📘 Pictures and words on one page

What you’ll learn

1. Two jobs on one pageName the author and the illustrator and say what each one does, including when one person does both jobs.A page can hold words and a picture at once. The author writes. The illustrator draws. Dream Blocks prints two names. Potter’s letter to Noel already has both jobs on one sheet.
2. What the picture is sayingUse a story picture to name the moment, the character, the setting, and the event.Kindergarten asks what moment an illustration depicts. Grade 1 wants character, setting, or event. A cup at a mouth is one moment. A kitchen can tell you three things before you read a line.
3. What the words are sayingSpot what only the words can give: a name, a thought, a title, a label.A picture cannot print Peter or Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. Crane’s circle can print a thought. Greenaway’s A Apple Pie lets a letter, a word, and a picture share one job.
4. When they agree, when they addTell apart information from the picture and information from the words, and use a label or caption as a word-job on a picture.Sometimes they tell the same battle. Grade 1 wants the two piles kept separate. A diagram’s labels and a caption under a pie are words doing picture-work.
5. Look, read, checkLook at the picture, read the words, and check that they fit — then try it on a real book.Read the picture back. Check the text makes sense. Tonight cover the words, then uncover them, and notice if they ever disagree.

Questions this course answers

Grounded in trusted sources

• Common Core State Standards Initiative, English Language Arts — RL.K.6 Name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story; RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts); RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events; RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot; RI.K.6 Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information; RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts); RI.1.6 Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text; RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas; RI.2.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes) to locate key facts; RI.2.7 Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text. https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/K/ https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/1/ https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/2/ https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/K/ https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/1/ https://www.thecorestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/2/
• Department for Education, National curriculum in England: English programmes of study (updated 16 July 2014) — Year 1 reading comprehension: discussing the significance of the title and events; drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher; checking that the text makes sense to them as they read, and correcting inaccurate reading; making inferences on the basis of what is being said and done; discussing word meanings, linking new meanings to those already known. Year 2 reading comprehension: discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related; being introduced to non-fiction books that are structured in different ways; answering and asking questions; checking that the text makes sense. Years 3 and 4: identifying how language, structure, and presentation contribute to meaning. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study
• Department for Education, Help for early years providers: Reading comprehension (published 6 September 2022, updated 22 June 2026) — When reading to young children, help them ‘read the picture back’ by letting them grab the book or point to the picture; talk about the book’s title, the author, and the illustration; talk to children while turning the pages, asking what they think might happen next; get them to read to you, or say what they think is happening; point out colours, pictures and characters. What the EYFS framework says: language comprehension starts from birth and only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them. https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/areas-of-learning/literacy/reading-comprehension
• Ofsted, Best start in life part 3: the 4 specific areas of learning (8 October 2024) — Literacy: the language of high-quality picture books is significantly more complex than everyday adult speech to young children; shared-reading interventions can have a significant, substantial and positive impact on young children’s oral language skills and print knowledge (National Early Literacy Panel, cited); when practitioners draw children’s attention to print during shared reading, this can help children learn that print relates to oral language; high-quality picture books give children windows into new worlds; discussion of Not Now, Bernard goes beyond naming what children see in the illustrations. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-life-a-research-review-for-early-years/best-start-in-life-part-3-the-4-specific-areas-of-learning
• Department for Education, Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage — Literacy educational programme: it is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading; language comprehension starts from birth and only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
• Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide: Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (Shanahan et al., September 2010) — Recommendation 1 (strong evidence): teach students how to use reading comprehension strategies; Recommendation 3: guide students through focused, high-quality discussion on the meaning of text. Used here as the warrant for teaching look-read-check as a named, deliberate move rather than a habit children are assumed to pick up. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguide/14

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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