How Read-Alouds Can Encourage Student Writers

As a former fourth-grade teacher and a current literacy consultant, I’ve learned that the recipe for helping reluctant student writers gain confidence and enthusiasm is to share models that show them that they can do what they see between the pages of a text. Utilizing texts that students connect with and view as accessible models can bring joy and confidence back into writing instruction. The following picture books aim to help you do just that.

‘The OK Book’ (Grades K–1)

The premise of The OK Book, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, is that we, especially children, don’t have to be experts or know everything about the world. It’s OK to just be OK at something. The main character’s body is literally drawn from the letters O and K, to illustrate everything that kids are learning about and getting better at each day.

This book includes accessible, engaging illustrations that children can emulate with confidence. It also features a pattern book structure that they can mimic. Lastly, it also demonstrates a clever and playful use of punctuation, layout, and illustrations.

‘One Boy Watching’ (Grades K–2)

This story, written and illustrated by Grant Snider, is an example of what happens when we closely observe our world. We journey with a young child as he watches his world from the school bus window. The text has a feeling of nostalgic innocence as it gives the reader access into this child’s experience of an everyday occurrence. The illustrations are rich in depth and add to the main character’s uncomplicated observations.

Snider’s text contains purposeful fragments and phrases and all four types of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory), which create fluency and voice. The text highlights the power of close observation—an activity that student writers can engage in easily and often. Finally, through reading this story, younger students can practice adding adjectives, repetition, and other details into their own writing with confidence.

‘The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in Its Mouth’ (Grades K–5)

The Happiness of a Dog With a Ball in Its Mouth is a delightful book written by Bruce Handy and illustrated by Hyewon Yum. It’s filled with contrasting pairs of text that highlight emotional events in a child’s life. The range of experiences in the book make this read-aloud suitable for all elementary students. It’s important for teachers to preview the book—some pages deal with loss and change. All of the examples are clever and real, and could be used as jumping-off points for students’ own storytelling. The detailed illustrations enhance the text’s simplicity and show how word choice has a strong impact on readers.

Teaching possibilities can include using opposites as a writing pattern (a successful structure that all student writers can use) or utilizing an online thesaurus to add more varied and interesting vocabulary. This simple technique will easily enable students to see their writing as more sophisticated. The book features intentional and effortless examples of different grammar concepts (parentheses, exclamation points, ellipses, verbs, abstract nouns, preposition phrases, adjectives, etc.) that students can emulate with ease.

‘Windows’ (Grades 2–6)

Windows, written by Julia Denos and illustrated by E. B. Goodale, is an experiment in perspective. From the first endpapers, where dusk is beginning to bloom, until the back endpapers, where evening has begun, this story is a snapshot of a child’s view as they stroll through their neighborhood noticing life. A circular text, the book starts and ends in the same place using the rare second-person point of view. The sights and sounds of this child’s experience are a perfect example of narrative writing.

This picture book boasts a treasure trove of straightforward yet rich examples of similes, metaphors, personification, and imagery that give students an opportunity to try on figurative language in a scaffolded way. A seemingly ordinary activity described in an extraordinary way encourages students to recognize that their experiences are worth writing about.

Imaginative choices using line breaks, white space, and layout allow student writers to experiment and play with structure. Finally, detailed illustrations that include environmental print, patterns, perspective, careful color choices, accessories, and texture give student writers specific examples of how to bring life to their illustrations.

‘Big and Small and In-Between’ (Grades 3–8)

Written by Carter Higgins and illustrated by Daniel Miyares, Big and Small and In-Between is a unique book that is set up in three chapters: Big Things, In-Between Things, and Small Things. Each one of the examples is a “thing” that will resonate with readers in a meaningful way. The simple ideas presented can encourage unenthusiastic student writers to rethink how they view the “boring and uninteresting things” in their lives.

This book experiments with fonts, line breaks, white space, structure, and shape. These elements give students a chance to enhance their writing using uncomplicated additions. The micro-stories that make up each chapter also give students permission to write about the hard times in their lives, something that they don’t always have the chance to do. Additionally, observation is presented as a way for students to recognize the parts of their world that hold stories. Lastly, this unique book offers ideas for students who struggle with writer’s block.

‘Here is a Book’ (Grades 4–8)

Elisha Cooper’s newest creation, Here Is a Book, honestly depicts the evolution of a book. This text seems to include all the literal and figurative elements needed when creating a published text. The book jacket says it best by explaining that the book “takes readers on a journey that shows all of the people—and the heart—that go into making something beautiful.”

Cooper’s work contains intentional line breaks and white space that create fluency and pacing, as well as poetic lists within sentences that show students how to stretch their sentences in a clever way. Precise nouns, verbs, abstract nouns, and other parts of speech exemplify the importance of word choice with attainable examples.

‘Home’ (Grades 4–8)

Home, written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Loren Long, a sequel to their critically acclaimed book Love (2018), is an exploration of all the various forms of what we call “home.” De la Peña’s poetry, coupled with Long’s moving paintings, depicts scenes of belonging, security, resilience, connection, and identity, offering older students the opportunity to see themselves on many pages.

Other possibilities to encourage students’ writing confidence might be analyzing paintings for theme, perspective, tone, and symbolism before they begin writing their own stories. Grammar lessons connected to adverbs, verbs, prepositional phrases, precise nouns, hyphens, comma usage, and different types and lengths of sentences can aid in lifting the level of student writing in easy yet meaningful ways.

As a national literacy consultant, I understand how overwhelming and intimidating writing can be for many students. When I encounter resistant student writers, I try to build their confidence by modeling the techniques that published authors use to create their writing pieces. Showing students how to craft one small part of their own writing piece can be the springboard they need to see themselves as an author who takes risks, tries new things, and, ultimately, creates a masterpiece of their own.