booklet four learning english through picture books

7/27/2019 Booklet Four Learning English Through Picture Books

1/11

Learning English throughsharing picture books

learningtogetherisfun!


2/11

www.britishcouncil.org/parents2

Childlearning

TeacherParent

TheglobalexperienceoftheBritishCounciltellsusthatchildrenhavemorechanceofbeingsuccessfulwiththeirlearningwhenteachersandparentsworktogether.

ForewordGettinginvolvedinyourchilds learningcanhaveapositiveimpactuponboththeirattitudeandthespeedatwhichtheylearn.Whenparents helptheirchildrenoutsidetheclassroom, therearerealbenefitsforchildrensachievement insidetheclassroom.

Jim Knight, theUKsMinisterofStateforSchoolsandLearners:Parentshavesixtimesmoreimpactonthelearningofprimaryagechildren thanteachersdo.Therearesome simplestepsyoucantaketoencourageyourchildand buildtheirconfidenceinusingEnglish.

BritishCouncileducational expertshavedevelopednewLearnEnglishFamilyproductsandservicesinordertosupportparents.Wehopeyouenjoyusingtheseproductswith yourchild.Afterall, learningtogetherisfun!


3/11

Theadvantagesof

beginningearlyFromtheveryfirstintr

oductiontolisteningtoEnglish,

childrencanenjoycarefullyselectedpictureb

ooks.

Younglearnerssoonpickuptheshorttexto

fapicture

book,ifinitiallyitissharedwithanadultwhob

ringsthe

pagesalive.

Childrenarealreadyfamiliarwithstories.From

avery

youngagetheytalkinnarrativestyle.Itisthrough

theirstoriesofeverydayexperiencesthatth

eydefine

themselves:expressingtheirideas,hopesan

demotions

inlanguageaswellasindrawingandimagina

tiveplay.

Manychildrenarealreadyusedtodecoding

stories

andinformationfromtelevisionorfilminthe

irhome

language,whileothersmayhavealreadyenjo

yedthe

interactionofsharingapicturebook.Mostchildren,

ifguidedbyaparent,soonworkouthowtot

ransfertheir

individualdecodingskillstogetmeaningfrom

picture

booksinEnglish.

Sharingpicturebooksisnotonlyaboutpicki

ngup

anotherlanguage,itisalsoaboutgivingchild

renawider

windowontheworld,gu

idedbytheirparents.

Theone-to-oneinteractionofsharingpicturebooksgives

childrenaddedopportunitiestodevelopholi

sticallyat

Therewasanoldladywhoswallowedafly

MTwinn1973.Reproducedbykindpermis

sion

ofChildsPlay(International)Ltd.Allrightsre

served.



4/11


5/11www.britishcouncil.org/parents

Picturebooksalsohelpchildrenfindmeaning

withintheir

ownlife.Childrencanporeoveremotionalsitu

ations

containedwithinpicturebooksthatm

ayhelptorelieve

personalfrustrations,ortheycanencounterexciting

andimaginativeexperienceswaybeyondth

eirown

environmentoreventheirdreams.Imaginet

hepower

achildfeelsasheorshefirmlyshutsabooka

ndsays,

GOODBYEGiant!

SelectingpicturebooksPicturebooksmaybe:

storybooksshortsimplestorytextinclud

ing

conversationandrhyme

informationbooks,withshortexplanatory

text

rhymebooks,whichm

ightintroduceonestoryrhyme

orananthologyofpoems

noveltybooks,withshorttextand3Dpape

rsculpture

characterseriesbooks,withanaccompan

ying

characterdollorpuppet.

Parentsneedtoselectbooksthattheyenjoy

andfeelthey

canreadconfidentlyenthusiasmisinfectiou

s!Before

theyintroduceabook,theyneedtoplanhowtheyare

goingtoreadthetextand,eachtimetheyre

-read,follow

thesameplan.Childrenfinditmoredifficultt

opickup

languageifthereadingdifferseachtime.

MonkeyandMe

EmilyGravett(MacmillanChildrens

Books,London,UK)

8


6/11

Inselectingbooksparentsneedtothinkaboutgenderandincludesomebooksthatappealtobothboysandgirls,sochildrenhavesomecommonstoryexperiencestoexchange.

Someboysfinditeasiertorelatetoinformationbooksratherthanstorybooks.

CD-ROMsandDVDsSomestorybooksaresoldwithanattachedCD-ROMorDVD.Theseofferchildrenadifferent,lessintimateandmorepassiveexperiencethansharingpicturebooks. Forprofoundlearning,itisbesttosharethebookuntilchildrenknowmostofthetextbyheartbeforeexposingthemtoeithertheCD-ROMorDVD.Apartfromthewealthofall-roundexperiencesthatcomefromsharing,childrenmaynotbeready,beforetheyarefamiliarwiththetext,tocopewithavoiceandevenaccentthatisdifferentfromtheirparents.Bythistimechildrenarelikelytohavefoundouthowtoenjoythepicturebook,andmayevenwanttoreadbythemselves.

DearZooRodCampbell(MacmillanChildrensBooks, London,UK)

10


7/11

www.britishcouncil.org/parents

Itisagoodideatosharethechoiceofbookstoberead,

aschildrensrequestsmayhideemotionalor

language

needs.Anewbookisbestintroducedoncec

hildren

arebeginningtoreadtheotherbookssucc

essfully.

Presentationofanewbookshouldbesaved

foraday

whenbothparentsandchildrenfeelgood.

Parentsroleinintroducingnewbooks

Intheinitialstageschildrenaredependento

nthe

parentsreadingandinteractionforinputand

picking

uplanguage.

Therolegraduallychangesaschildrenbegin

tosharea

littleofthereading.Aschildrensreadingabilityinc

reases,

theroleoftheparentgraduallydiminishes.

Bythetimechildrenknowthetextbyheartan

dare

capableofreadingthebookaloudtothems

elves

ortoothers,theparentsroleisreducedtore

-phrasing

mistakesandpraisingsuccesses.

Throughoutthistimetheparentismanaging

the

experiencesandtuningintotheirchildtofindoutwhat

stagetheyhavereachedandwheretheynee

dadded

support.Thiscyclerepeatseachtimeanewb

ook

isintroduced,butaschildrenlearnmoreEng

lishthe

cycletakeslesstime.

Can YouSpottheSpottyDog?JohnRowe

(RandomHouse)

12


8/11


9/11


10/11

Manychildrenwhoarealreadyreadingintheirhomelanguagesoonunderstandhowsimpledecodingworksandcontinuebythemselvestorecogniseothershortwordsinthetext. Tohelptheirdecoding,however,parentsneedtotellthemhowtoreadshort,butdifficultwordstodecode,likethe.

Ifparentssinganalphabetsong,explainthatlettershaveanamethatisdifferentfromthesounditmakesandinmostalphabetsongswesingthenamesoftheletters.

Somechildrenteachthemselvestoreadatexttheyalreadyknoworally,especiallyifitisrhyme.Theyuseanumberofstrategiestodecodethetextandalittleguessingtofill inuntiltheyknowthetextbyheart.Manychildrenhavebeenusingthesestrategiesfromanearlyagetoreadlogosofwell-knownproducts.Praisetheireffortstoreadthetext,butrealisethatthisisrestrictedreadingbasedonatexttheyknoworally.

SillySuzyGoosePetrHorcek(Walker)Coverillustration2006PetrHorcekFromSillySuzyGoosebyPetrHorcek. ReproducdbypermissionofWalkerBooksLtd,LondonSE115HJ



11/11

www.britishcouncil.org/parents

One of a series of booklets commissioned by the British Council to support parents:

How children learn English as another language

Speaking English with your child

Learning English through sharing picture books

Learning English through sharing rhymes

Written by Opal Dunn, Author and Educational Consultant from the UK and founder of RealBook News

British Council 2008

The United Kingdoms international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

booklet four learning english through picture books

Documents