes at the small school I'm doing my
student librarianship at and once for my storytelling
class. It's attached so take a listen if you like.
You'll have to have Qualcomm PureVoice to listen and
it's a free download.
Anyway, think of the task like this; How can you be
wrong? I told it one way, you may tell it another. I
made sure to help the kids understand that since the
book doesn't have words what I was sharing with them
was just my version, but the neat thing is you can
have a version too and that's just fine, I think
that's the way the author/illustrator wanted it,
otherwise he would have used words! In other words,
you can't go wrong when it's left up to your
interpretation, own it and tell it!
-----------------------
I feel your pain. It is tough. I don't share them often. I did share
Flotsam K - 8 after it won the Caldecott and the kids loved it. I also
shared The Red Book when that won the Newbery Honor a year or two back.
My Friend Rabbit is nearly wordless and all the kids adored that as
well.
I don't know if I do it particularly well, but I do explain that it is
wordless and do a combo of describing the pictures/ action or eliciting
audience description of the pictures. With Flotsam, I started with the
cover. I showed the wraparound picture and asked what they saw. Most
noted the camera in the fish's eye but didn't know what it was- they
thought it was money. One or two students said that it looked like a
camera. There was this great aha moment when we got to the picture of
the camera washed up on the beach.
I had a funny aha moment about halfway through the week. When I first
read the book, I thought the beach looked a lot like Long Beach Island
on the Jersey shore. Then I chided myself for being so Jersey-centric.
But darned if about halfway through the week, I happened to look
sideways at an early illustration and noted a beach badge on a beach
bag and it said LBI!!!!
I had another funny moment with the kids. After they realized that the
green thing was a camera. I tried to explain the joke on the cover
about the fish eye. When I got a lot of blank looks, I realized that
our little millenials don't know about single lens reflex cameras and
all the different lenses-fish eye lens being one of them. When I
explained it, one little guy who has a camera mounted on his mac and
photobooth. said, "oh! That's what fish eye is!" Ah- never a dull
moment.
We also had fun with the allusions. The pic. of the octopus family
reminded me of the Beatles' Octopus' Garden. The starfish reminded me
of the Star Wars fighters that were featured in one of the early Star
Wars films, but one kid thought they looked like dinosaurs and one kid
thought they looked like they were doing aerobics. And then there's the
allusion of the painting, "The Wave."
So go for it and have a ton of fun. I did.
----------------------------
Often times with wordless books, I keep it simple. I've done Tuesday by
David Weisner and I'll say things like, "Look careful at this next picture
for what the frogs do next?" or I'll say, "I have a favorite part in this
picture, see if you can find the "Superfrog"? Sometimes, I do just let the
picture speak for its self. I think keeping it simple is the idea with
wordless picture books. Hope that helps.
---------------------------
Susan Hanlon
K-4 Librarian
Northwestern Elementary School
6493 Route 309
New Tripoli, PA 18066
hanlons@nwlehighsd.org
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