This article reports findings from a classroom-based, action research project that used one award-winning picturebook to promote student inquiry, inferential thinking, and reading comprehension in a 9th grade English/Language Arts classroom. It begins by describing a read-aloud experience that sparked my interest in developing and implementing an action research project, followed by an overview of action research as a research methodology. Next, it shares samples of work that resulted from students using three interrelated, instructional strategies with the picturebook to promote inquiry, inferential thinking, and reading comprehension. Then, it discusses major findings and implications and ends with concluding thoughts.
Author Bio
Dr. William P. Bintz is Professor of Literacy Education in the School of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum, College of Education, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. His academic background includes a B.A. in English from Christian Brothers College in Memphis, Tennessee, a M.A. in Educational Administration and Supervision from the Universidad de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto, a M.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, and Ph.D. from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He has taught English Language Arts (ELA) in grades 9-12 in Chicago, Illinois, grades 7-12 in Aquadilla and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and grades 7-8 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In higher education, Dr. Bintz has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Armidale College of Advanced Education in Armidale, Australia. He has also been a faculty member teaching literacy courses at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and The University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. Presently, he is a faculty member at Kent State University. His professional research interests involve conducting action research projects that investigate the use of picturebooks to teach reading comprehension across the curriculum, K-12, and explore the power and potential of postmodern picturebooks to reconceptualize traditional notions of a picturebook.
Recommended Citation
Bintz, William P.
(2025)
"Using Picturebooks to Promote Student Inquiry, Inferential Thinking, and Reading Comprehension in a 9th Grade ELA Classroom,"
Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 57:
Iss.
3, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol57/iss3/7
