Research School Network: Science and shadows: using wordless picture books to teach vocabulary This blog forms part of our series looking at the impact of the ​‘Language for Learning’ project in Scarborough.

This blog forms part of our series looking at the impact of the ​‘Language for Learning’ project in Scarborough. To read more about the project click here.

Springhead School is a specialist school for cognition and learning.

​‘A picture speaks a thousand words’ is something that is proving so true with many of our pupils. Removing the barrier of words by using wordless picture books has empowered children with all sorts of special education needs from feeling they ​‘can’t read’ to knowing they have a lot to say about what they can see.

I was given a slot on a staff training day to talk about wordless books and how we use them in school. I read out a piece of writing inspired by one single page from ​‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker. The imagination, use of language and description was amazing and I remember the gasp of astonishment from staff when I told them which pupil wrote it. Despite severe dyslexia, ADHD and a learning disability, he had overcome all those barriers to writing by interpreting a picture verbally, knowing his interpretation was valid and having it scribed for him.

Using wordless books became the focus of my research project in the Language for Learning project, to see how they can be used beyond ​‘literacy’ lessons and to support pupils with SEN in learning science vocabulary. Learning new vocabulary, being able to use it in context and retaining that learning over time is a huge challenge for pupils with SEN. I wondered if using a really good quality wordless book might help.

I chose the book ​‘Shadow’ by Suzy Lee – where a girl is playing creating shadows which over the book grow and merge and take on a life of their own, until eventually we are fully immersed in her imagination where shadows take over (sounds a bit sinister, but it’s not!).

In reality using the wordless book probably taught me more than the pupils…thinking about the book from a science point of view and what the pupils needed to understand about light and materials before they even got to the shadow story helped me to slow down the pace of my teaching and plan a sequence of work over the term which would help embed vocabulary such as natural, artificial, reflection, refraction (almost a step too far!), translucent, transparent, and opaque.

The Frayer Model was really successful with this group as it gave a scaffold for taking the time to talk about a single word – What does it mean? What doesn’t it mean? How can we draw a picture to remind us what it means? What is an example of it? Or not an example of it? – I had never taken so much time over teaching a single word. The pupils got used to the process and began to complain when I gave them a new sheet to complete, until I reminded them how much I had noticed it was helping them to remember new words, at which point they decided they quite liked doing them.

To support this learning, we did lots of fun and practical activities so they could really experience what the words and concepts meant. This really helped to keep the learning alive, fun and to enable retention over the term. I saw a significant improvement over the term in pupils remembering and using this vocabulary in context and generalising it to other situations, not just in the lesson.

When it came to pupils actually looking at the picture book themselves, we were well into understanding sources of light and materials that created different shadows. One pupil in particular showed a really great understanding of what the really quite complex ideas in the story meant, knowing when the shadows were moving into the real world in the illustration that this was ​‘her imagination taking over’.

This approach really suited my pupils and is something I will definitely continue to develop and expand with a range of wordless picture books in the coming year.

Ginny Forrest, Springhead School

To learn more about the ​‘Language for Learning’ project email mh.​jones@​huntington-​ed.​org.​uk