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Jul 22

Book Review: Power in Pictures: Using Picturebooks to Energize Secondary ELA Instruction

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.

Jul 8

Book Review: Pose Wobble Flow

By Haley Master

Why a Second Edition?:

In September of 2015, Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen released the first edition of Pose, Wobble, and Flow, providing a fresh liberatory framework for deconstructing the idea that there is a “best” way to teach. They concluded that first edition by stating “By various measures, we are in a cultural, social crisis today. Radical persecution, the stratification and thinning of the middle class, and salient examples of violence- symbolic and physical- toward nonheterosexual or transgender members of society run rampant today. This is not a hyperbole” (2015, p. 133). They then open this second edition affirming “We take no joy in the accuracy of these predictions, but we could not have imagined the breathtaking scale, scope, and speed with which the social, cultural, and global fabric of the world would unravel” (2026, p. 2).  Garcia and O’Donnell’s methods and pedagogy around teaching are not only, and unfortunately, extremely relevant, but more important than ever. This second edition further expands on the significance and impact it has to ensure that children and young adults from all backgrounds have the same opportunities for success and that educators, parents, and administrators feel empowered by the work they’re doing rather than dehumanized.

Overview:

Adapting the pose, wobble, and flow method of yoga as a pedagogical model, they encourage readers to move through the challenges of teaching rather than striving for impossible perfection. The book presents six different “poses” of teaching in order to guide teachers through the numerous challenges that teachers face in this current climate as well as presenting ways to promote equity, social change, and vulnerable learning. What it means to pose in teaching is to take up a “liberatory stance” toward your practice (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p.7). Garcia and O’Donnell make it very clear that this is not a “foolproof” method to teaching, but rather “touchstones” as a way to guide teachers through different settings (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p.8). The book introduces the idea of wobbling when Teachers will always be presented with unexpected challenges and complex situations that will test their limits and push them into an area of uncomfortability. Garcia and O’Donnell argue that this push is not meant to be a breaking point, but rather a point of transition. That transition and nonlinear process is how teachers strengthen their practice and learn how to move through dynamic circumstances. Garcia and O’Donnell refer to “flow” as “the moments of psychological well-being one experiences in singular moments during the everyday course of teaching”  as well as “the complementary poses together over the span of one’s teaching career” (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p.10). They maintain that the ambiguity of teaching can make it difficult to feel as though you are hitting goals or climbing new peaks in your career. The objective of the “flow” phase as a teacher is to enter a flow state that incorporates both different poses as well as wobbling to be constantly growing as an educator.

Read more: Book Review: Pose Wobble Flow

Key Takeaways:

Garcia and O’Donnell set the foundation for the book with their pose of “teaching for liberation” which is recognizing the inequities, identities, and backgrounds of different students as a way to not only be an active advocate for social change, but to encourage students to recognize those nuances as well. Rather than striving for perfection, they foster the idea that a liberatory pedagogy is a “process of becoming” that requires necessary transformation  in order to move through the challenges that educators will inevitably face. While this may seem like a daunting task, they urge for small but meaningful moments that will work towards a collective shift in the way institutions and classrooms operate. They then highlight the importance of being a “vulnerable learner” which can help “retain a sense of agency in your work and, even on darker days, can consistently infuse it with meaning” (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p.37). The significance of this pose is to encourage teachers to see themselves and their students as continual learners rather than a part of a larger systemic machine. Instead of referring to the individual experience of vulnerability, Garcia and O’Donnell also emphasize that a lot of the challenges that students face are a part of a collective problem that requires vulnerability in order to broach and change. Garcia and O’Donnell’s third pose is a push for literacy for civic engagement and how teachers can both acknowledge the different civic identities of students in their classroom, but also how to purposefully tie those identities into literacy activities and classroom practices. Even though conversations about systemic issues with students can be difficult, it does not go away by choosing to not address them in the classroom. In addition, the ways that active practices around civics will transform students’ and teachers’ lives inside and outside of the classroom are the heart of why this field is so important. 

Pedagogical Tools:

Garcia and O’Donnell added the pose of developing an identity as a writer who teaches as well as a teacher who writes because it “maximizes the learning outcomes of your students” and can be “central to your own professional growth” (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p.98). The value of this pose is so that teachers can both be frequently involved in the practice of writing in a similar way to their students and to the practice of writing instruction. The underline the importance of writing has specifically to BIPOC students and their identity given that it has historically not been something that education systems have encouraged. The act of writing itself is an act of civic engagement. Along with writing, reading and literacy plays a substantial role in what students learn and how they perceive the world. The curation of texts that schools develop and the ways that teachers must wobble around ones that are less accessible for students are essential to nurturing a lifelong passion for reading and literature. An interesting point that they raise is the responsibility teachers have to “help students understand their agency as readers” and to “shift stances and practices based on the texts they encounter” (Garcia and O’Donnell, 2024, p. 128). Teaching and engaging with texts is not a black and white process, but rather a fluid method of meeting students where they are as readers and incorporating recommendations that will expand their horizons and connect with them.

Recommendation:

This book is essential for not only educators, but for parents, administration, caregivers, and leaders who aspire to cultivate a learning environment that encourages and inspires students well after their time spent in the classroom. It breaks down the idea that a teacher is someone with all of the knowledge and students are simply there to absorb what a teacher says. Garcia and O’Donnell approach learning as a nuanced and complex system of shared information where both students and teachers are constantly learning and improving in order to enact change and work towards a better tomorrow. 

Pose, Wobble, and Flow: A Culturally Proactive Approach to Literary Instruction, Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell Allen, Teachers College Press, Second Edition, 2024, #6.95, ISBN: 9780807769348

Bio: Haley Master is a West Chester University English M.A student as well as a sales associate for Schiffer Publishing.

Jun 26

Research and Reflections on Building a High School Writing Center

Throughout the past year, I had the opportunity to work alongside two truly brilliant educators to research, reflect, and write about one of the projects I’m most proud to be part of: bringing a university-supported writing center into our high school. This program is a collaborative effort between classroom teachers, university faculty, and preservice teachers, all centered around one simple belief – every student deserves an authentic audience and meaningful support as a writer.

The article shares how the program came to life, what we learned along the way, and why partnerships like these can make such a difference for both high school students and future teachers. In the introduction, we explain, “This case study matters because it outlines the importance of school-university partnerships, while it also offers insight into how school-university partnerships can evolve over time to better support preservice teacher development, secondary writing instruction, and cross-institutional collaboration.” Building community through writing has always been at the heart of my instruction, and this research is a reminder that some of the best learning happens when classrooms extend beyond their own four walls.

The above image is shared during mentor training and illustrates the various roles and responsibilities pre-service teachers take on through this partnership.

If you’re interested in creating a writing center, partnering with a local university, or simply curious about what this kind of collaboration can look like, I hope you’ll give it a read. You can find the full article here: ‘It’s a Win-Win Situation’— Cultivating University & School Partnerships.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.

May 21

Readers Are Writers: Using Romeo and Juliet as a Mentor Text

A cornerstone of my literature instruction is to treat every text as a mentor text. I want my students to see that readers are writers and writers are readers — even when the text feels intimidating at first. Lately, my high school ELD students have been studying Romeo and Juliet, and while Shakespeare’s language can feel overwhelming, his figurative language is actually the perfect invitation into creative writing.

Today’s lesson focused on similes and metaphors from the scenes when Romeo and Juliet first meet and later speak on the balcony. Before diving into Shakespeare’s lines, we started with a low-pressure brainstorm warm-up. Students made lists of people, foods/flavors, activities, sensory experiences, and things in nature that make them happy. This gave everyone a bank of ideas and images to pull from later.

Next, we reviewed teacher-generated examples of figurative language together:

  • “Mrs. Selter’s smile shines bright like the sun.”
  • “Ms. Virgin is a tornado of energy dropping assignments on our desks as she twirls around the room.”

We talked about the two parts of each comparison and discussed the deeper meaning behind the imagery. The goal was not just identifying similes and metaphors, but understanding what each comparison communicates.

Then students collaborated with partners to create their own figurative sentences. They:

  1. Chose a topic card (“my best friend,” “school,” “the first day of school,” etc.)
  2. Chose a positive or negative image from the board (“rollercoaster,” “sunflower,” “hug,” “volcano,” “traffic,” “broken pencil”)
  3. Combined the ideas into original similes and metaphors

This part of the lesson was so much fun because the combinations led to some fresh and original figurative comparisons. Afterward, students completed a gallery walk where they read classmates’ examples, wrote down three favorites, and illustrated one image that stood out to them.

The second half of class brought us back to Shakespeare. Together, we studied six figurative language examples from Romeo and Juliet. We color-coded the “focus” of the comparison (Juliet, her eyes, Romeo, our love) in pink and the comparison image (sun, stars, lightning, dove) in blue. This visual support helped students clearly see how figurative language is constructed while also discussing the emotional meaning behind the imagery.

To support independent writing, I broke the lines we studied into accessible sentence stems students could build from:

  • “If ___’s ___ were ___, it would…”
  • “Our ___ is like ___.”
  • “___ is a/an ___.”

Students then returned to their original brainstorm lists and began crafting their own figurative writing independently.

A cornerstone of my writing instruction is writing alongside my students. Throughout the lesson, I pause to model my own thinking, draft examples in real time, and share both the writing that works and the writing that absolutely does not. I want students — especially language learners — to see that strong writing is not about getting it perfect on the first try. It’s about experimenting with language, revising ideas, and sometimes laughing at the metaphors that flop before finding one that finally clicks.

As a culminating activity, students will choose one figurative sentence they crafted and turn it into a “figurative doodle” that we’ll publish on our classroom writing walls. I also create and share my own finished figurative doodle as an example before students begin their final project. Having a teacher model gives students guidance and inspiration, but I think it also communicates something important: I’m not asking them to do anything I’m unwilling to do myself. We’re all writers in the room together.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.

Apr 22

Happy National Poetry Month!

Poetry is not a one-month or one-unit experience in my classroom. Instead, I intentionally weave it into our literature work all year long because it deepens engagement and adds meaning for both me and my students. Here are a few small ways I weaved poetry into our lessons this month:

Using Poetry to Teach Character Development

We’ve been working on direct and indirect characterization, so I pulled an excerpt from Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. In the passage, Jude describes her cousin using both “telling” and “showing,” which made it a perfect mentor text.

After analyzing the character development, students wrote their own short character poems about someone in their life. To support my ELD students, I gave them a simple structure:

  • Start with what the person wears
  • Show personality through what they do
  • Include what they say

The scaffolding helped a lot—students who might normally struggle to get started were able to jump right in, and the results were thoughtful, funny, and surprisingly detailed.

Turning the Lens Inward: Writing About Themselves

As an extension, students wrote poems about their own identities. We used “Weird”, a poem from Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton for a mentor text.

After noticing how the poem builds around a single adjective, students chose one word to describe their “best quality” and used it as the foundation for their own poem. I gave them some sentence starters, which helped keep the writing flowing while still allowing for individuality.

This activity ended up being one of my favorites—there’s something powerful about giving students space to name and celebrate who they are.

Exploring Conflict Through Poetry

We’re also studying literary conflict, so I had students read an excerpt from The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. First students reviewed conflict by noticing how the speaker reveals both internal and external conflict, especially around anger.

Then they wrote their own “conflict poems” using the stem:

Teacher, since you asked, I’ll tell you why I’m so ______…

What followed was honest, reflective writing that went way beyond what I typically see in more traditional assignments.

Letting It Go (Literally)

To keep building on conflict, we read “What She Asked” by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Before reading, we talked about what students do after conflict—walk it off, listen to music, talk to someone, etc.

Then I shared how I sometimes write to process frustration, which led into the activity.

After studying the mentor poem, students used the line:

Remember that classroom afternoon, every big and little thing was wrong…

…and created their own lists of annoyances, frustrations, and lingering conflicts.

After a few minutes of writing, I had them tear the page out, fold it into a paper airplane, and we ended class with a throwing contest—sending those problems flying down the hallway.

It was chaotic in the best way—and a surprisingly cathartic ending to the lesson.

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Final Thoughts

None of these activities took more than a class period. Each one connected directly to our curriculum, and all of them got students writing, thinking, and (maybe even) enjoying poetry.

Poetry doesn’t have to live in April. It doesn’t need its own unit or elaborate setup. It can slip right into what you’re already teaching—and sometimes, that’s when it works best.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.

Apr 9

Building Better Writing Through Culture, Conversation, and Connection

One of the biggest challenges I face with my English language learners is getting them to move beyond simple responses in their writing. So, for the past few years I have been experimenting with an assignment that not only supports their writing development, but also honors who they are and where they come from.

Background

Students spend the first part of the school year reading a powerful memoir called Dreams and Nightmares: I Fled Alone to the United States When I Was 14 by Liliana Velazquez. In this book, Liliana writes about her experience leaving her home in Guatemala to find a new home and the promise of a new life in the United States. In our writing, we focus on a powerful moment where Liliana describes sewing a quilt to preserve her culture and memories of her grandmother: “I don’t want to lose my culture, and it can be a remembrance of my grandmother. I’m going to sew a quilt… I want to give my mother this quilt as a present that I have made with my own hands. I want to give her a memory of Guatemala, of my tradition.” That idea became the inspiration for the writing assignment – students are tasked with creating and writing about their own culture quilt square.

Brainstorming

The process starts with an active and collaborative brainstorm through a gallery walk and talk. Around the room, I post topics like music, celebrations, food, and holidays. Students rotate, discussing and adding what they already know about their own cultures. Then they walk around a second time to create a personal brainstorm list – combining their knowledge with the collective knowledge of their classmates. This low-pressure brainstorming helps them realize they already have a lot to say as well as provides them with additional ideas.

Research

Next, we move into inquiry. Students review sample interview questions and then create and share their own. Their goal: learn more about a cultural topic that matters to them. Over the weekend, they are tasked with interviewing an elder—a parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle.When they came back from this assignment, the room was full of stories. One student talked about discovering his uncle’s favorite song, “100 años pienso en ti” by Pedro Infante, and how that music connects to his own tastes. Another learned that her mother and grandmother made their own clothing growing up. A third noted the traditions her mom shared about her hometown in Mexico: “When I talked with my mom, I learned the traditions of ‘La Barranca Moroleon GTO’. I learned the activities that the people did, how they danced the cumbia, walked with the ‘santito’, went to eat in the houses of different people, and also the clothing that they used to wear—huipil—to special occasions like the party of July 25, ‘the misa’ when many people are together listening the ‘padrecito’.”

Putting it all together

Before jumping into a written essay, students consolidate their brainstorming and research by creating a visual “quilt square” representing what they value most about their cultures. For this part of the assignment, students return to their brainstorming and research to mark the parts of their culture they think are most important in their lives and their families. Then they spend time creating a visual to show those key elements. The only requirement for this part of the process is that they represent their cultural background in some way – all the other elements are self-selected. This step is key. It gives them space to synthesize their ideas and organize their thinking in a different way. It also affords them choice in what they ultimately decide to share about their cultures.

Then came the writing.

Because students had already brainstormed, researched, and discussed their ideas, they had a wealth of language to work with. Instead of struggling to get started, we could focus on developing their ideas, organizing their paragraphs, and expanding their writing. The project ended with a celebration. Students shared their quilts and essays, learning about each other’s cultures and experiences. I also printed their work post on our publication walls and to share with families during spring conferences—an added layer of pride and connection.

More than anything, this project reminded me of the power of conversation. Students learned they have a lot to say by getting the opportunity to speak. The gallery walk and talk brainstorm invited students to build on collaborative knowledge. The interviews students conducted with family members didn’t just give them content to write about—they created space for connection, storytelling, and the passing down of culture. The celebratory sharing invited students to show off their hard work while also learning more about each other. These conversations became the heart of the writing, making it more meaningful, more personal, and far more than just an assignment.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.






















							

		

		

		
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