Wordless literature, which are illustrated children’s books without narrative text, have a beneficial effect on literacy and language skills for native and non-native English speakers. Children who engage sharing literacy experiences at home have better literacy skills in school. McKinley-Brighton Elementary has many students who are learning English as a new language and many students who come from homes where caregivers may have challenges with literacy. This project will help to provide all students, ELL (English Language Learners) and native English speaking, in our ENL (English as New Learners) kindergarten classroom with an opportunity to explore wordless literature (children’s books with vivid illustrations that tell the story without text). These students will use these books to discuss and tell stories supported by the illustrations; they will also be provided with story-specific vocabulary boards that feature picture symbols for salient vocabulary and the referents’ labels in English and native languages, if applicable. These students will be given their own copies of the featured books and vocabulary boards to bring home so that families may share in the literature and storytelling without language and literacy barriers.
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