How to Read Aloud to Your Child
Reading to your kids every day is one of the best ways you can set them up for success. So many different skills are learned while reading together and it is something you want to continue doing as your children get older. All the reading you do together is great, but there are some things you can do while you read that can make it even better! 1. Choose a book that will capture his/her attention. Think about the topic, vocabulary, length, and illustrations and pick out a book that will be interesting to your child. You can do this together at the library or bookstore or you can get recommendations from the librarian. Being motivated to read and discuss books is a big factor in student reading success. 2. Look and the pictures and make a prediction. Before you read page through the book with your child. Look at the illustrations, captions, etc and ask your child to use them as clues to predict what the story is going to be about. Then as you are reading have your child change or update his/her prediction when you come across new information or clues in the text. Making predictions is a reading skill that aids in the comprehension and understanding of stories. 3. Start by reading the title, author, and illustrator on the front cover. Don’t just flip to the first page and start reading. Show him/her the cover and read the title to your child. Tell him/her who the author and illustrator are and explain what those terms mean. Get your child familiar with the parts of the book and comfortable discussing reading terminology. 4. Read with expression. This isn’t the time to worry about looking silly! Engage kids with funny voices, dramatic pauses, or whatever the plot calls for. Reading with expression not only makes the story come alive, it also teaches them about the conventions authors use to convey different messages and helps them remember and comprehend the book. 5. Stop while reading to discuss and ask questions. While we read our brains are constantly processing, questioning, and assimilating the new information so we need to start teaching kids how to do that. Stopping to ask questions and make new predictions helps them to develop the comprehension skills they will use for the rest of their lives. Keep it simple at first and show them how to look back in the story or at the pictures to figure out the answer if they are unsure. 6. Make connections. After you read a story have your child make a connection between the story and their life. It could be about a similar situation she was in, another book she has read, or something she has seen somewhere else in the world. This takes comprehension to a deeper level and helps to foster a love of reading. A fun way to make story connections and play with reading is to do a book activity about the story after reading it. Happy Reading! |
Ordering Books Online is Easy! Click on the scholastic link above. Our classroom code is GYPT9
|