QBS Learning Centre News
Week beginning 11.11.13
Need help finding good picture books?
November is PICTURE BOOK MONTH
So why are picture books so important?
1. Chapter books are not necessarily more complex than picture books and in fact, their vocabulary and sentence structure can be considered simplistic when compared with older level picture books. Many picture books are written at a higher reading level, use amazingly complex vocabularies and offer interesting plots.
2. The illustrations of a picture book help children understand what they are reading and allow young readers to analyse the story. When children are having difficulty, the illustrations can help them figure out the meaning of what they are reading. The illustrations are also a powerful way to help English learners comprehend the story.
3. Children love art. Why do you think they spend so much time colouring, drawing and doing crafts? Whatever the reason children are drawn towards a book, it’s a means to get them to read.
4. Language: Picture books allow children to practice the sounds of language and as parents and teacher's it’s our responsibility to introduce new and interesting words at every opportunity. The rhythm and rhyme in many picture books make for great read-alouds and children learn words more easily when they hear them spoken often.
5. Repetition: The repetition in many picture books allows a child to participate in the story. Young readers get excited when they can anticipate a forthcoming line and children learn skills like phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension and fluency.
6. Picture books help develop story sense. Children learn the beginning, middle and end of a story and can often relate to the age-appropriate issues and conflicts presented in a picture book.
7. Picture books allow an entirely different, more interactive communication between parent and child. Picture books allow parents to spend time talking with their children about the story, pictures and words. This interaction builds reading comprehension. Picture books allow you to talk about what you see on each page, so be sure to talk about what happened in the story, ask about the characters, how they are feeling, and events that took place.
8. Picture books are fun and the key is to always make the reading experience fun and a time to look forward to. Reading should never be perceived as a chore. If you make reading a chore early on in a child’s development, they might grow to resent reading. Children who don’t naturally progress from picture books to chapter books may translate reading into working – more specifically, working that isn’t much fun.
It’s important to encourage your kids to get their hands on everything they can, including picture books, comics, and even kid-friendly websites. It doesn’t matter what they read as long as they read and children who learn to love books will be children who grow up to be good readers.
Remember to keep in touch
Email: learningcentre@qbs.edu.hk
Website: http://www.qbs.edu.hk/
Location: Hau Yuen Path, 6, North Point, Hong Kong
Phone: 2566 42 42