The teaching of science in the early years presents a challenge for educators, as it requires the presentation of scientific phenomena and concepts in a way and on a level that students can comprehend.Stories that include various animals, plants, and objects can be an excellent starting point for discussing scientific concepts, as children tend to immerse themselves in such stories, which further motivates them to engage and reflect on science topics. The teacher’s role is to successfully guide students in acquiring knowledge through picture books, which can be used as part of introductory motivation, as a conclusion to the lesson, or as part of introducing new material. Stories have great power because they connect the students’ ideas with scientific explanations. They help students understand abstract concepts and inspire them to become more interested in science.
This master's thesis presents the teaching of the thematic unit Time in the second grade of elementary school using selected picture books. A review of the literature revealed that this teaching approach has not been often used in practice, especially in early science education. We were interested in how teaching with picture books in the subject of environmental studies affects the process of knowledge acquisition and the achievement of the learning objectives of the thematic unit. The thesis is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part.
The theoretical part consists of four sections: Reading, Picture Books, Teaching with Picture Books, and Using Picture Books in Science Education. In the first chapter, we provide an overview of reading literacy, reading culture, the role of reading in child development, and give guidelines on how to read books to children. We briefly outlined the characteristics of reading from elementary school to adolescence. In the second chapter, titled Picture Books, we presented a brief history of picture books, defined what a picture book is, described its structure and the elements that make up a picture book, and presented the types of picture books, along with what makes a high-quality picture book. The third chapter, titled Teaching with Picture Books, discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using picture books in teaching, and presented a practical example of using a picture book as a teaching tool in the classroom. The final chapter, Using Picture Books in Science Education, offers guidelines for teachers on selecting science picture books, along with a list of picture books we compiled ourselves. The list includes 33 picture books suitable for elementary school students, categorized according to lesson topics and aligned with the curriculum objectives in the first three grades of primary school in Slovenia.
The empirical part presents research in which we monitored the progress in knowledge, understanding of scientific concepts, and the reactions and responses of a selected group of students when teaching the thematic unit Time in the second grade using picture books. We also explored how teaching with picture books influences students’ situational interest and active participation in class and gathered the opinions of first-triad teachers on this teaching approach. The research results showed that students made progress in understanding the Time unit through picture book-based teaching and felt very comfortable in class. A high level of situational interest and active student engagement during lessons was also observed. The participating teachers expressed positive opinions, confirming that picture books are a teaching tool that helps improve students’ understanding of scientific content and concepts, as well as enhancing classroom dynamics, increasing student engagement, and boosting the overall popularity of the environmental studies subject.
The research demonstrated that picture books as a teaching tool bring numerous benefits to both students and teachers in the early years of education. With this research, we aim to enhance teaching practices and encourage more teachers to use picture books more extensively in early science lessons. At the same time, we also aim to highlight their usefulness for interdisciplinary connections, which go beyond their use in Slovenian language lessons, offering various possibilities for application across other subjects as well.
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