Response to Hellman, Towell, and Smilan

Both of these articles made it very clear that picture books are a great way to teach students about anything in the world.  I never realized how vital they are in a classroom.  The visuals that the pictures in books help children learn without knowing they are learning.  Picture books are fun and exciting and engaging for children, while also having an underlying lesson or meaning.  Children learn visually so this is a great way to create a lesson.  And this lesson doesn’t have to be boring, picture books have fun exciting illustrations filled with bright colors and different art styles.  Hellman states, “The picture book can provide information about other lands and other peoples in a more palatable way than a textbook...” (page 6).  I really like the way Hellman uses picture books in art education; by their content and form.  You can create any fun lesson from these two categories.  I also like Towell and Smilan’s idea for introducing art integration with literacy teaching (page 19).  There will be tons of dialogue and discussion, from any grade level not just younger students, if a teacher uses a picture book in the classroom.  “The students don’t read picture books they experience them” (Hellman page 8).  These picture books are also a really great way to integrate different cultures to the students.  To show what other cultures traditions and lifestyles are.  Older students could simply look on the internet, which is also a great resource for information, but they can also learn from picture books.  Younger students will benefit from this tremendously.  They can see what life is like during Christmas time from all different cultures for example, or what Halloween is like in Spanish culture.  There is a whole, vast world out there and picture books can help put it all together and bring it into the classroom. 

Response to Your Place or Mine?

After reading this article I was amazed about how much can be pulled from what seemed, a simple children’s book.  It was great to read all of the information that the authors pulled from it.  The themes and views of family, culture, environment, illustration, and text were analyzed in great detail.  I never really looked at a children’s book and wondered what it was actually about, the reading in between the lines.  I think that this would be a great lesson plan for children because it will get them thinking about the underlying meaning of the book and get them brainstorming and learning about a different culture other than their own.  I really enjoyed reading this and was able to take a lot out of it even though I had to read it several times!