Picture Book as a Model to Teach Writing Narrative Text
texts such as grammar, vocabulary, organization, and etc.
20
Due to the reason explained above, it can be concluded that reading is able to give
students‟ knowledge about correct grammatical pattern, writing organization, and suitable
vocabulary choice which are useful in creating a good writing. In addition to make teaching writing meaningful to students, it should be integrated with other
skills, for instance, reading which can help and support teaching and learning writing.
Similarly, to support Ken Hyland‟s suggestion above, Luu Trong Tuan
adds that writing classes are commonly started with reading text, analyze text, and using text to be a good example or model for writing.
21
Moreover, Barbara Z. Keifer also asserts that there are connection between reading and writing; a good
writer must be a good reader and vice versa.
22
She also argues that what students often write reflects books they have ever read.
23
These theorists‟ point of views can be understood that reading activity, especially reading picture books should
be included in writing instruction to make students familiar with the use of correct grammar, suitable vocabulary choices, and writing organization because reading
picture books give students a good model or example for writing a good narrative text.
Also, students‟ content of writing is probably influenced by their favorite books they often read.
Furthermore, there are four stages which the writer adopts from Kelly Br
oker‟s strategies in using picture books in writing instruction for implementing picture books in writing narrative text instruction as follows:
1. Engaging students to read picture books they like best Before beginning to write, students are engaged to read through
providing and introducing some picture books. There were eight picture books
20
Ken Hyland, Second Language Writing, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 17
21
Luu Trong Tuan, Teaching Writing through Reading Integration: Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3, 2012, p. 489.
22
Barbara Z. Keifer, op-cit, p. 12
23
Ibid
they can read by free in a group discussion. In this stage, the students are given freedom to choose the picture books they like best. Then, they can do
silent reading by themselves. However, reading aloud is not used in this stage due to time consuming and the great numbers of students in each class.
2. Sharing what the students have read in a group discussion After the first stage is done, the students have to share what they have
been read in a group discussion. They can share about the characters they like and dislike, the story itself, the story endings, the topic, etc. Through sharing
what they have been read, students can find interesting topic for their own narrative writing.
3. Connecting what students have read to develop their own writing In this stage, teachers guide the students to transfer what they have read
to their own narrative writing and help them to link the picture books they have been read to their own writing. Moreover, the students can collect or
write all ideas they have got after reading in a notebook. 4. Taking students through writing process
In the last stage, teachers take students into writing process including before writing prewriting, during writing drafting, and after writing
revising, editing, sharing, evaluating. However, stages 1 and 2 can be applied in prewriting and stage 3 and 4 are in drafting.
In Addition, through implementing these four stages, students can find ideas clarity, thought, and details, organization internal structure, word
choice, and sentence fluency from the author‟s texts as a model.