by Alexa Gutter
Introduction
At a time when reading scores are at historic lows, middle and high school educators may look to increasing rigor with texts that are complex and dense, or actively teaching to state tests. Perhaps it’s a self defeating prophecy: these methods rob the joy from reading, which further discourages students from becoming avid readers. Deborah Dean presents a surprising alternative for the secondary classroom: the picturebook. While this may seem counterintuitive for teachers who are trying to raise the bar, Dean successfully proves through research and narrative that picture books can engage all learners and add a layer of interest to ELA instruction that makes learning stick. Dean, a long time educator at both the secondary level as well as university, has used picturebooks in her teaching practice for most of her career. From this position of expertise, she details learning strategies, tools for engagement, curated book recommendations, and techniques for implementation.
Structure and Organization
Power in Pictures is separated into nine chapters, each with a different focus. While the first chapter serves as an introduction to the practice of using picturebooks for ELA instruction, the subsequent chapters expand on how this practice supports different areas of instruction such as engaging English Language Learners or teaching literary elements.
Each chapter features the front covers of the picturebooks that Dean references, so flipping through the book is a colorful experience. Additionally, the chapters are further divided into sections with their own titles. These features help readers easily find a strategy or book they may want to return to later. Towards the end of each chapter, Dean lists 2-3 principles for that strategy or element, and then provides a brief explanation of each one. This guides educators who are new to using picturebooks and serves as a quick reference for best practices.
Chapter Highlights
Chapter 1: Dean begins the first chapter by addressing potential reservations about using picturebooks beyond elementary years. She acknowledges that we are conditioned to believe picturebooks are for young children, but through research and her own teaching practices she has set out to prove that is a misconception. Dean has used picture books in the classroom and found it effective. For teachers, that is often enough reason to continue the practice. However, throughout the chapter Dean draws upon the work of many researchers to support her own reasons for using this method. Some of the main reasons she details in this chapter are that picturebooks are efficient, engaging, and accessible. She closes the chapter with the image of her high school aged students rapt and intrigued when she pulls out a picturebook: “Picturebooks make magic,” Dean writes (8).
In Chapter 3, “Using Picturebooks to Invite Informal Writing,” Dean provides examples of using picturebooks as jumping off points for notebook entries, bellringers, or other daily writing that might occur in an ELA classroom. For example, Dean suggests the books “Crystanthemum” or “My Name is Elizabeth” for an informal writing prompt about students’ names and how they feel about them. She notes that the book she chooses (a feisty vs. a thoughtful protagonist) affects the tone of students’ responses. Informal writing responses seem like a very user-friendly way to implement picturebooks as part of the classroom routine, and the possibilities are endless.
In Chapter 5, “Using Picturebooks to Teach Reading and Literature,” Dean explores ways to use picturebooks to teach literary elements and reading strategies. For example, she suggests using “The Last Stop on Market Street,” to help students practice making inferences about text. Teachers might ask students about Abuela’s character, prompting them to think about what kind of person she is and how the text supports this. Dean also recommends using “The Important Book,” to help students think about summarizing. She has a multitude of ideas for books that allow students to explore themes, which can be a particularly hard concept for even older students to grasp.
Read more: Book Review: Power in Pictures: Using Picturebooks to Energize Secondary ELA Instruction
Classroom Connections
One of the book’s strengths is its immediacy. Dean provides many examples of picturebooks and strategies that teachers can try the next day, especially if they have easy access to picturebooks. Dean also describes how she has adjusted prompts or activities for different grade levels. Dean has used picturebooks at all levels. This practice seems particularly appropriate for middle school or for reluctant readers, though Dean would argue that picturebooks are rich texts for deep and complex interpretation even for older high schoolers. Students of multilingual learners may find this text particularly useful given the multimodal approach, and Dean devotes an entire chapter to strategies for English Language Learners. Teachers with reservations about using picturebooks at the secondary level will find reassurance in Dean’s detailed approach. Through examples from her own teaching practice, she shows us how to bring picturebooks into the secondary classroom without sacrificing rigor.
My Experience
As a teacher in a high performing, achievement focused middle school, I am always wary of strategies that may be viewed as lacking in rigor. However, many of my students are reluctant readers, or simply have trouble finding time to read, so I am always searching for ways to ignite their passion for reading. Students love to be read to, and picturebooks call back a time when reading was fun and free of stress and expectation. I hope to add picturebooks to my instruction next year, as inspiration for writing prompts, ways to introduce thematic concepts, and for exploration of literary elements.
Recommendation
Power in Pictures is a great read for any ELA teacher who is looking for a new and unexpected approach, one that requires no technology whatsoever. Using picture books can engage secondary learners and ask them to think about reading and writing in new ways. Dean’s approach makes us wonder: can we ask students to rewind? To go back to the kind of reading they used to know and love, this time with heightened skills and understanding?
Deborah Dean’s book made me want to go to the library and spend hours in the children’s aisle, leafing through beautiful illustrations. Maybe tomorrow I’ll grab one of Dean’s recommended picturebooks and ask my 7th graders to join me on the rug.
Alexa Gutter (Bio) Alexa Gutter is a graduate student, poet, and 7th Grade English teacher. She teaches at Charles F. Patton Middle School in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
