In Pictures and In Words: Book Study

I am linking up with Mrs. Wills Kindergarten to study the book .


On the last day of school many of my children brought me gifts.  There was no need for any gifts. Having these precious owlets in my classroom all year has been a gift.  Having the love, trust, and hearts of these children is a gift that only you understand, my blogging friend.  One of the most treasured gifts that was brought in was the writing that a child had done during the year.  She had gift wrapped an informational piece that she had researched and illustrated.  It happened to be a research project we had done about birds, of course!  What really touched me was that she knew that I valued her writing. I knew she was an author.  She knew that this would be a gift to me.  I was touched.

In Pictures and In Words is more than a resource.  It is a treasure chest.  I would like to share some of the thoughts that I have had as I've studied these chapters.


Why does illustration study matter to the development of young writers?  I have always used the illustration part of writing as the carrot.  When you finish writing then you may illustrate.  I have used the right language, but probably not the right way.  This chapter opened my eyes to the idea that illustration adds to the meaning.  One thought that keeps coming back to me is that if we teach children to read by using picture cues, shouldn't we allow them to use picture cues when they are writing?  For young writers, illustrating is part of composing meaning.


How does building stamina for writing support children's work as illustrators?
Sometimes teaching writing is scary.  It is so much easier to give a worksheet.  It is not as satisfying to give worksheets.  Writing is work.  Writing is hard for me.  I've never thought of myself as a writer.  I'm trying.  I started blogging to develop my writing skills.  I have a confession. I don't like writing.  It is hard work.  As I've developed stamina I've found a bit of joy in it.  I do it because I want to know what it's like for my students.  They know about my writing.  They like my writing, so I write for them.  I like my interaction with you so I will keep writing. I use photographs to keep me going.  I see my students illustrations now in a whole new light.  It helps construct meaning and it will help them keep going...Stamina.


Are writing and illustrating a parallel composing process?
I never thought so before, but YES!  Give a child a blank piece of paper and pencil - they'll do something.  They'll take their thoughts and show them in pictures or words, so to speak!  They'll think ahead.  They'll plan.  They'll put their ideas on paper.

How can I teach my students to think like a writer?
Before you can write anything you have to know what writing is.  Writing is thought written down.  Read, read, read thoughts of authors.  I love Ted Kooser's advice, "Before you write one poem, you need to read at least one hundred"  For the first time ever, I have started looking at books as a writer.  Thank you for that gift, Katie.  


How can I support the illustration-writing connection?
One may use words.  One may use pictures.  They may both construct meaning. Notice, question, encourage both the writer and illustrator to bring ideas and meaning to paper.  

The illustrations in this book add so much
meaning to the text.  It is so much fun to get
to the end and find all the characters that
have showed up through out the story.  At the
end they are all depicted a bit differently than they
had been earlier in the story!

How can I more effectively plan and implement my Writing Workshop?
This last chapter may have been my favorite.  Through the first five chapters I felt like I would never get there.  I might never become the teacher I want to be.  Part of being a good teacher is the willingness to learn and grow too. The day I feel I've learned everything there is to be a good teacher, is the day I'll retire.  I want to keep growing and learning with my students.  Guess how old I am...Go ahead.  I'm fifty.  I've been teaching for over twenty-five years.  I still have so much to learn.  I still want to learn about how kids learn, so I can help them learn better.  I want them to learn how to learn. As I study this text I will gather, expect, immerse, study, and write.  I can hardly wait to get into section two.  

The illustrations in this book are superb!
Judy does a great job making you wonder
 about the main characters first day at school.  I
don't want to spoil anything for you!  This
is a great book.  The illustrations make
are great for studying.

A couple of years ago my sister in-law recommended an author to me. Her name is Anne Lamott.  Without reading a description of the book I ordered the one entitled, Bird by Bird.  I ordered the book for its title.  When I picked it up at my local B&N the clerk said that he had read that book when he first started writing.  I had bought a book about writing? Why would this guy buy a bird book if he wanted to be a writer?  I had no intention of writing anything. Ever. I loved the book and since I've read it have seen myself a little differently in terms of having a story to tell.  I have something to say and I can say it in pictures and in words!  Photos and blogs, anyway!

A great read for any writer!

Thank you, Deedee for hosting such a meaningful study.


Hugs, Handshakes, and High-fives,