Friday, April 28, 2023

April 24 - 28, 2023

Blog # 20

Wordless Books In Older Grades

Wordless picture books allow the reader (or viewer) to create their own story using the illustrations provided. They allow for thought, creativity, and interpretation. They allow for change and adaptation.

"Raise a Reader" Scholastic Books Canada Blog

The Journey Trilogy by Aaron Becker

This is actually a collection of 3 wordless picture books. The three books are Journey, Quest, and Return.  They all tell a story of a girl who goes on a journey to a magical land.  She can somewhat control her adventure using a crayon/marker. Even though these are wordless books, students have to pay close attention to detail to follow the story.

Wordless books can be used to teach a variety of skills including predicting,  point of view, elements of a story (character, setting, plot and conflict etc.), questioning, literary devices (metaphor and simile) and summarizing.

    The grade fives have been using the wordless book "Journey" to practice descriptive writing.

"Gray clouds drifted across the sky covering the sun and making the city dark and gloomy. One young girl sat on the stairs leading up to a small house. A small bright red scooter balanced on the stairs below her. She seemed to be watching the clouds float across the sky..." by Acasia

"...Lola was ignored. She was never acknowledged by anyone, not even her cat. All that Lola could think about was everyone else smiling and giggling and she was lonely. Lola felt like a ghost and somebody who just creeps in  walls. All that Lola could do is sit in her room and sulk in her bed...." by Juliet

Questions to ask when looking at wordless books at any age...

• What is happening?
• Tell me about the characters. What are their emotions?
• What is the character thinking? How do you know?
• What is the character's goal/mission? How will they achieve their goal?
• Why did the character make this choice? Could they have made a better choice?
• What is the character going to do next? How will their actions affect the story?
• What do you think the character is saying? Why?
• What is the setting of the story? What do you notice about the setting?
• What will happen next? How do you know?

Adapted from " 7 Reasons Why You Should Use Wordless Books" 

The Children's Library Lady