Remember those storytimes you grew up with? Remember sitting next to a warm parent at night before bed . . . or with a rambunctious crowd at the library . . . or mesmerized at your desk with the teacher reading aloud?
All children need to be read to--to introduce them to quality literature, to help them with early reading development, to familiarize them with advanced vocabulary and sentence structure, and to learn the love of hearing stories.
There are no shortage of lists of recommended books for children. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information for parents on how to read aloud, which is equally as important! It seems so simple, doesnt it? You just open and read! But for a child to get the most out of a book, there are things you can do that will make the experience even more meaningful to your child. Here are a few steps that will soon become a natural part of your read aloud habits if you practice them every day.
1. EXAMINE the cover together. Then, ask the child what he or she thinks the story will be about. This is called making predictions, which experts now know all good readers do automatically. Good readers make and revise their predictions constantly while reading. It is one way the brain stays actively involved in the story. (By the way, there is no wrong prediction. If the child was wrong, he or she just revises the prediction! It's very liberating.)
2. READ THE TITLE (again) and then the AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR names. Knowing the author and illustrator is so important. First, it teaches children that books just don't appear--someone had to create them. Reading their names shows respect for the people and their hard work. Another good reason to know the author and illustrator is for recognizability. My boys quickly learned that they liked Jan Brett's style, so library searches were easier--I sent them to the B's and let them bury themselves in books until they found another Jan Brett.
3. READ THE STORY. Always read slowly. I say this as a reminder to people like me who tend to talk fast naturally! Remember that an author and editor chose every word to be in that book, so respect the wording the author has used. If the book has a couple of lines of text per page, it is good to move your finger along under the words. This shows children the patterns of reading that will be foundational as they learn to read.
One of my young adult children recently told me that he loved how I read aloud to him. He said, "You made the voices for characters and you did different things with your voice to move the story along." So, in that vein, read extra slowly at suspenseful parts, speed up when Peter is being chased my Mr. MacGregor, and whisper when he is hiding under the pot. Reading with energy and purpose will engage your children in the story.
Don't stop to answer a lot of questions or explain material, but if there is a question in the text, have your child answer it!
4. WRAP UP. Encourage some dialogue after the story: "Wow, I sure didn't expect it to end that way! " or "What was your favorite part?" or "Should we read this one again tomorrow night?"
5. ASK QUESTIONS. Only do this if the child is still interested. "When we were reading, I heard an interesting word. [Turn back to the page, point to the word, and say it.]. Do you know what that means? Let me read that sentence again and maybe we can figure it out." Or "Do you think this story could have ended differently?" Children will often have questions while you are reading, and if you don't answer them during the story (which is best because things are often explained in the course of the story or context will make things clearer), this is a good time to say, "What was that question you had back on page [x]?"
One thing we did with our children while they were growing up was to discuss the art medium the illustrator used, which led to a lot of creativity in their own artistic expressions.
It is fine, of course, if the child is done with that book for the day and doesn't want to do any "vocabulary development" or "analysis." Children don't learn to love books by analyzing them to death.
These five steps, with any age child and any genre of story, will get you started in a very enriching reading time together!
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Let's Be Real
One of my great passions is using literature in lesson plans. When I was growing up, all stories were in the language text book, all history came from the history textbook, and all science was from the science textbook. Fortunately for students, much has changed. Students are no longer subjected to only short stories, excerpts from great literature, and stories created to fit into the state standards and that fit within the boxy corners of a textbook.
Children deserve more than contrived literature that looks like it belongs on the back of a cereal box. They deserve excellent literature in every part of the school day. About twenty years ago, the trend for using "real books" came about. Although it has continued to grow in acceptance, there is so much more teachers can do.
Real books are literature--real literature--that students will enjoy, be moved by, and read again and again. A good book is like a friend--you return to it over and over, it moves you, it isn't stagnant but changes as you read it at different stages.
After Disney comes out with a movie, the market is flooded with merchandise using that motif. In book form those Disney stories have cheap paper, colorful but flat and uninteresting illustrations, and boring text. They are there just to tell the retell the story. Although I love Disney and Pixar movies, the blasé books that they develop are an embarrassment to literature.
So how do you know a real book from a blasé book?
1. Real books have reputable authors.
Blasé books often have no author name but just list a publisher. (There are plenty of blasé books that do have authors--either pseudonyms, made up, or entry-level writers.)
2. Real books have beautiful, inspiring illustrations.
Blasé books look like an imitation. They are flat and uninteresting.
3. Real books stand alone.
They are not meant to be a part of some marketing campaign or educational standard.
4. Real books come before the movies!
Almost always after a movie comes out, a book will follow. These are written quickly, just to capitalize on the timing of the movie's release. Truly blasé.
5. Real books are the ones you remember from your childhood.
Although it is possible, it is very unlikely you remember the books that were take offs on movies or TV shows from your childhood. You probably don't remember much from your language textbook, either. And if you read from Dick and Jane readers (although they are seeing a resurgence for their art's sake), you were definitely NOT moved by the riveting storyline.
The question becomes then, how to incorporate real books into the curriculum. If this is the best of literature and we want our children exposed to quality, not depressing readers, how can teachers use literature inspiringly in their classrooms? The best thing about real books is that they are not intended to teach a curriculum subject, but they can be used to do so!
Real books are being used in the classroom to supplement the content areas. Literature becomes more authentic because students are able to see that stories apply to history, science, and even math! Books like Elinor Pinczes' One Hundred Hungry Ants and A Remainder of One (illustrated by Bonnie Mackain), take math concepts like grouping, number sense, and division and show children how fun math can be--They can start to imagine looking at life through math-glasses.
In language, there are beautiful poetry books that help children understand grammar! Ruth Heller is an expert at explaining grammar, even the exceptions to the rules!, in books like Kites Sail High, Behind the Mask: A book about prepostions, and Many Luscious Lollipops: A book about adjectives. Another possibility is using quality children's literature to teach writing concepts like dialogue, characterization, and voice.
In science, teachers and parents can use a book like The Snowy Day (Keats) to demonstrate concepts like weather, solid-to-liquid, and temperature. It's a real book, and in a very real way it demonstrates those concepts by story.
The best and easiest use of real literature is for history. Studying the Civil War with 4th graders? Choose My Brother Sam Is Dead. Studying immigration? Try Esperanza Rising. Looking at the African-Americans struggle during the 20th century? Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry will teach more than a lecture can--or certainly make a lecture come to life. These are all novels, but storybooks abound for history, as well.
Fortunately, students aren't stuck just with textbooks anymore. They can see how the concepts they are learning have been lived out or can be interesting and entertaining. This is just one more way to make school relevant to real life!
Pin It
Children deserve more than contrived literature that looks like it belongs on the back of a cereal box. They deserve excellent literature in every part of the school day. About twenty years ago, the trend for using "real books" came about. Although it has continued to grow in acceptance, there is so much more teachers can do.
Real books are literature--real literature--that students will enjoy, be moved by, and read again and again. A good book is like a friend--you return to it over and over, it moves you, it isn't stagnant but changes as you read it at different stages.
After Disney comes out with a movie, the market is flooded with merchandise using that motif. In book form those Disney stories have cheap paper, colorful but flat and uninteresting illustrations, and boring text. They are there just to tell the retell the story. Although I love Disney and Pixar movies, the blasé books that they develop are an embarrassment to literature.
So how do you know a real book from a blasé book?
1. Real books have reputable authors.
Blasé books often have no author name but just list a publisher. (There are plenty of blasé books that do have authors--either pseudonyms, made up, or entry-level writers.)
2. Real books have beautiful, inspiring illustrations.
Blasé books look like an imitation. They are flat and uninteresting.
3. Real books stand alone.
They are not meant to be a part of some marketing campaign or educational standard.
4. Real books come before the movies!
Almost always after a movie comes out, a book will follow. These are written quickly, just to capitalize on the timing of the movie's release. Truly blasé.
5. Real books are the ones you remember from your childhood.
Although it is possible, it is very unlikely you remember the books that were take offs on movies or TV shows from your childhood. You probably don't remember much from your language textbook, either. And if you read from Dick and Jane readers (although they are seeing a resurgence for their art's sake), you were definitely NOT moved by the riveting storyline.
The question becomes then, how to incorporate real books into the curriculum. If this is the best of literature and we want our children exposed to quality, not depressing readers, how can teachers use literature inspiringly in their classrooms? The best thing about real books is that they are not intended to teach a curriculum subject, but they can be used to do so!
In language, there are beautiful poetry books that help children understand grammar! Ruth Heller is an expert at explaining grammar, even the exceptions to the rules!, in books like Kites Sail High, Behind the Mask: A book about prepostions, and Many Luscious Lollipops: A book about adjectives. Another possibility is using quality children's literature to teach writing concepts like dialogue, characterization, and voice.
In science, teachers and parents can use a book like The Snowy Day (Keats) to demonstrate concepts like weather, solid-to-liquid, and temperature. It's a real book, and in a very real way it demonstrates those concepts by story.
Fortunately, students aren't stuck just with textbooks anymore. They can see how the concepts they are learning have been lived out or can be interesting and entertaining. This is just one more way to make school relevant to real life!
Pin It
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