Viaggi di immagini e parole. La didattica dell’italiano nella scuola primaria con gli albi llustrati e i silent books
JOURNEYS OF PICTURES AND WORDS: TEACHING The ITALIAN LANGUAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL WITH PICTUREBOOKS AND SILENT BOOKS

Summary/Abstract: Picturebooks (and silent books, with images only and without words) are children’s bookscommonly considered suitable only for young children of pre-school age or in the earliest years ofschooling. For this reason, picturebooks are mostly neglected in teaching in higher educational stages.Nevertheless, the educational potential of picturebooks is considerable, especially in the later yearsof primary school. For example, in Italian language teaching, they can be extraordinary tools forplanning didactic projects that allow instructors to integrate the teaching/learning of all linguisticskills and of metalinguistic reflection, which are the main elements in the curricula related to Italianlanguage teaching in Italian-speaking countries and contexts.The article aims to show the validity of the above claim by establishing a possible classificationof picturebooks into six distinct types and by describing some didactic projects and activitiesdeveloped in primary schools in Canton Ticino (Italian Switzerland). Focusing on the pleasure ofreading engaging stories and on motivation, picturebooks enable teachers to pursue ambitious andchallenging goals, such as creating one or more new picturebooks inspired by the one read initiallyor transposing a picturebook into a theatre script. At the same time, picturebooks enable students todevelop their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.

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