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Ideas + Resources

Free guides, activities, and teaching ideas.
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Visual literacy + art

Choose a download, read a teaching idea, or listen for inspiration. Check each activity’s book requirements before you begin.

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Downloads + activities (7)

Visual Literacy Classroom Toolkit
Grades K–5 · PDF · 11 pages · 1.3 MB
Use the pictures to notice facial expressions, motion, and details the short text leaves for readers to infer. K–5 toolkit, with teacher adaptation for Pre-K.
General picture-book activities
Download the guide
Discussion + activity guide
Grades PK–3 · PDF · 24 pages · 3.7 MB
Explore nouns, verbs, and the way language makes a story work.
Book-specific guide
Guide created by Debbie Gonzales
Guides by Deb
Download the guide
Zoey Coloring Sheet
PDF · 1 page · 0.7 MB
Bring Zoey to life with color. A printable for the Chicken series.
Chicken-series printable
Download the printable
Noun Coloring Sheet
PDF · 1 page · 0.7 MB
A Wordplay character printable for color and language exploration.
Wordplay printable
Download the printable
Verb Coloring Sheet
PDF · 1 page · 0.7 MB
A Wordplay character printable for color and language exploration.
Wordplay printable
Download the printable
Empowering Students with Picture Books
PDF · 21 pages · 0.7 MB
Explore voice, confidence, and creative expression. Includes I Don’t Draw, I Color!, Warning, Please, and books by Carmen Oliver.
Multi-book activity pack
Download the guide
Emotional Memory / Mining Memory Activity Guide
PDF · 12 pages · 1.4 MB
Explore memory through art and writing with Lisa Rogers’s Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony and Beautiful Noise.
Uses named books by Lisa Rogers
Download the guide

Teaching articles (3)

Build voice and confidence
Teaching article
Creative picture-book activities that help students express themselves. Includes I Don’t Draw, I Color!, Warning, and Please.
Teaching article
Read the article
Visual literacy in the classroom
Teaching article
Read visual clues and explore how illustrations tell a story. Includes I Will Not Eat You.
Teaching article
Read the article
Memory, art, and creative expression
Teaching article
Explore emotional learning, memory, and creative expression through picture books. Includes There Was a Hole.
Teaching article
Read the article

Picture This listening (2)

Unlock student creativity
Picture This podcast · 29 min
Move beyond story time and explore classroom creativity through picture books.
Picture This podcast
Open episode audio
Picture This: visual literacy
Picture This podcast · 22 min
Explore why visual literacy matters in elementary classrooms.
Picture This podcast
Open episode audio

Have a book in mind?

Select a title to find its guides and activities.

This Is a Good Story

A story worth building.

Discussion + project guide

Grades PK–6 · PDF · 16 pages · 2.3 MB

Ready-to-use creative activities help students see how stories work and start building their own.

Book-specific guide

Download the guide

Guide created by Debbie Gonzales

Guides by Deb

Also useful: activities to adapt

Creative Writing Lesson Kit
PDF · 14 pages · 0.6 MB
Explore narrative structure and writing with picture books. Choose a narrative picture book that fits the lesson; examples include We Love Fishing!.
Requires a suitable narrative picture book
Download the guide

Explore the book

An illustrated story begins with an idea. — Illustration by Magali Le Huche

Start here. Take it further.

Need a more participatory read-aloud? Start with the first selection. Want readers to look more closely at illustrations? Try the second. Each article, activity, and episode works on its own.