WHY READ ALOUD TO CHILDREN ?

Mr. N.TENZIN

Head Librarian

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." Emilie Buchwald

WHAT IS READ ALOUD ?

It is one of the most valuable gifts you can give your child. In the simple act of reading to children, you lay the foundation for their educational success.. “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children” ( Nation of Readers 1985)

Reading aloud helps to develop a child’s early literacy.

A read aloud is a planned oral reading of a book or print excerpt, usually related to a theme or topic of study.

DO YOU KNOW?

Kids who are read to, do better in school

Children who learn to read early are the ones who are read to by parents, siblings or other caregivers

A 5 year old child has a speaking vocabulary of approx. 2000 words

Child learns by imitation, if they see you read, they will too

Children like to read what they themselves choose to read, not what others choose for them

Students from Gr.3 to 12 learn about 3,000 new words a year. They learn the majority of new words incidentally while reading

Reading is an accrued skill

Hour Week

Welfare: 616 words 61,000 words

Working class: 1,251 words 125,000 words

Professional: 2,153 words 215,000 words

In a typical hour, the average child would hear:

Hart & Risley, T.R. (1995)

BENEFITS OF READING ALOUD

Establishes a bond of love Develops the child’s listening skills Stimulates the child’s imagination,

creativity and curiosity Builds background knowledge and

vocabulary Develops the child’s attention span Better performance in school Appreciates a larger, richer world Becomes a part of family heritage Develops a life long love of reading

TIPS FOR RAISING READERS• Furnish your home with a variety of

reading materials• Take your children to the library and

bookstore and give them the opportunity to choose their own books

• Make reading aloud a natural part of your family activity

• Set a regular reading time with your child and make it a routine, it becomes a habit later

• Limit your children’s TV viewing in an effort to make time to other activities, but never use TV as reward for reading.

• Be a role model

TIPS FOR RAISING READERS

• Read 20 minutes everyday and see the positive effects

• Reading to children at bedtime often works well. Books are very relaxing and give the child happy thoughts before they sleep

• Parent’s patience is enormously important, we cannot raise the readers overnight

• Some children love reading about the same characters, if that is what your child likes, choose several short books in a series or a longer chapter book

• When your child is in Gr.4-6 encourage them to read informational and biography books

HOW TO READ ALOUD

Prepare Preview the book before you read it to the children Book selection is very important. Think about your child’s

age, development level and interests. That will help you choose the book and what questions you want to ask..

Before You Read a Story Make sure everyone is comfortable Show the cover and read the title, Author & Illustrator of

the book Give some hints about the book Ask some of these questions: • What do you think this book is about? • Have you ever read any thing similar to this book?• Make predictions based on what you see in the book

HOW TO READ ALOUD

During a story Use stopping point Change your voice to fit the mood or action Add information or change words to understand more

words and explain the meaning of new words Ask the child to make predictions about the plot, the

characters, and the setting Allow the child to ask questions or make comments Share your own thoughts about the story

After you read a story What was your favorite part of the story & why? What did you like best about the story? Did you like how the book ended? If you could write a new ending, what would it be?

THE DO’s and DON’Ts of READ-ALOUD

DO’s Begin reading as young as possible Use rhymes and songs to stimulate infant’s language and

listening Read and reread predictable/repetitive books Allow your child to insert key words/phrases when rereading Insert your child’s name and family members’ names in books Start with picture books, and books with few sentences on the

page then gradually move to books with more and more text and build to chapter books, informational books and novels.

Allow your child to get involved (hold book, turn pages etc.) If you are reading a picture book, make sure the children can

see the picture easily and talk about the picture If the chapter is long or if you don’t have time each day to

finish an entire chapter, find a suspenseful spot at which to stop. Leave the audience hanging; they will be counting the minutes until the next reading

THE DO‘s and DON’TS of READ-ALOUD

Don'tsRead stories that you don’t enjoy. Your

dislike will show in the readingContinue a book that is a poor choiceSelect a book that many children have

heard or seen on televisionBe fooled by awards. They don’t

guarantee good read aloudChoose books that are heavy with

dialogues as they are difficult for reading aloud and listening

Read when your child is irritated

“Read me a story,

Please mama read me to sleep.”

“But what kind of story, my dear?”

“Read any story and I will go to sleep,

As long as I know you are near.”

“You may have tangible wealth untold; caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be I had a mother who read to me”.

By Strickland Gillilan

SUCCESS STORY

Dear Mom,You did so many things for me when I was growing up. May be the ones

I remember best seemed pretty ordinary to you-like reading to me every night in bed. I remember thinking that Dr. Seuss taught me what loyalty was when Horton sat on those eggs to hatch them. Henry Huggins and Nancy Drew seemed like kids down the street. You made me feel important and loved with everything you did. For all times I forgot to tell you then, thanks, Mom. Janie

Dear Mom,When you read to us, I just took it for granted. Now that I have my own

children, I find that I’m doing the same thing. Its sort of like handling down the “magic” Magic of reading, When we pass on our love of books. It's a torch passed from one generation to the next. Merry

 

 

STAGES OF READING

•Talk with babies

•Use gesture/Print awareness/ Labeling

Touch and feel books/picture books

Stories with animals that talk/pop up books

•Chapter books/informational book/Biography

•Fairy tales/folk tales

Conclusion

Spend countless hours of quality, enjoyable time with your children. You light their reading fire and turn them in to life long readers and life long learners.

If we work together, our combined expertise and enthusiasm could make every home a reading home and every child a reader.