10 picture books to use with your secondary english class

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Emma JenkinsYear 7-10 teacher at Mount Carmel College

TATE ExecutiveEmma.Jenkins@mountcarmel.tas.edu.au

Emma Jenkins 2017

Why picture books?● Easy and quick to read● Many and varied interpretations● A good chance to teach visual literacy● Great for reluctant readers● Helpful in engaging students who find

it difficult to engage with larger texts● Excellent prompts/hooks to more

comprehensive units of study● Suits theme study, genre study, text

structure and style● Fun!

Emma Jenkins 2017

Australian Curriculum General Capabilitiesunderstanding and evaluating how images and language work together...to present ideas and information

Students understand how visual information contributes to the meanings created in learning area texts.

it includes interpreting still and moving images, graphs, tables, maps and other graphic representations...

v.7.5

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Pre-teachingBefore embarking on the study of any picture book, it would be useful to revisit some visual literacy techniques with your class. Such as:

➔ Mood/tone➔ Positioning➔ Colour➔ Shape➔ Space➔ Texture➔ Symbol➔ Composition➔ Pattern➔ Line

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The Book with No PicturesB. J. Novak

to teach Shakespeare

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● Importance of reading texts aloud● Importance of performing

Shakespeare!● Being brave and confident when

reading● Drawing the audience in ● Tone and meaning● Beating the hesitation and anxiety that

comes with Shakespeare’s English

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Alternate uses:

➔ Lead into poetry and poetic techniques, starting with onomatopoeia

➔ Would lend itself really nicely to ‘warming up’ to perform a mini-script or play

➔ Could help students who are nervous about presenting in front of a large group

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MausArt Spiegelman

to teach representation

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● Nationalities represented as different animals

● Anthropomorphism- Mouse, cat, frog, dog, pig + others● Context needed - Hitler’s treatment of

Jews and propaganda messages about Jews as “the vermin of mankind”

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Other uses for Maus

➔ Complements study of other Holocaust texts

➔ Discussion of other graphic novels➔ Discussion about representing

memories➔ Explore symbolism in the story (flies,

masks, the exercise bike Vladek uses)➔ Discuss the ‘style’ of the drawings -

neat, angular, uniform vs. freehand, patchy, ‘rushed’

➔ Concept of defamiliarization in relation to Nazi propaganda and anti-semitism

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Woolvs in the SiteeAnne Spudvilas & Margaret Wild

To teach spelling

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● How do we pronounce ‘GHOTI’?● ‘English is a crazy language’● ‘Auto-correct generation’● Spelling strategies- Morphemic- Etymological- Phonetic- Rule based

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Other ideas...➔ Link this picture book to a study of

dystopian fiction or post-apocalyptic fiction

➔ Link to a study of liveability in Year 7 Geography

➔ Discussion of mental health

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The ArrivalShaun Tan

To teach critical engagement

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● Approach to the text - reflection of reality: truth, human nature, our world- belonging: dominant and alternate ideas/interests- relationships: what is at the core, what is left out

● Why? - Understand what is valued in society and culture- Exposure to different and diverse values

● Teach interpretation● How the author positions the audience● Teaching the effect of context on meaning● Interpreting and justifying opinions

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Or you could...➔ Lends itself to a hook into a unit on

belonging (theme study)➔ Link to work on immigration, stories of

immigrants➔ Creative writing using where students

write the story to accompany the images

➔ Create their own journey stories

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Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge Mem Fox

to teach metaphor

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● What is a memory?● Metaphor poetry- 4 metaphors on memory to form a 4 stanza

poem- Paint chip poetry● Memory box for Miss Nancy● Metaphors in song lyrics

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Or you could...➔ Use your discussion of metaphor to

complement a study of similes➔ Have students create their own film

clips with excerpts of songs or examples from popular culture that are similes and metaphors

➔ Lead into a poetry unit➔ Could be a great discussion piece

about the importance of memory and how memory changes

➔ Links to History and the impact of time on memory

➔ Why preserve things?

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Tales From Outer SuburbiaShaun Tan

to teach fantasy

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● Shaun Tan’s “suburban fantasy”● Contrast between the mundane life of

suburbia and the extraordinary● Suburbia as the end of the world● Strange worlds beyond observation● Fantastical nature of the everyday● Elements of the genre

- talking animals (Charlotte’s Web), magic (Harry Potter), objects (Dorothy’s slippers)

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Other ideas...➔ Writing tasks stemming from passages,

quotes or language used in the stories➔ Writing tasks based on the images➔ Discuss figurative language➔ Link to film studies of other fantasies

like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

➔ Making inferences from poetry➔ Experimentation with descriptive

language

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MirrorJeannie Baker

to teach narrative

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● Book as a both a mirror and window● “Books are sometimes the only place where readers may meet people who are

not like themselves, who offer alternative worldviews” (Tschida, Ryan & Ticknor, 2014)

● Designed to be read side by side● Developing a narrative without words● Selecting important plot developments● Omniscient narration● Experiment with narrative types - dual, parallel,

Concurrent (?!)

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Other ideas...➔ Introduce the concept of compare and

contrast➔ Complement work in Year 7 Geography

on place and liveability➔ Writing parallel stories➔ Compare cultures and stories➔ Family theme study

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The Mysteries of Harris BurdickChris Van Allsburg

to teach emotive language

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● Narrative writing● Naplan practice● Creative writing● Writing from a prompt

The RabbitsJohn Marsden & Shaun Tan

to teach allegory

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● Allegory for settlement of Australia● Discuss representation - (Rabbits [introduced] vs Numbats [native])● Draw out similarities with Australian history/story● Aesop’s Fables ● Dr Seuss● Avatar● Animal farm● The Matrix

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More...➔ Fits perfectly in Year 9 History

curriculum➔ Annotate and analyse spreads from the

book, pointing out visual literacy techniques that are used

➔ Discuss symbolism➔ Complement study of the

environment/environmental movement (Year 10 History)

➔ Read alongside other stories of Aboriginal displacement/Stolen Generation (Rabbit Proof Fence etc)

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The EnemyDavide Cali & Serge Bloch

to teach irony

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Something else...➔ To teach persuasion➔ To teach advertising➔ War propaganda and ideologies➔ Cultural perceptions of war and

soldiers➔ Ethics of warfare➔ The nature of the ‘enemy’➔ Reliable/unreliable information➔ Notion of manipulation➔ Illustration and composure of picture

books - photographic collage, lines and white space

➔ The target audience of books

Emma Jenkins 2017