Skip to main content

Picture Cues

Students will be able to use picture cues to confirm or self-correct unknown words. 

Duration
Less than 1 hour
Lesson Type
Traditional Lesson

Essential Question

How can we use the pictures to help us read words on a page? 

Grade(s):

  • Kindergarten
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Subject(s):

Other Instructional Materials or Notes:


-A book on each students reading level

Lesson Progression

  1.  Students will begin the lesson on the carpet.
  2. The teacher will explain to students when they come across a ‘tricky’ word they can use the pictures to help them figure out what that word is.
  3. The teacher will demonstrate this using a picture book preferably one students are familiar with. The teacher should read the first two pages and then choose a word to stumble on to use as the ‘tricky’ word. The teacher should model/demonstrate how to use the illustrations on the page to help figure out the tricky word.
  4. The teacher should continue reading. Model/demonstrate again using another example from the text, making sure to demonstrate how to go about looking at the illustrations to help solve the tricky word.
  5. After reading the story, review what the teacher did to help figure out the tricky word. Afterwards, the teacher will have students pull out a book on their level to try it on their own. (If students have reading bags with leveled books in them they can use one of those, if not, students can use any grade level book that’s appropriate for your group of students.) During this time, the teacher will walk around and confer with students to see if they are grasping the idea using their own stories. (5-7 minutes)
  6. Students will come back together and the teacher will share what they noticed students doing. The teacher should use certain students as examples and make sure they give details as to what they were doing to use the pictures to help them read the challenging words they came across.

Teacher Notes

Extension: For students who have mastered this concept, introduce them to other strategies they can use to solve unknown words when picture clues are not available.

Remediation: Provide small group support for students who need it; Allow students to work with a partner; Teacher will model their thinking for students again.

Assessments

Students will be assessed during the time they try it on their own. The teacher will confer with students to get an idea on who has grasped the concept, and who still needs work on it. Students will also be assessed during the share portion of the lesson.