Wordless books help to develop oral language, listening, vocabulary, and so much more! With wordless books, K–12 and adult students can be authors and write stories that they interpret from the pictures. In addition, the lesson ideas are aligned with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and with the TESOL Pre-K–12 English Language Proficiency Standards. Sample rubrics are included in the book and online as editable documents.

Here is a free lesson plan from Wordless Books: So Much to Say!

The Snowman
by Raymond Briggs
Lesson by Lauren M. Gay

Level: Beginning to advanced
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Length of Lesson: 50 minutes
Objective: Students will use an original “snow creature” sculpture as inspiration to compose a narrative writing piece which incorporates newly acquired vocabulary.

Materials

• The Snowman by Raymond Briggs (New York, NY: Random House Children’s
  Books, 1978)
• Modeling clay
• Paper and pencils
• Computer and digital scrapbooking and photo collage software such as Little
  Story Maker, Story Creator, or Pixie

Vocabulary

• balloon
• fire
• flashlight
• flying
• freezer
• heat
• light

Procedure

1. Do a picture walk of the story, pausing only for a moment on each page to provide the students an opportunity to gain an understanding of the story’s plot.
2. Pass out modeling clay to each student. Instruct the students to create their very own “snow creature.”
3. Once the students have constructed their snow creature, have them jot down ideas for a creative narrative about an adventure that they go on with their snow creature.
4. Let students use the ideas inspired by the creation of their snow creature to brainstorm and write a creative narrative. To scaffold the activity for beginning ELs, have students draw the scenes of their narrative story and label the activities that they and their snow creature do during their adventure. More advanced ELs could write a detailed description of their adventure that corresponds with their illustrations.
5. Finally, let students use a software app that allows for the integration of illustrations and text, such as Little Story Maker, Story Creator, or Pixie, to publish a final copy of their creative narratives.

Assessment

The students’ written creative narrative will be reviewed by the teacher.

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*This activity may be reproduced for educational uses only.
© TESOL International Association.