The Presence of Visual Literacy in Preschool Through the Whole Book Approach

Shae Crosby

Introduction

How do images and the way that a book is put together effect how a child learns? Does engagement in the book offer a better understanding of the story? These were questions that we had and wanted to solve. We decided to step into two different preschool classrooms, with the majority of students not being able to read yet, and interact with them during story time. We incorporated picture books with words, and some without words.

Background

It was our intent to use the whole book approach during our read aloud times. The whole book approach is an interactive way of storytelling that enables the reader to read with the children, not to the children. In addition, it is crucial to utilize all aspects of the book to enhance the story. This includes visually picking apart all of the author and illustrators intentions, keeping in mind the cover, spine, end papers, font, etc. These kinds of things are especially important in the wordless picture books, because so much of the story is told just with our eyes, there are no words to listen to. No words, however, leads to the allowance of many other benefits.

Benefits of Wordless Picture Books

• Allow the reader and audience to draw their own conclusions
• Encourages the reader to pay extra attention to every aspect of the visual
• Promotes creativity
• Allows children to start “reading” earlier and become interested in books earlier
• Students begin to draw predictions

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Abstract

Preschool students everywhere can all attest to the fact that they love story time, and that it is a crucial part of the early childhood experience. The problem with the current, traditional story time, is that it does not allow students to interact with the story being read, and therefore does not promote reading comprehension in preschool students. Typically, read alouds are a passive activity that don’t encourage engagement. The whole book approach is what is going to change this. This approach is a way of incorporating the book structure to allow students to interact with the story. When a child has the ability to be hands on, they are much more in tune to the story and will inevitably understand it better. Reading ability is one skill in of itself, but with reading effectively comes a need to be able to understand the story. Through pictures, children have more clues to help them break down the story and have a better comprehension.

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Whole Book Approach Enhances Reading Comprehension

When the whole book is introduced and applied, there is much greater understanding of the story. This is because there is so many hints that authors and illustrators leave in the book that are often overlooked. Engaging the audience during the whole book approach gives the opportunity to direct the children towards identifying these hints. Interaction with children keeps attention on the book, and encourages children to want to pay attention, therefore enhancing their comprehension of the material.

Wordless Picture Books Enhance Reading Comprehension

In wordless picture books, there is no text, so all of the story has to come from the interpretation of the visuals. When a child has to look at a visual so intently as to create a story, they are being forced to comprehend the story. This comprehension is stemming from their own imagination and use of context clues. The nice thing about wordless picture books, however, is that there is no right or wrong answer to what exactly is happening in the story. This allows comprehension in these cases to be much more broad and lenient.

Process

Each week, we would both pick out a book with a similar theme, and have our own plan for how we were going to present the story, using the whole book approach. We would read to the first class one week, then do the same presentation the next week to the other preschool class. Once we felt that we had a pretty good rapport with the students in the class, and knew their listening skills, we incorporated a wordless picture book. However, only one of us would read a wordless, while the other read a book with words. This way, the children weren’t too overwhelmed with the lack of words at story time. One week I would read the wordless, the next week she would. Our read alouds consisted of guided story retelling and predictions.

Personal Reflection

What an experience it was to work hands on with these two sets of preschool classes. Seeing their energy and excitement every time that Patrick, Katelyn, and I walked in the door was so rewarding in itself, it really reassured me that teaching is what I want to do for the rest of my life. It is so cool to see how outspoken or introverted certain students are, but watching them become overwhelmed with confidence when it is a topic that they like or are familiar with. Watching a research study first hand gives so much more reassurance than just reading about the facts and having really no choice but to believe what the studies say. This was an awesome experience that I was so lucky to have been apart of.

Conclusion

Through the experiment of utilizing the whole book approach in wordless and regular picture books, I found all research done before me to be proven true. Incorporating the whole book approach encourages students to want to participate and be much more attentive to not only the story, but all of the aspects of a book that the whole book approach represents. When students were asked questions and were interactive, they were much more inclined to respond to the questions and be more attentive to the story and the visual aspects of the book. When interest arose in the student’s minds, they also did a really nice job of remembering what parts of the book are called (spine, cover, etc.) and were able to help with story fluidity.

Bibliography

• Lambert, M. D. (2015). Reading picture books with children: how to shake up storytime and get kids talking about what they see. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
• Jalongo, M. R., & Ribblett, D. M. (1997). Using Song Picture Books to Support Emergent Literacy. Childhood Education,74(1), 15-22. doi:10.1080/00094056.1997.10521908
• Weeks, E. (n.d.). The power of pictures: the role of picture books in the development of young learners (Doctoral dissertation) [Abstract].
• Visual Literacy: Using Images to Increase Comprehension[Brochure]. (n.d.).
• Read, D., & Smith, H. (1982). Teaching Visual Literacy through Wordless Picture Books. The Reading Teacher, 35(8), 928-933. Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.ksclib.keene.edu/stable/20198128
• Goldstone, B. (1989). Visual Interpretation of Children's Books. The Reading Teacher, 42(8), 592-595. Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.ksclib.keene.edu/stable/20200239

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The Presence of Visual Literacy in Preschool Through the Whole Book Approach

Introduction

How do images and the way that a book is put together effect how a child learns? Does engagement in the book offer a better understanding of the story? These were questions that we had and wanted to solve. We decided to step into two different preschool classrooms, with the majority of students not being able to read yet, and interact with them during story time. We incorporated picture books with words, and some without words.

Background

It was our intent to use the whole book approach during our read aloud times. The whole book approach is an interactive way of storytelling that enables the reader to read with the children, not to the children. In addition, it is crucial to utilize all aspects of the book to enhance the story. This includes visually picking apart all of the author and illustrators intentions, keeping in mind the cover, spine, end papers, font, etc. These kinds of things are especially important in the wordless picture books, because so much of the story is told just with our eyes, there are no words to listen to. No words, however, leads to the allowance of many other benefits.

Benefits of Wordless Picture Books

• Allow the reader and audience to draw their own conclusions
• Encourages the reader to pay extra attention to every aspect of the visual
• Promotes creativity
• Allows children to start “reading” earlier and become interested in books earlier
• Students begin to draw predictions

Abstract

Preschool students everywhere can all attest to the fact that they love story time, and that it is a crucial part of the early childhood experience. The problem with the current, traditional story time, is that it does not allow students to interact with the story being read, and therefore does not promote reading comprehension in preschool students. Typically, read alouds are a passive activity that don’t encourage engagement. The whole book approach is what is going to change this. This approach is a way of incorporating the book structure to allow students to interact with the story. When a child has the ability to be hands on, they are much more in tune to the story and will inevitably understand it better. Reading ability is one skill in of itself, but with reading effectively comes a need to be able to understand the story. Through pictures, children have more clues to help them break down the story and have a better comprehension.

Wordless Picture Book and Whole Book Approach Enhancing Reading Comprehension

When the whole book is introduced and applied, there is much greater understanding of the story. This is because there is so many hints that authors and illustrators leave in the book that are often overlooked. Engaging the audience during the whole book approach gives the opportunity to direct the children towards identifying these hints. Interaction with children keeps attention on the book, and encourages children to want to pay attention, therefore enhancing their comprehension of the material. In wordless picture books, there is no text, so all of the story has to come from the interpretation of the visuals. When a child has to look at a visual so intently as to create a story, they are being forced to comprehend the story. This comprehension is stemming from their own imagination and use of context clues. The nice thing about wordless picture books, however, is that there is no right or wrong answer to what exactly is happening in the story. This allows comprehension in these cases to be much more broad and lenient.

Process

Each week, we would both pick out a book with a similar theme, and have our own plan for how we were going to present the story, using the whole book approach. We would read to the first class one week, then do the same presentation the next week to the other preschool class. Once we felt that we had a pretty good rapport with the students in the class, and knew their listening skills, we incorporated a wordless picture book. However, only one of us would read a wordless, while the other read a book with words. This way, the children weren’t too overwhelmed with the lack of words at story time. One week I would read the wordless, the next week she would. Our read alouds consisted of guided story retelling and predictions.

Conclusion

Through the experiment of utilizing the whole book approach in wordless and regular picture books, I found all research done before me to be proven true. Incorporating the whole book approach encourages students to want to participate and be much more attentive to not only the story, but all of the aspects of a book that the whole book approach represents. When students were asked questions and were interactive, they were much more inclined to respond to the questions and be more attentive to the story and the visual aspects of the book. When interest arose in the student’s minds, they also did a really nice job of remembering what parts of the book are called (spine, cover, etc.) and were able to help with story fluidity.

Picture of me reading that I don’t have ☺