Picture Book Month

It's November! And we know to celebrate print picture books. Dianne de Las Casas, along with other great authors, brought to attention the importance that picture books play in education. After reading the Picture Book Month Teacher's Guide I do not only understand the importance of picture books, but I also plan to keep picture books alive in my classroom. Picture books can be integrated to the curriculum of any school, there are books that fit into any subject and any grade level. All teachers have it clear that children do NOT learn the same way, so trying new things is always a MUST in a teachers agenda. Picture books allow learning to be a little more fun and also change the everyday teaching to "the test". Especially with younger children, picture books serve as an awesome tool for teachers when having to teach life issues, such as lying or feeling fear. Sometimes these topics are not easy to teach, with the help of picture books, students can relate to the character and therefore decide to talk to the teacher about their problems or probably find a solution like the one the character might of found. For example, in the book Theo's Mood, Theo is confused on how he feels after his baby sister was born, a conflict very common in young children, he comes to the conclusion that he feels all kinds of emotions! For the class, students can color code certain emotions and possibly relate he feeling to another thing, such as coloring the angry face red to symbolize fire. Picture books should never lose meaning in education, they should gain importance.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1X0nD2djsnhcWVqanE2ejkyRXc/edit
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1X0nD2djsnhb2pSUDJwUk9wY3c/edit