Using Picture Books to Teach Literary Terms in the High School English Classroom

1. Using Picture Books to Teach Literary Terms in the High School English Classroom Bridget Robinson Department of Education University of North Carolina - Asheville

2. Research Question Will the use of picture books to teach students literary elements affect student understanding of and motivation to read traditional literature as they apply these literary elements to the works?

3. What is a picture book? • Illustrations dominate each page • Text is placed neatly so that the book flows naturally from beginning to end • Typical length is 32 pages • Trim size of the book is markedly larger than that of the average novel

4. 1999 National Assessment of Education • 50% of eighth graders read once a month or less for their own interest • 25% of fourth graders read once a month or less for their own interest • Cited in Darigan, Tunnell and Jacobs (2002)

5. Schema Theory and Visual Thinking • Bruner (1990) • Using prior knowledge to organize information • Vacca and Vacca (2005) • Schema activation • Learning through direct experience • Arnheim (1969) • Pictorial thinking

6. Engaged and Disengaged Readers • Engaged readers are intrinsically motivated and have a developed self-efficacy. • Disengaged readers read out of necessity. They read only because the work has been assigned to them. • Guthrie (2001)

7. Subjects • Urban high school in Western North Carolina • Two standard American Literature classes • 37 students • 23 males & 14 females • 4 students with special needs • 36 white students & 1 African-American students • Mixed socio-economic status

8. Qualitative Pre-experiment survey Post-experiment survey Observations on student involvement Quantitative Pre-experiment literary term evaluative tool Post-experiment literary term evaluative tool Objective tests Instruments

9. Research Design • Pre-experiment literary terms evaluative tool • Pre-experiment survey • Traditional instruction • Objective Test 1 • Picture Book Instruction • Objective Test 1 repeated • Traditional instruction • Objective Test 2 • Picture Book Instruction • Objective Test 2 repeated • Post-experiment literary terms evaluative tool • Post-experiment survey

10. Did the use of picture books increase student understanding of literary elements in more complex texts? Did the use of picture books increase student engagement in literary material? Two Major Questions

11. Test Results

12. Were the literary terms easier to understand through the tool of picture books? 28% 72%

13. Observations of Student Involvement

14. Post-experiment Picture Book Questions • Question Response • How did picture books affect 66% No affect • your interest in the material? 13% Decreased interest • 21% Increased interest • 2. How did picture books affect 31% No affect • your understanding of the material? 28% Decreased understanding • 41% Increased understanding

15. Limitations of Study • Repetition of Test • Time limit • Limited use of picture books

16. Picture books help high school students better understand literary elements! Picture books do not improve student engagement in reading Picture books should be incorporated into the English classroom in various instructional methods Conclusions

17. References • Arnheim, R. (1969). Visual thinking. Los Angeles: University of California Press. • Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. • Darigan, D. L., Tunnell, M. O., & Jacobs, J. S. (2002). Children’s literature: Engaging teachers and children in good books. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc • Guthrie, J. T. (2001). Contexts for engagement and motivation in reading. Retrieved October 10, 2006 from http://www.readingonline.org/articles/handbook/guthrie/index.html • Vacca, R. T. & Vacca, J.L. (2005). Content area reading: Literacy and learning acrossthe curriculum. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.