5 Ways to Use Wordless Picture Books
Teach Your Child How To Tell a Good Story
Wordless picture books teach children how to visualize a story sequence. They also teach the important elements of story structure (e.g., characters, setting, initiating event, problem, feelings, plan, actions, solution). By telling a story that goes along with the pictures, children learn how to tell a story that includes critical story elements.
Teach Your Child How To Retell a Story/Event Sequence in Order
Use this strategy to improve your child’s visualization, sequencing, and memory. The first time reading through the story, the adult tells a story to accompany the pictures. The second time, the adult flips to each page and asks the child to re-tell the same story. For an extra challenge, after the second read, the adult asks the child to retell the story without looking at the pictures (requiring the child to rely on their memory to retell the story events in order).
Help Your Child Use Correct Sentence Formulation/Grammar
To work on sentence formulation in the present tense, ask your child, “What’s happening?” for each picture. Your child should answer with sentences in the present tense (e.g., “The girl is throwing the ball. The dog is running to get the ball.”).
To work on sentence formulation in the past tense, ask your child, “What happened?” for each picture. Your child should answer with sentences in the past tense (e.g., “The girl threw the ball. The dog ran to get the ball.”).
If your child makes a grammatical error, repeat the sentence back to him/her with the error corrected (e.g., Child: “The girl throwed the ball.” Parent: “I see that! The girl threw the ball.”).
Help Your Child Practice a Target Speech Sound
If your child has been working on a sound in speech therapy, use wordless picture books to model and practice that sound. For example, if your child is working on s-blends, there are many opportunities to practice s-blends while reading the book “The Snowman.” If your child is working on “L,” “Where’s Walrus?” would be a good choice!
- You can make up a story to go along with the pictures and ask your child to raise their hand when they hear their target sound.
- You can pause and say each word with the target sound 5x.
- Your child can make up a story that goes with the pictures and practice using the target speech sound in conversation.
Teach Inferencing and Critical Thinking
A lot of the storylines in these books require close attention to details in the pictures to understand the storyline and infer what may happen next. You can develop your child’s critical thinking and inferencing abilities by directing their attention to key visual aspects of the stories and asking wh-questions (e.g., Why do you think ________? What might happen next ______? How do you think ______ feels?).
5 Wordless Picture Books I Recommend:
- Good Dog, Carl: The family dog babysits while mom runs an errand
- Where’s Walrus: A friendly walrus escapes the zoo and has an adventure around the city
- The Snowman: A little boy makes friends with a snowman. At night, the snowman comes to life and they have an adventure together
- Goodnight, Gorilla: A gorilla sneakily escapes the zoo and follows the zookeeper home
- A Ball for Daisy: The story of a dog, her ball, and a new friendship
Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center Helps Students Succeed in Speech & Language
There are many ways to use wordless picture books to build a child’s speech and language skills. At Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center, we know the importance of building a strong foundation in these skills. If you have any questions or need support, our team of specialists is ready to help!
Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center has locations in the Iowa City, IA area and Des Moines, IA area. We provide individual speech-language therapy and tutoring programs. At Enrichment Therapy & Learning Center our passion is to help kids achieve effective communication skills and gain academic success. Contact us for more information on how we can help your child succeed.
info@enrichmenttherapies.com
740 Community Drive, Unit A
North Liberty, IA 52317
319-626-2553
infodm@enrichmenttherapies.com
5530 West Pkwy, Suite 300
Johnston, IA 50131
515-419-4270
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