Using Picture Books to Teach Writing

  

Every month, I've been sharing our favorite picture books. While the ones I'm sharing are better for little ones, I want to remind all the teachers and home educators that children's books are PERFECT for writing mini-lessons. 

Let your students enjoy listening to an engaging read-aloud before diving into a quick mini-lesson of "notice & note" beautiful words/phrases/figurative language. Soak up those perfectly worded sensory details, or the way the illustrator conveyed ideas beyond the scope of the words. Let your students try their hand at painting a picture with words and then invite them to add an illustration. 

These quick mini-lessons are what improve a student's writing significantly. Children learn best from "mentor" authors and quick, little lessons that they can try out for themselves. 

So, I invite you to select a story from one of our monthly book lists, find a sentence with beautiful language, and draw your students' attention to the style or structure of the words. Invite your students to use the example to spark their own creativity! Let them mimic the style or structure, while still making it their own!