Topic/Subject area: Text types
Author: Hæge Hestnes, Associate Professor, Programme for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim
Introduction
When Norwegian teachers of English in lower and upper secondary schools are asked what literature they use in their classrooms, my experience is that the vast majority point to short stories, novels, drama and some poetry. The literature they use is either culled from the literary canon or from the vast list of well received modern literature written for adults. Some who teach the lower grades will also include novels written for younger readers, often by contemporary authors. Very rarely have I met teachers who might include children's literature in the form of picture books. This article will argue that picture books in fact represent a very good source of authentic literature for use in the ESL classroom, also at secondary level. I do not in any way imply that the current literary selection is faulty, but I do suggest that there is a lot to gain by casting the net wider and introducing the students to a more varied selection of literature. The article concludes with a list of picture books which I have used in my own teaching, with suggestions on how to find further suitable titles in the vast field of picture books being published in the English speaking world.
Knowledge Promotion
Picture books may help to achieve several of the learning goals as set out by the national curriculum for English in Knowledge Promotion (LK 06). I will present a number of different picture books and discuss them in the light of the three main areas of study: language study; communication; and culture, society and literature. I will focus on two of the curriculum's four basic skills areas: reading; and writing and speaking (which include listening). My main emphasis will be on reading. Hellekjær (2005) has established that Norwegian students do not read enough and are often poor readers. He has also shown that the amount of reading undertaken by a student is closely connected to the development of good language skills. To help students become good readers, I believe it is of great help to start with texts which are predictable and of a manageable length, and picture books fulfil both these needs. In addition, picture books are highly suitable for individually adapted teaching goals and can be of assistance to the teacher in his/her work to help both stronger and weaker students. I will introduce teaching suggestions suitable for all grades from year five through to year thirteen, although the emphasis will be on primary and lower secondary.
The advantage of picture books
Picture books, often described as predictable books, are written for native speaking children and are originally intended to be read aloud, for example as part of the bedtime routine. As the name implies the text is illustrated by accompanying pictures. The stories may be based on traditional folk tales, or they may be stories written specifically for young children. Reading stories for children assists the development of a number of social, emotional and linguistic skills. Among the linguistic skills the development of language and narrative skills is often emphasised (Lightbown and Spada 1999). The books are produced primarily with first language learners in mind, but these stories may also be used to help children develop skills in a second language (Linse 2007). In Norwegian primary and secondary schools the majority of students are well past being read to at bedtime (although some might still enjoy it), and the classroom setting demands a different approach. I will return to the approach shortly, but first a few words on the language learning inherent in predictable books.
A brief survey of a selection of picture books will show that the language tends to be repetitive and predictable. This is a classic feature of traditional folk tales and fairy stories. Authors of contemporary picture books are certainly aware of the value of repetition and predictability and employ such features regularly. The predictability and repetition originally helped the storyteller recall the narrative line, and functioned as a linguistic scaffolding for the children listening (Cook 2000). The same will be true of second language learners. The repetition emphasises certain phrases and words and help the students to understand, remember and recall them later as part of their active language. The predictability gives the listener a profound sense of control and understanding, since s/he is often able to anticipate the next line.
Most Norwegian readers will be familiar with The Three Billy Goats Gruff (De Tre Bukkene Bruse). This tale illustrates the repetition and predictability clearly:
Who is that trotting over my bridge? It's just me, said the little Billy Goat Gruff.
Who is that trotting over my bridge? It's just me, said the middle size Billy Goat Gruff.
Who is that trotting over my bridge? It's just me, said the big Billy Goat Gruff.
Using this story in the ESL classroom, the repetition makes it easy to learn the lines off by heart and the predictability of the language helps the listener guess what the next line will be, thus actively using the language s/he has already heard and memorised. The troll's repetitive question: Who is that trotting over my bridge? provides an excellent opportunity to practice the present continuous tense. In the goats' replies there is the simple phrase It's just me, which contains the oral contraction it's from it is, the adverb just (only) and the personal pronoun me. Depending on the age and level of the students, a reading of this folk tale could simply teach them the phrase. Alternatively, it could lead to a lesson on the use of the apostrophe in contractions (notice which letter is replaced by the apostrophe) and the use of contractions generally; a dictionary search of the varied meanings of just (fair/unfair, exactly, very recently, barely, only, really); and a discussion on the formality/informality of the use of It is I versus It is me.
There are numerous other folk tales employing such repetitions, and they all cover different linguistic features. Here are just two further examples.
Goldilocks (Gullhår og de Tre Bjørnene)
This chair is too high. This porridge is too hot. This bed is too hard.
This chair is too low. This porridge is too cold. This bed is too soft.
This chair is just right. This porridge is just right. This bed is just right
Little Red Riding Hood (Lille Rødhette og Ulven)
What big eyes you have grandma. All the better to see you with.
What big ears you have grandma. All the better to hear you with.
What big teeth you have grandma. All the better to eat you with.
In addition to the language learning, picture books teach a number of other skills such as basic number skills, the colours or the days of the week. They are therefore well suited to build up a basic vocabulary. They may also teach life skills, such as politeness, gratitude or empathy, social skills which are very much part of the teaching and learning in Norwegian schools.
As I have already mentioned, helping our students to become good readers is an important part of our job as teachers. Picture books may help reluctant readers to start a reading career. The stories are generally short which means that the scope of the texts will make the task less daunting, and the predictable language will help them build a bridge between the oral and the written language. The illustrations are a little more problematic. Some illustrations are excellent and will support and enhance the reading experience for the students, whereas others may be experienced as too childish and silly and actively put the students off the text. I discuss ways to deal with this in the next section where I deal with specific texts in detail. The content of some books may also be experienced as too childish, and these books are better left out, but a vast number of picture books contain profound stories which are both moving and exciting. It is up to the teacher to choose texts which will appeal to the age and level of her/his students, and there is certainly enough to choose from.
English picture books are frequently written by authors whose literary credentials are very good. The stories almost always have a theme or topic integrated in the plot and the narrative structure has often high literary qualities. That means the students who are beginning to look deeper into the stories will find ideas and thoughts worth thinking about. It also means that many of these books can be used as an introduction to the study of literary analysis and appreciation at a more profound level. When considering which books to buy for your school or class, it might be helpful to refer to the lists of books which have received literary prizes. Such lists are available on the Internet bookstores Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Plenty of praiseworthy books never receive prizes and by sticking to these lists you may miss out on some very good texts, but this will help you avoid some of the trash which less judicious publishers distribute.
Picture books are being produced throughout the English speaking world and the books often have their foundation in the culture of the author. Traditional tales may be given a local flavour and new tales provide new cultural insights into various English speaking countries. Picture books can therefore be recommended as door openers into English speaking cultures.
Teaching with picture books
The following section presents suggestions for how to approach the teaching of five very different picture books. The suggestions and the texts represent only a minute fraction of everything that is available. My hope is that this will provide some ideas for how this literature can be of use in the ESL classroom.
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present
by Charlotte Zolotow, pictures by Maurice Sendak
This story has two characters, the little girl and Mr. Rabbit. She asks him for help with a present for her mother's birthday. He asks her what her mother likes and they establish that she likes red, yellow, green and blue. These generic terms cause some problems, as Mr. Rabbit says: "You can't give her red." The little girl answers: "Something red, maybe."
After a discussion of "What is red?", "What is yellow?" etc. they decide on red apples, yellow bananas, green pears and blue grapes. They find a basket to put them in, "It made a lovely present". The story has six sections, one where the little girl and Mr. Rabbit meet, one each for the four different colours and one to conclude the story. Each section consists of around two hundred words. From a language learning point-of-view there is considerable repetition of what-questions, and a number of negations and agreements which are regularly repeated. There are several polite phrases, and there is a large vocabulary sorted under colour. Red underwear ("No, I can't give her that."), red roofs, red birds ("She likes birds in trees."), red fire engines, yellow taxicabs, the sun, canary birds, butter, green emeralds ("I can't afford emeralds."), parrots, peas and spinach, caterpillars, blue lakes, stars, sapphires and bluebirds.
The story is beautifully illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Mr. Rabbit is tall, dashing and a little mysterious, and contrary to the customary presentation of rabbits in children's stories, he is not dressed in clothes. The girl is squat, dark haired and down to earth. They wander through the countryside and evening falls as they talk.
This book would generally be suitable to use with grades five/six through to nine, but only you know your class and what they are capable of or willing to do. I have personally used this book in grade eleven (Vg1) with great success. To teach it, I would simply hand out a copy of the text - preferably without the pictures initially. For this purpose I have written the text word for word into my computer to have a copy to give them.1 Then I would either read the story aloud for them, or ask them to read it for themselves. This depends again on the level of the class. Then I would explain the unfamiliar vocabulary and have them practice pronunciation of new words and phrases together. Next I would either ask them to draw a picture of one of the scenes, or write a short response to what they had read or heard. The pictures and writing could be shared in small groups or in full class. If they see the illustrations from the book at the first reading the drawing sequence does not work, because they feel overawed by the professional illustrations. Then I would divide the class into pairs. Each pair would be given one of the six sections I outlined above to work on. One would take Mr. Rabbit's part, the other the little girl's. They will need time to practice reading and help with pronunciation. After a suitable time, the students would perform the story for each other, reading with as much imagination as they can muster. If you can provide the fruit and a basket as props, that would be even better, and at the end the class could eat the fruit as reward for a job well done. At the end of this work sequence many students would have learnt the dialogue off by heart, and the phrases and vocabulary would soon become part of their active language. To complete the session you could for example show them the illustrations in the book and have them guess and retell which part of the dialogue belongs to each picture, giving them an opportunity to use and firmly fix the new language in their minds.
I have already mentioned some of the language learning available from this book. The polite phrases deserve a special mention. These include "Thank you for your help, Mr Rabbit," and "Not at all, very glad to help." But there is not a single "please" in the entire story. This could lead to a discussion on why not. Sometimes the absence of something may also lead to learning exactly that "something".
The constructions "I can't give her/ I can't afford" is repeated over and over and should become firmly fixed. Agreement is expressed in a variety of ways: "Good", "Oh good", "That is good", "The very thing". To practice these you could make up a game based on the story. You say for example: "I think you should give your teacher a green caterpillar/red fire engine", and they could answer with the set phrase they think is most suitable. Some of the students would no doubt get a lot of enjoyment from the idea of giving the teacher a green caterpillar.
The book teaches quite firmly that you should give your mother a birthday present. (I am in favour of that!) It also teaches that some people do not like birds to be locked up in cages, although it is not put quite like that. The girl establishes early on that mother "...likes birds in trees". This idea is repeated with yellow canaries and green parrots, until finally Mr. Rabbit says: "Bluebirds are blue, but she likes birds in trees." A discussion on keeping animals in cages, and what might happen to a caged animal that is suddenly released, might be a good follow up to this.
Jamberry
by Bruce Degen
Jamberry is a rhyming book, slightly nonsensical yet full of fun phrases and associations.
The drawings are energetic and colourful, and eminently suitable for use with primary students, but students in the lower secondary grades might find them too childish and off- putting. So again I have copied the text into my computer so that I can hand it out without the pictures. The text swings along in a happy, rollicking rhythm in five stanzas. Here is the first stanza:
One berry, two berry
Pick me a blueberry
Hatberry, Shoeberry
In my canoeberry
Under the bridge
And over the dam
Looking for berries
Berries for jam
I would use this text mainly to read aloud as a pronunciation practice and to engage the students in getting their tongues around the different English sounds. I would use a number of different speaking strategies: everyone together; class divided in two groups reading alternate lines; class divided into five groups each having responsibility for one stanza; etc. After a good reading session when everyone has become familiar with the rhythm and have sorted out the nonsensical vocabulary we would discuss the rhyme pattern. The next job would be for the students to write an additional stanza, making up their own nonsense words and performing it for the class. The concept of nonsense is central in children's literature in English, both contemporary and classic. Most of you would be familiar with Edward Lear's Nonsense Songs and the nonsense of Lewis Carroll, and after having worked with Jamberry, "the time has come", as the Walrus said, to perhaps introduce short excerpts - or long - from such texts. The classical children's literature is a treasure trove of language and reading experiences which might provide a good challenge for the stronger students in your class.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!
By A. Wolf as told to Jon Scieszka
This story is, as you will have guessed, based on the classical tale of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, but this is the story as told by Alexander Wolf himself. He has a different story to tell. In a short ingress he says:
Everybody knows the
story of the Three Little Pigs.
Or at least they think they do.
But I'll let you in on a little secret.
Nobody knows the real story,
because nobody has ever heard
my side of the story.
The real story according to A. Wolf is that he was baking a birthday cake for his dear old granny when he discovered that he had run out of sugar. So he went to the pig who lived next door to borrow a cup of sugar. Mr. Wolf had a bad sneezing disease, and while knocking on the door he accidentally sneezed the flimsy house down. One thing led to another, and in a short time he had sneezed down one more house and was trying to break into a third, all occupied by nasty, selfish pigs, who would not lend him a cup of sugar for his dear granny's birthday cake. His final comment from his cell in jail is: "Maybe you could loan me a cup of sugar." The text covers around five pages in total and the illustrations are dramatic, dark and modernistic. The wolf looks very kind and civilized close up, but he clearly has a dark side which is apparent in some of the drawings.
This is a book which should be read individually. To organise this you could select a number of books suitable for individual reading and have the whole class occupied with individual reading tasks, or you could set up a reading corner where students can withdraw and read when other tasks have been finished. I think it might be best to organise reading in both these ways to ensure that the students who always finish last also get a chance to read.
Prior to reading this particular story, the student should be reminded of the original tale of the Three Little Pigs. The reading might be done simply for the pleasure of reading, or you could ask the students for a log on the reading experience so that you can keep a check on what they have covered. The book tends to appeal to boys, and boys tend to read what the others have read, so if you have a group of boys all reading the same book, you could give them a task of dramatising the story for the rest of the class. This could be an alternative to the oral presentations of ‘my hobby' which we all know can get a little tedious. There is a lot of language learning to be culled from this text including a good opportunity to sort out and teach the words "borrow", "lend" and "loan".
Goodnight and Thanks for the Teeth
by Rob Alexander and John Marsden
The concept of the tooth fairy is very much part of the culture of English speaking children and a variant of this custom will also be familiar to Norwegian children. This book tells a detailed story of the life and trials of the tooth fairies, and introduces their enemies and rivals, the goblins. It also provides a lot of facts about teeth, introducing vocabulary such as "incisor", "canine" and "molar". It encourages the brushing of teeth (tooth fairies don't like grotty, scummy teeth) and it warns you against the goblins who collect teeth without leaving any money and asks "Is your parent a goblin?" The story tells of children who try to cheat the tooth fairies, such as Simon Bucktoof who stole his grandma's false teeth and claimed payment for them from the tooth fairy. It encourages tidiness, since tooth fairies have problems finding teeth in a messy bedroom and also because untidy rooms attract goblins. The illustrations are fun and at times a little scary, even student teachers report them as scary, and scary illustrations have an enormous attraction for many children. The language is relatively advanced.
As with The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Goodnight and Thanks for the Teeth is ideal for individual reading. When the book is placed in the class reading corner the teacher could take the opportunity to discuss the custom of tooth fairies as practiced in Norway and in English speaking countries. This might generate a discussion in class based on the children's experiences with losing their milk teeth. At some stage the central vocabulary about teeth, false teeth and dentists should be taught to the whole class. There are one or two pages with delightful drawings which might be copied and handed out in connection with this work and all the students should be encouraged to read the book. It is a lively book, and the lay-out makes reading it interesting, since the letter size varies, some sections are printed entirely in capitals, on some pages there are tables (listing the going price for clean teeth), there is ample use of fat type and so on.
The Watertower
by Gary Crew and Steven Woolman
The front cover of this book depicts a classical Australian water tower of the type you will see outside every little town in the arid parts of the country. But the tower is luminescent green and strange circles of light radiate from it, giving associations to UFOs. On the tank is a darker half circle, a kind of symbol. The reading of this book must be accompanied by the illustrations since they are an integral part of the story, so it is suitable either for individual reading or for reading aloud with the illustrations projected onto a screen. Having no technological equipment beyond an overhead projector, I simply made transparency copies to show the students when I read it for the class.
The story is only about three A4 pages long. We meet two young boys, Spike Trotter and Bubba D'Angelo who live in a small town in the Australian outback called Preston. The opening sequence is accompanied by an identical picture to that on the front cover. The difference lies in the use of colour. This time it is without the luminescent green and radiating light, and is presented as a rather rusty and tattered, ordinary water tower. The text, however, foreshadows the events to come:
Nobody in Preston could remember when the
watertower was built, or who had built it,
but there it stood on Shooters Hill - its iron
legs rusted, its egg-shaped tank warped and
leaking - casting a long, dark shadow across
the valley, across Preston itself.
Because of the heat Mike and Bubba decides to go swimming in the water tower. This is strictly forbidden since it is the town's drinking water. As they walk through town the illustrations show us the people living there, their eyes are blank yet piercing and most have the half-circle symbol from the water tank on their hats and caps. The atmosphere is creepy despite the brilliant, sunny day. While they are swimming Bubba's pants are blown away by a gust of wind. Bubba is terrified of going home without pants on, as he says: "If my mother finds out that I've lost my pants, I'm dead." So Mike runs into town to get him a pair of pants. While Mike is away something happens to Bubba. This something is not explained, all we can guess is that Bubba is terrified, but when Mike returns he meets a completely changed Bubba; his fear is gone, his face is calm, his eyes are piercing, almost evil. The story ends with the ominous sentence: "Deep in the tank, the water eddied and swirled."
The structure of this story makes it impossible not to delve into it. The question: What happened to Bubba, is unavoidable and must be dealt with. Yet there is no ‘correct' answer, everything is left to the imagination of the students (and the teacher). Is this a science fiction story? Possibly, it all depends on how you interpret it.
The story contains enough challenges to introduce it from grade nine through to thirteen. A younger class could write a sequence, or their explanation of what happened to Bubba. An older class could also do this kind of writing, but in addition they could analyse the text from a literary point of view. How does the author build up the suspense? Exactly what does he do to create the sense of loneliness and fear. Could the same be achieved through words alone, or is this a hybrid text, totally dependent for its suspense on the pictures? These and other questions could be discussed in small groups or dealt with in written texts. There is also the problem of adults' behaviour. Bubba is terrified of his mother, and knows he will get a beating if he arrives home without his pants. This could provide an opening for a discussion on what is acceptable adult behaviour when children act silly or carelessly.
Reading this text in an upper secondary class might provide a stepping stone to more adult science fiction, and maybe into reading generally. Some might feel that the students should begin to tackle texts from the canon at this age and that science fiction or other lighter entertainment is not suitable reading in the classroom. My response is that at this age, the teacher's job is primarily is to create a love of reading, and we ought to do that with whatever texts catch the imagination of the students. If we manage to instil in them an interest in and a love of reading books, they will find their way to the canon as they mature. If we press the canon on them when they are not ready, we might turn them off books for life, and that is a great sin. Having said that, I would also add that there are plenty of texts from the canon which carry suspense and drama at least as well as The Watertower, so the time might indeed be ready to introduce selected texts which build on the excitement the reading of The Watertower has created.
Further ideas
I would like to add one further method for using picture books in upper secondary school. This method demands that you have a sufficient selection of books so that the students can choose a text to work with either alone or in pairs. They then read their text and prepare a short, oral, literary presentation. This work gives the students a sense of control and literary command. The texts are brief and relatively simple, yet they are doing a proper literary analysis. The initial teaching of basic literary terms such as plot, theme, setting, character, symbol, metaphor and foreshadowing is much easier if the text is not too demanding, and once they have mastered it, it is easy to transfer that understanding to a more difficult text. Since most picture books also endeavour to teach some basic knowledge or concept of behaviour, they should clarify what that concept is in their text. Students who have done such work report back great enjoyment and surprise. They had never considered the literary or pedagogical qualities of picture books before. A short sequence along these lines to introduce students to the tools of literary analysis is highly recommended.
Some of the books I have used in this work, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Where the Wild Things Are, and many of the Dr. Seuss books are familiar to the students, since they have been translated into Norwegian and they read them as children. The familiarity brings the students added pleasure. They are able to recall their own response to the text when they met it as a child, and they realise that they are no longer children. Thus a picture book may provide a sense of self-awareness and insight into their development as young adults.
Conclusion
Once you start working with picture books in the classroom, you may find, as I did, that a whole new literary world opens up. Much of the literature produced for children is of high quality, eminently suitable for the classroom and for teaching many of the skills demanded by the national curriculum. Much of it is also greatly entertaining both for children and adults. It is my hope that the detailed treatment of these five texts together with the thoughts presented, will provide you with enough ideas to develop your own methods to use with picture books in the ESL classroom.
List of picture books
Attached you will find a list of books I know and recommend. A star * indicates more advanced texts. A good source for buying picture books is the Internet store Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. On Amazon you will also find lists of the books which have received prizes for their literary and/or artistic quality. These lists might help you to find your way in a vast field of unknown titles and authors.
References
Cook, Guy, 2000. Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford University Press.
Hellekjær, Glenn Ole, 2005. The Acid Test: Does Upper Secondary EFL Instruction Effectively Prepare Norwegian Students for the Reading of English Textbooks at Colleges and Universities. Avhandling for dr.art.-graden ved Universitetet i Oslo. Summary available at: http://www.hf.uio.no/forskning/dok-disp/d-navn/hellekjaer.html (accessed 26.06.2009)
Linse, Caroline, 2007. Predictable books in the children's EFL Classroom. In ELT Journal Volume 61/1 January 2007. Oxford University Press