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What
is the Picture
Word Inductive Model?
Calhoun
(1998) developed the Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM), which
uses pictures containing familiar objects, actions and scenes to
draw out words from children’s listening and speaking vocabularies.
This model helps students add words to their sight reading vocabulary,
as well as their writing vocabulary, and also discover phonetic
and structural principles present in those words.
What
is its purpose?
The
purpose of using PWIM is to develop students’ vocabulary,
concepts about words, and sentence and paragraph structures through
our content subjects of reading, math, science, or social studies.
How
do I do it?
Words
are ‘shaken out’ or listed by the poster by the students.
The words are categorized and read as a class over a series of days.
Each class writes and reads sentences using the words. Then, depending
on the grade level, the sentences are categorized and formed into
paragraphs. The students then write paragraphs.
The
strength of using this strategy from K to grade 6 is that it will
help build students’ vocabulary and writing abilities. Kindergarten
begins the foundation and all of the other grades add more content
and skill development through grade 6.
Advantages
of PWIM:
The following list of advantages of the PWIM is drawn from Calhoun
(1999).
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The strategy emphasizes phonics, grammar, mechanics, and usage
of Standard English.
-
Pictures provide concrete referents for the learning of new words,
phrases, and sentences.
-
Because students are using pictures related to content material
under study, they feel a part of the classroom community and can
participate in class activities.
-
The picture word chart serves as an immediate reference to enable
students to add these words to their sight vocabulary. The teacher
can choose to emphasize almost any sound and symbol relationship
(introduced or taken to mastery).
- Students
are assisted in seeing the patterns and relationships of the English
language, enabling them to apply this learning to newly encountered
words.
- Students
hear and see words spelled correctly and participate in the correct
spelling and writing.
-
Learners benefit from the teacher modeling of the key words and
concepts. With extensive practice, they can begin to learn how
to create sentences and paragraphs related to the subject under
study.
How
can I adapt it?
The
strategy can be used with a whole class, small groups, pairs, or
individually to lead students into inquiring about words and adding
them to their vocabularies, discovering phonetic and structural
principles, and engaging in other reading and writing activities.
While some skills can be taught explicitly, PWIM is designed to
capitalize on a student’s ability to think inductively.
Teacher
Resources
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