Welcome to Picture Book Lessons!

When starting this blog, I first went through a process of reflection. I asked myself:
1) What am I passionate about in teaching?
2) What do I have plenty of knowledge in?

While I came up with several answers, I went with picture books. I love them. I love to buy them. I love to read them. I love to share them with my children and my students. I love to teach with them. Most of all, I love when students love them too.

Every time a new unit starts in any subject, the first thing I do is look through my picture book library and pull the books that relate. So, I thought I would share that passion with anyone would like to listen.

Who am I? I am Rachel Friedrich, a teacher, wife, mother of two, and blogger. Many of you may know me as the creator of Sub Hub, which I started a year ago as a resource for teachers preparing for subs and subs themselves. I always say teaching is my second life since I was a career changer and lived my previous life as a journalist. Reading and writing have always been important in my life, so what better topic for a blog?

My thoughts for Picture Book Lessons are pretty broad. I want to share how I use picture books in the classroom. There will be lessons with mentor texts, activities, craftivities, writing ideas, science ideas, social studies ideas, etc. I plan to host guest bloggers and linkies so you can get other perspectives as well. And note the Mentor Texts tab at the top of the blog. It is sparse right now, but I will be adding topics and books along the way with the goal of compiling a mega list of mentor texts!

Some of you may ask why picture books and not chapter books too? I mean, shouldn't older students be reading chapter books when they are ready. Well, of course. But that doesn't mean picture books lose their place in the classroom. My main reason for focusing on picture books is practicality. Picture books don't take too much time to read, so it's very feasible to read a book and do the lesson/activity in one day or over the course of a couple of days. Plus, who doesn't love to be read to and look at pictures? Even my husband's high school AP biology students adore when he reads them The Lorax every year. Picture books are not just for littles. They can be used to teach concepts of every level. And I will do my best to share that with you.

So, in short, my goals are two-fold — to share a passion of mine and help some other teachers in the process. I am always open to suggestions as well. If there is something you need, cannot find, or want to share, let me know through the Contact Me tab. So, remember, if you can,

"Teach It With a Book!"