Incorporation of picturebooks in natural sciences teaching for grades 1 to 5

摘要

Reading picturebooks is one of the most memorable experiences of our childhood that parents and our grand parents shared with us. Many children experience new horizons of knowledge through the magic of picturebooks and by reading new interesting stories. This great feeling from our childhood can be brought to the classes of natural science because children can easily identify with this kind of literature. By "reading" picturebooks children will sharpen their writing skills, receive new information, summarize their previous knowledge, acquire inference and foretelling. Bearing this in mind we can also influence natural science as a means of pupils' progress in the first years and thus assuring good foundations for the future comprehension of this particular field of science. Elements of reading motivation, essential parts of a picturebook and what a quality picturebook should contain are presented in the theoretical part of the thesis. This is followed by a description how a picturebook can be used in teaching natural science, the challenges it provides and how to choose appropriate literature within the field of natural science and how to use it in the classroom. The purpose of the thesis was to analyse picturebooks from the field of natural science and thus by analysing these results put together a recommendable list of quality picturebooks in Slovene language for the curriculum Spoznavanje okolja and Naravoslovje in tehnika in first five grades of primary school.udAccording to the five steps criteria a recommendable list of quality picturebooks was put together. After analysing 143 picturebooks only 15 remained recommendable. The analysis showed that picturebooks with the theme Živa bitja prevail and in 8 picturebooks this theme could be found, but there were found no picturebooks with the theme Sile in gibanje. No picturebook from the recommendable list received the quality award Zlata hruška although the list of recommendable list of Pionirska knjižnica was checked and not one picturebook with the content and criteria from the field of natural science was reviewed excellent.udAccording to a survey how many teachers use picturebooks within their teaching methods the results showed that out of 34 who answered only 45% of them use picturebooks as their method of teaching in the field of natural science.ud