Y’all. I love picture books. I cannot lie. I am obsessed with the power behind picture books. Not only do picture books change the way we read texts, but they also allow your students to step foot into a book and get lost.
How do I choose my picture books?
Choosing a picture books can be very tricky. I normally go through about 30 books before I find the top 4-5 books that I love and want to use. The first thing that I do is I set up what I want my skill to be. When I have that in mind, then I go through the picture books and find the book that will support that skill. I also need to think of if I want a fiction or nonfiction book. This helps guide my thoughts as well.
Here is my example for you!
I wanted a book that supported the text structure of sequence or chronological order. How can I find something like that that is also not a biography? Well, I go to the library. I spend easily an hour or two there. I open so many books and then lay them in front of me.
Then I am able to see if there are any books with timeline in them. Are there any other text structures that I could possibly use to support the lesson? If so, what are they? If I am able to use it multiple times it will then become a mentor text. It will allow the students to keep seeing the text over and over again.
Lastly, I mark the text up! I love putting post it notes all over the book. Usually once I find the book I want to keep, I purchase it through amazon prime so I don’t have to keep going to the library and can leave my notes in it year after year.
How do you choose picture books for your lessons?
