The Joy of Wordless Texts
Posted on 9 May 2018
PM Wordless Texts use vibrant photographs and illustrations to introduce readers to different stories. They rely on pictures rather than texts to engage early readers which is a fantastic way to introduce fundamental reading concepts and skills to early and emergent readers.
There are numerous benefits to using Wordless Texts and to a large extent, the story is yours to create.
Foster key language skills
As you begin reading with young children, you will find yourself discussing what is happening in the pictures. This helps children to make connections between language and narrative storytelling as well as practising key vocabulary. When children go on to read picture books with words they will know they can search the pictures for clues about what is happening in the story which will aid fluency.
Build a foundation for storytelling
With wordless texts, children create the story using the pictures as a guide. It’s a fantastic basis for developing the key skills involved in writing stories and communicating, allowing children to learn how to relay a series of events in a coherent way. Wordless texts allow for a seamless transition from listening to a story to creating one as well as helping children develop a host of skills including reading, sequencing, orating and writing.
The story needs the reader
What better way to spark a love of reading in a child than by showing them their importance as a reader? Without the child, the story does not exist. Each book can guide a story whilst remaining a blank slate, ready for a child to read a story into it. You can read the same book with each member of the class and come away with thirty different stories. You may be surprised at the imaginative ideas children will have about a wordless text, often reading a story more imaginative and complex than something an author could create.
The perfect introductory step
Instead of launching right into books with words, children can have a midway step with wordless texts. As well as becoming familiar with handling books and turning pages, children can become familiar with the linearity to reading, exploring pictures from left to right and top to bottom before words are introduced.
Wordless Texts are part of PM, the most finely levelled reading programme in the UK. PM has a proven approach to developing successful readers and offering over 1000 books spanning 30 finely graded levels. Wordless Texts work as part of this fine levelling to develop balanced readers.
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