Use Pictures, Illustrations, and Diagrams–Parent Pipeline

The strategy of using pictures, illustrations, and diagrams to gain meaning of text is a commonly used strategy. Readers use picture clues to determine if what they read makes sense, or to help them make sense of something they are struggling to understand. Often pictures will tell us who is in the story, where it takes place, and what is happening. As teachers, we model this strategy when we read by thinking aloud when we come to a word we don't know. We stop, reread the word, look at the pictures, and think out loud to confirm the meaning of the word. Although this comes as second nature in our vocabulary instruction, we still need to highlight this important to parents who can provide reinforcement at home.