The Importance of Picture Books with Courtney Hinshaw

Click play below to hear the importance of picture books in the classroom:

If you’ve listened to my podcast long enough, you know how much I love picture books! There are so many benefits to using them with your students and I find them to be such an asset in the classroom. Well, I might have found my match for my love of picture books! Today on the episode, I have guest Courtney Hinshaw and we’re talking about the importance of picture books in elementary classrooms.

Courtney Hinshaw is founder of Ramona Recommends and National Open The Magic Day. She teaches fifth grade in Orange County, California where picture books, confetti moments, and dance parties happen on the regular. Courtney is also host of her podcast, Confetti Moments, where she interviews authors, teachers, and book-loving people!

Courtney and I have a real and raw conversation about her personal story, struggles, and successes. Growing up with dyslexia and audio processing, school was hard for her, but picture books saved her, and eventually changed the trajectory of her life. She even created National Open The Magic Day, which is a day dedicated to celebrating kids who have dyslexia and the power of picture books. Courtney believes in making a voice for all the kids who struggle with reading.

The importance of picture books seemed to be endless throughout our conversation. Picture books are short, engaging, and students are still able to comprehend based on the illustrations. Another bonus of picture books is the ability to incorporate social emotional learning (SEL). This can be a difficult topic, but using picture books that address those feelings makes students comfortable in sharing and having an open dialogue.

There are so many takeaways from this episode, but a piece of advice for teachers when you have a student who struggles with reading is to be patient, kind, meet them where they’re at, and celebrate any gain as a win, no matter how big or small. We know that time is restricted in the classroom, but it’s so important to make the time to read to your students, because you never know what book will change a student’s life.

Meet Courtney

http://ramonarecommends.blogspot.com/

Courtney Hinshaw

Courtney Hinshaw is founder of Ramona Recommends and National Open The Magic Day. She teaches fifth grade in Orange County, California where picture books, confetti moments, and dance parties happen on the regular. Go listen to her podcast, Confetti Moments, where Courtney interviews authors, teachers, and book-loving people!

In this episode on the importance of picture books, we discuss:

Why failure is important and safe within the classroom
The connection between chocolate chip cookies and SEL
An easy way to incorporate social emotional learning through picture books
A list of Courtney’s picture book recommendations

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More About Stellar Teacher Podcast:

Welcome to the Stellar Teacher Podcast! We believe teaching literacy is a skill. It takes a lot of time, practice, and effort to be good at it. This podcast will show you how to level up your literacy instruction and make a massive impact with your students, all while having a little fun!

Your host, Sara Marye, is a literacy specialist passionate about helping elementary teachers around the world pass on their love of reading to their students. She has over a decade of experience working as a classroom teacher and school administrator. Sara has made it her mission to create high quality no-fluff resources and lesson ideas that are both meaningful and engaging for young readers.

Each week, Sara and her guests will share their knowledge, tips, and tricks so that you can feel confident in your ability to transform your students into life-long readers.

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