Reading the Pictures (also known as "taking a picture walk") is a great skill for early readers. It's a time to get a sense of what the book is about, identify characters and setting, and even look at the emotions on the characters' faces. When children begin learning to read, we encourage them to check the pictures to see if the words they are reading are matching and making sense. But this skill can be learned much earlier than a child learns to read.
We model this skill with new books we haven't read as a class yet, and then go back and read the words to see if we were correct when we guessed what the story would be about. This week, we practiced our new skill when we visited the library. Instead of teachers reading to students, we asked them to read the pictures to us.
This is a great skill to practice at home or the library!