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 t
