Making The Most Of Reading Out Loud

How can you help kids develop print awareness? Here are some sample questions and prompts you can use before, during, and after a read aloud activity to help children activate basic knowledge about print and books.

Pick Out an Appropriate Book

* Select a book with age appropriate vocabulary (no huge or uncommon words).
* Tales told in rhyme are especially fun for young children, as they can delight in both the rhyme scheme and the rhythm.
* Look for simple illustrations
* Look for books targeting K-3 (beginner readers)

Before You Start

* Introduce the tale by stating the title, then the author’s name and asking, “What does an author do?” ( “Writes the tale.”).
* State the illustrator’s name and question, “What does an illustrator do?” (“Draws the pictures.”).
* Hold up the book and say, “This is the front of the book, (turn it sideways and state) and this is the spine.” Turn the book to the back cover and state, “This is the back of the book.” Then question, “Do we start reading from the front or the back of the book?” ( “From the front.”).
* “Let’s look at the picture on the front.”
* Hold up the book with the front cover facing your child. Question: “What do you reckon will happen in this tale? Remember, I want you to answer using complete sentences.”

Getting Ready to Read

* Select vocabulary words from the tale that you need to discuss prior to reading the tale. Write them on sentence strips or on a piece of paper. Discuss the words with your child.
* Please note the use of open-finished questions that will require your child to give responses that extend beyond Yes/No answers. Remember to use open-finished questions as you read the tale and in your discussion after the reading.
* Encourage your child to draw upon what they know about the words from their personal lives. For example, if the word is the verb fish, perhaps you can talk about a time that you have gone on fishing trips. Encourage a brief telling of personal tales. Their personal tales allow them to make connections with the text.

During the reading

* Briefly discuss the pictures on each page after reading that page.
* Encourage your child to guess/predict what will happen next.

After the reading

* Question your child to tell you if they liked the tale and why. Encourage responses in complete sentences. “I liked it when the small girl rescued her friends because it showed that girls can be heroes.”
* Your child may delight in doing some related craft projects. Perhaps something as simple as trying to re-make some of the artwork in the book.
* Follow up with a fun activity. For an example a book about ducks, such as the “Peep Peep” series. Additionally, you may delight in exploring Lunchpail Books YouTube channel that has links to a fun tale time told by a talented young man.

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