15 Surprising and Clever Ways to Use a Wordless Picture Book in High School English

Imagine a classroom of high school juniors sitting in groups, completing analysis of poetic devices. They are totally engaged and they are doing all the hard stuff. They are working at stations of their own designs. And they are using picture books. Yep. It was a beautiful day. Since that first foray into picture books in high school, I have used them countless times both in my English 11 course and in my AP Literature course which is why today, I am sharing 15 ways to use a wordless picture book in your high school English curriculum.

Why Wordless Picture Books for High School Students?

Sometimes in high school English we have to do the hard stuff. In this post-pandemic world, the hard stuff is even harder. We often use video clips to introduce or review difficult concepts. Picture books are just another entry point.

The great thing about picture books is that even high school seniors can appreciate their beauty, when you have selected “the right one.” In their book, Writing with Mentors, Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O’Dell say, “…a children’s book does more with less space, we want students to be able to find beautiful craft without having to wade through pages of text.”

I stumbled upon using wordless picture books when I was reading Journey (by Aaron Becker) with my daughter and I realized it was the Hero’s Journey. I often use the Hero’s Journey in AP Literature and I realized it was a great way for them to see the Hero’s Journey in action and do a quick analysis before diving into the college level novel we would “really use it with.”

15 Surprising and Clever Ways to Use A Wordless Picture Book in High School English. Check out 15 ideas for introducing and expanding student's understanding of difficult topics like tone, inferencing and archetypal criticism. Perfect for upper level courses including AP Literature.

15 Clever Ways to Use Wordless Picture Books in High School English

One: Use Wordless Picture Books to Teach Inferencing

Since wordless picture books are without words (duh!), when students read them, it is all inference. I have used picture books, wordless picture books, Calvin and Hobbes cartoons and “Shaun the Sheep” videos to hone in on inferencing skills with English 11 students over the years. We will do this as one of our first activities of the school year before diving into a short story that requires inferencing the get the point.

Using a book without words is something that you could use as a way to step back if you see that students are struggling with inferencing. We use the “I do, we do, you do model” usually starting with a Calvin and Hobbes comic projected on the screen and ending with students doing inference in with a wordless picture book.

Two: Teach the Steps of Close Reading with a Wordless Picture Book

It’s important for our high school students to get good at close reading. They need to consider the details. How much more fun would it be to introduce the steps of close reading through a wordless picture book. It takes the pressure off. They can focus on learning the steps while noticing the details in the images. It is so much less intimidating than it is to begin close reading with a chunk of text or a poem.

Three: Challenge Student to Understand the Methods of Characterization

In a recent post, I talked about teaching students to delve into the methods of characterization. Since there are no words, students will have to focus in on the other methods of indirect characterization. Specifically, they will have to focus on what characters are doing, what they look like, how other characters are perceiving them and perhaps, what they are thinking. And it’s all the inferencing skills that we need them to use in texts with words.

Four: Use Wordless Picture Books to Examine Elements of Voice

In her great book called Voice Lessons, Nancy Dean uses very short passages from mentor texts to have students examine the elements of voice including detail, imagery and irony. Art has voice too. Students can use a whole text or just one double page spread to examine detail and imagery. And kids books are loaded with irony, too.

Five: Plot, Structure, Conflict and Summarizing

In AP Literature there are a number of Essential Skills which revolve around understanding the structure of a text. Pull out those plot diagrams and plot anchor charts (Need a plot anchor chart? Try this one.) and have your students get to work identifying the rising action, climax, conflicts and denouement.

Summarizing is a skill too. See if your students can summarize a wordless picture book in exactly three sentences. (Oh and there is so much room for grammar instruction here too. Can anyone say complex sentences?)

Six: Use a Book without Words to Teach Contrast

I recently wrote about introducing students to contrast and juxtaposition through video. What if you introduced it through video then had them do their first practice with a book without words.

Seven: Practice Figurative Language

Obviously, if you are using a book without words, it won’t come with figurative language in it, but they can be great jumping off points for having students write their own figurative language. They can use the images to write similes, metaphors, develop personification and hyperbole.

Eight: Help Students Understand Pacing through a Story Without Words

Using sentence lengths can sometimes be challenging for students to understand pacing. However, picture books, especially ones without words can make it easier for students to see how the author can control speed through the details on a page. Then show them a written piece where the author does something similar.

Nine: Use Wordless Books to Teach Tone

Tone is another topic that can be difficult for students to grasp. But, picture books are a great way to teach tone because the visuals really help to establish that sense of attitude that the artist is conveying through colors, light and images. Have students examine a double page spread for details, colors, light and specific images. Then provide them with a tone list to select what tone they think the illustrator is conveying.

Ten: The Hero’s Journey through Wordless Picture Books

If it is true what Joseph Campbell says about the Hero’s Journey: that there is only one story, then wordless picture books are a perfect way for students to explore the Hero’s Journey. As I mentioned above, I love to use wordless picture books with my AP Lit students to explore the Hero’s Journey before we jump into something longer, like a novel. Grab a free Hero’s Journey graphic and notes page here.

Eleven: Archetypes in the Book Without Words

I often pair a unit on the Hero’s Journey with Archetypal Criticism and lessons on character archetypes. The books without words make a great place for students to explore archetypal criticism by looking at settings, plots and of course, character archetypes.

Twelve: Practice Reader Response Skills

I love Reader Response Criticism for the power of discussion and development of the critical thinking skills. (You can read more about Reader Response Criticism here.). Stories without words are a great way to introduce this skill. These types of books are so unintimidating that it’s a perfect entry point.

Thirteen: Practice Seminar Skills

Students need to be taught how to participate in full class discussions. I like to have students discuss the protocols that we will use. Once they are established, you can use a wordless picture book to practice before moving into something more challenging. You could try a One Word Seminar (Read more about that here.)

When the seminar is over, have students complete a post seminar reflection.

Fourteen: Teach Text Complexity with a Story Without Words

Even in AP Literature, text complexity is a difficult concept. We spend lots of time at the beginning of the school year focusing on what makes texts complex. Focusing on something seemingly simple like a story without words is something that works exceptionally well. Students can focus on the images and story rather than the complicated words.

Fifteen: Use Wordless Picture Books to Write Claims and Thesis Statement

This one piggy backs off the previous one. I like to teach my AP Lit students to focus using the contrasts in a texts to develop their thesis statements. Since it is easier for students to find the contrasts and complexities in a wordless picture book, it is also easier for them to develop thesis statements. (For more on writing thesis statements, check out this post.)

Tips for How to Use Wordless Picture Books in the Classroom

In high school English, it is easy to develop lesson plans for wordless picture books. There are so many ways to smoothly incorporate them throughout the year. They are perfect for any difficult concept you want to introduce because focusing on the images takes the challenge out of the text.

So, how do you get the texts to use in your class? I have done it a number of ways over the years.

Borrow from your own kids’ home library. Once I realized I wanted to use wordless picture books in class, I started looking for great ones to purchase for my own kids, so I could “borrow” them when I needed to use them in class.
Use interlibrary loan. One year, I went on my public library’s website and did a search on wordless picture books and then put over a dozen of them on hold. They came from all over the county, but I had a great collection to use in class.
Use your students. Ask your students if they own any wordless picture books and if they can bring them in. Another year, I had a student who worked at the public library in the town my school is in. That library has an amazing wordless picture book collection, so she was able to bring in about 10 books which paired with my personal collection was exactly what we needed.
Ask your librarian. My school has a great collection of picture books that our Early Childhood classes use, but they also have access to interlibrary loan and are more than willing to do the leg work for you.

You don’t need to have a book for each kid. I usually try to have enough to work in pairs which usually means I need about 15 books. If you have a few extra that allows for some choice.

No matter what concept you are addressing with wordless picture books, be sure to have a notes page ready. One pagers would be perfect for this.

Teach with Wordless Picture Books

I hope that you will consider giving wordless picture books a go in the classroom. If you do, I would love to know how you use wordless picture books in the classroom. Let me know in the comments below.