6 Things To Do When Reading Aloud to a Child

1) Add dimension and Props- When reading to a child electronically make sure that you add a few props to go with the story. You can also end the story by sharing a food related item, for example when you are reading a book that is based on cookies throughout the story (ex: When You Give a Mouse a Cookie), enjoy a cookie on your end while the child enjoys the same yummy snack from their end. 

2) Bring The Author to Life- Before you read the book online, take a few moments to learn about the author or illustrator. Many authors/illustrators have uploaded content to our website, just click their name from their book page to read a short bio and explore their social media links.  If for some reason you can’t find the info here on Be There Bedtime Stories, do a Google search.

3) Read The Book to Yourself First- Take an extra five minutes and browse through the book by yourself first.  This advanced reading will help you refine the story so that you can leave out material you might want to shorten or possibly even emphasize. This can also help you read through the book with ease, once you have had a “practice” reading.

4) Slow Your Reading- The most common mistake in reading aloud whether the reader is a five year old or ninety-nine is reading too fast. Read slowly enough for the child to build mental pictures of what they just heard you read. Slow down enough for the child to see the pictures on the screen without feeling rushed. If you read too fast, it leaves no time for the child to vocalize and express their thoughts and feelings about the story.

5) Play The Cover Game- the first time you read the book, take some time to discuss the cover illustration, ask the child what they think the story is going to be about based on the front cover illustration. This is a great way to have a deeper conversation outside of the story with the child you are reading to.

6) Say More Than Just Goodnight!-  As you read the story, keep the child involved by occasionally asking them what they think is going to happen next.  This prompts them to use their imagination and gets them thinking about the story on a deeper level. Reference locations or things that you have shared in your experiences with them. For example: if you’re reading a book about the ocean, then recall when they visited you on the west coast last summer. That way, you keep those memories fresh and they have a personal relationship to the content in the book. At the end of the book, remind them about any upcoming visits or refer to something going on in your life that they may be familiar with, such as “I was in my friends garden yesterday and she has daisies, just like the ones that we planted in your garden together last summer!” Take advantage of the video recording and ‘Say More Than Just Goodnight’.

Tips provided by BeThereBedtimeStories.com

Hooked on Reading part II

I swear my first daughter taught herself to read. I literally turned around one day and there she was reading (and writing too). Sure I provided plenty of references to letters and the sounds they make in the world around us and I read to her often, but she really took it from there. She reads often and to herself.

My second daughter came to reading differently. Thank goodness she idolizes her older sister so that has helped make her foray into the reading world a bit smoother. However she loves to read aloud to someone else. This started as turning pages and blabbering and then grew into turning pages of entire books and telling a nonsense story. But she definitely prefers reading aloud (I am thinking she is like her mommy and likes the social aspect). I have yet to find her reading to herself like her big sister. One thing they BOTH enjoy doing is taking part in reading aloud to family and friends using Be There Bedtime Stories. It is a novel way to get them to do something we are asking them to do every day. They do love it and for that I am grateful.

Turning words on a page into an enjoyable past-time is one of the most important goals for all teachers and parents. If we can bring each child to find their motivation to read we have accomplished a HUGE task. For  teachers this means meeting that goal with a number of different learning styles in one classroom daily.  There are many, many balls in the air at one time. It is not the reading instruction of yesterday that is for sure!

If you have children you can probably relate to (and marvel at) how differently your children are as people. Sometimes it is hard to believe they are from the same set of parents! One thing is for certain; all children do not learn to read in the same way.

Picture this….

For a moment, imagine what it would be like to literally, only see the words on a page and no picture in your mind to go with it. This is the reality for many of our early readers. We have to help jump-start that movie for them going on in their head. Visualizing can be referred to as the motion picture of the mind.  Without using these images in your mind reading can be a blank slate.

One outstanding resource for parents is a book called The Seven Keys to Comprehension by Susan Zimmerman and Chryse Hutchins.  This book suggests some signs that your child is not visualizing.  They include:

• Lack of interest in reading
• Inability to put into his/her own words a description of what he/she’s reading or what you have read to them.
• Lack of interest about whether the story is finished or not
• Inability to describe characters, setting or what is happening in the story

Talk with your child about the “movie playing in your mind” and ask them directly about it.

Do you see it?

What do you see?

What does it look like?

What does he/she look like?

What does it sound like?

Visualizing is yet another strategy that is found in classrooms across the country. As adults we may take for granted everyone can get that picture going. Now we know that good readers do this early and continually for best reading comprehension.

Remind your child that when the movie in their mind stops or begins to fade, they should stop and go back and re-read to get it back. We do this as adults all the time and they will do it for the rest of their lives too!

One example of using visualizing with picture books involves the Be There Bedtime selection called Penelope and the Monsters. In the story Penelope is not happy about having to go to bed. On one page it says: “’There are no such things as monsters. Now go to sleep’. Penelope’s father turned out the light and closed the door behind him.”

At this point you could stop and ask your child if they can see Penelope sitting in her bed in the dark. You could even ask them what expression she may have on her face. Just as if you were sitting bedside with a book in your lap, a webcam recording offers the same opportunity to pause before you turn the page and ask the child some questions about what is not there in the illustration on the computer screen. Kids love to interact with video! Rest assured, what might feel like awkward silence as you are reading your story out loud and recording into cyberspace will feel very interactive and magical at the moment it is delivered to the child.

Visualizing can then lead to making connections (text to self) as then you can ask, “how do you feel when you are in a dark room at bedtime?” This is giving your young reader the opportunity to engage fully with the text.

Until next week, happy reading!