Posts tagged books

May 10, 2012

Creating Books Huge Motivator For Reading

There was a great article in The Guardian, the other day, where a Kindergarten student had been motivated to read through the creation of her own book she had written. While she was helped by her teacher, the pictures and story were from her own imagination. The teacher, Anatol Young, explains that

My action plan from 2011 was to promote literacy among my students and the community at large. I feel that if [students] can read they can do anything else. Reading is key. So when I heard little Hunae telling her story during story time I was intrigued by her twist on the classical ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ tale. I knew I had to encourage her, so her teacher and I got together to make it into a book. It was a great project and Hunae has a sense of pride that will motivate her even more I feel.

In my own class, I have seen the powerful motivation that creating an actual physical book can make for a child. As the teacher states,

Caesar said providing a means for students to see their work physically was an incentive for students to continue to excel. She hoped that Hunae keeps her book for life and is able to look back at it and see what she accomplished at such a young age, and be proud of it.

In my own class, each year we have had the students creating books as part of our Poetry Unit. As the students work through the unit, they create poems on a variety of topics. At the end of the unit, students pick their three favorite poems to be included in a class book. At that point, the books are typed into a word document, we add pictures and upload it through the site, Lulu.com. Lulu takes our digital document and creates a book which they then send back to us. We get to choose the cover and style of the book which is a lot of fun. Students got to vote on which cover they wanted and the title for the book. Each student got to have their own book with extra copies ordered to sell to help offset the cost of the books. We also put a copy of the book in the library for others to see. What I noticed however was that the books were a huge motivator for students. They loved to read their writing and the fact that it looked so professional was very impressive to the children. They also were hugely motivated to write for something they knew were going to have a larger, peer based audience.

While the focus was writing, there were huge benefits for the reading side. Students read more poetry for ideas and style, they talked more about poetry concepts and the poems they read and students took the concepts and used them in their writing. The books were very successful and they were great momentos of their year in Grade 3. I still have students talking about it and the books in the library are still signed out long after they were completed. While the cost can be high (especially with shipping), having something that was well made and looked professional really gave the students to motivation to succeed in their reading and writing.

If you are looking for some ways to get started, check out these sites!

Lulu.com - This is the site I have used before. The site guides you through the whole process of building your book, gives you lots of choices and is easy to use. It may be a little more expensive with shipping but the books look great at the end.
StudentTreasures.com - This site has several programs available for schools and classes wanting to create books. The site has lots of ideas, lesson plans and resources for teachers to use as well. The site describes their books as

Our 8.5” x 11” full-color book is hardbound under tough lamination and is available in both landscape and portrait format. All pages are of a quality long-life paper. Each book has the author’s name and book title on the spine and features a dedication and title page. We stand by our product 100% and know the quality is unmatched. These beautiful books make favorite reading selections because students love to read books created by their peers. You’ll improve reading skills and promote a life-long love of books. Parents are always impressed with the books their children create through Nationwide Learning student publishing programs. The books make a perfect enhancement to Parents’ night, open house, and parent/teacher conferences. Or celebrate with an Author’s Tea and book signing.

Storybird.com - This is one of my favorite sites to use. The site uses professionally created illustrations to help motivate students and create ideas for stories. The stories can be used online and embedded on blogs and sites to view online or they can, for a cost be created as actual keepsake books. The site has programs available to create books for fundraisers and a wonderful backend to the site that makes it easy for teachers to work through the writing process and keep track of student process.

Whatever you decide, using writing as a motivator for increasing the desire for reading can be very powerful for students. Check out these sites and ideas to get going on your own programs!

Filed under reading writing books writingbooks poetry studentpublishing

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February 2, 2012

Should Children Be Forced to Read the Classics?

I love Anne of Green Gables. The book is a classic and always brings a smile to my face listening to Anne ramble and tears to my eyes when the end draws near. My wife and I were watching the movie version and, afterwards, my wife turned to me and said that I should read the book to the class. Which made me think,

Is this a book that I would read to my class in today’s day and age? Would they actually be interested?

Should we force children to read/listen/work through classic literature as part of the school day, whether as a read-aloud or book study?

So, first of all, I guess the first part of this would be to ask what we mean by the classics?

For children’s literature, my idea of the classics include books like The Secret Garden, Treasure Island, Anne of Green Gables, The Phantom Tollbooth and others along those veins published 20 years ago and prior. Wikipedia has a good list of books from the 18th, 19th and 20th century, which lists books that are still used in schools. I myself have read Little House in the Big Woods to my class, usually at the beginning of the year or for a pioneer. And while I love the book, I find that I have to do a lot of editing as the students start to lose focus in the longer, more drawn out detailed parts.

So do we continue to try and read this books to children?

The one side of the issue would say, “Yes”. That children need to be exposed to books that are considered high-quality narratives that have defined literature; that these books give them access to words that people don’t use in everyday speech, exposes them to proper sentence structure and correct grammer. The writing is more detailed and strengthens reading comprehension, stimulates thinkings, evokes ideas, creates mental images and engages the emotions. They would also say classic literature has endured over time for a good reason, has universal meaning and explores the human condition in ways that Spongebob Squarepants does not. In fact, they would point out the proliferation of books sold by groups like Scholastics which seem to focus on selling brands and series to the detriment of good literature, as speaking to their argument. These days kids are so immersed in videos and flashes of information that unless you are reading longer, more descriptive passages, they are going to have a much harder time understanding what they read and hear in school.

The other side would say that a lot of these classics perpetuate values and ideas that are outdated. These books contain too much detail and outdated verbiage that drive kids away because they don’t understand or get lost in the expansive illustrative details. How do we maintain a child’s interest in a story that has no relevance to the 21st century child? More modern books speak more to the angst and lives of the modern child with situations they are more likely to relate to. In speaking about a modern day authors effect on students, one teacher writes, in discussing the works of Walter Dean Myers, “Of course they loved Meyers - at night, they heard the gunshots he wrote about. They told me so when I asked about homework. On weekends, some of them visited brothers or cousins on Rikers. Doritos were breakfast. And, often dinner.”

These modern day situations are what students relate to. It is part of their world now and not unattached from their realities like the classics tend to be. Afterall, proponents for not having children forced to read the classics would say, shouldn’t we encourage children to read what excites and interests them? Shouldn’t we foster a love for reading? We should be pushing young readers to try new genres, to explore a variety of authors. To use their imaginations to build worlds in their minds. Not stunting their comfort in reading through literary texts that might not be relatable to them yet. Do we chance having children driven away from a love of reading because we force on them books that we think are good for them?

I would say that I am in the second camp in many ways. I believe that we need to find the modern day classics and bring those to our children and students. We need to have literature available that will excite, captivate and encourage children to want to explore more. And in those explorations, if they come across “The Hobbit”, they may discover that they love the language and the ideas that come through. I would say good for them. Given a choice between reading “Treasure Island” or “Holes”, however, I know that my students are going to enjoy “Holes” more. While “Treasure Island” may be a classic and written as a boy’s adventure book, “Holes” brings in situations and characters that children can relate to and understand. I am not saying that children should never read the classics but maybe, as a lot of adults do, they will discover them later in life and be more rewarded through a better understanding of life and the context these great classics live in.

So, while we may long to have the literature we grew up and loved brought to another generation, maybe those are longings from behind rose-tinted glasses. Teaching has always been a balance between what we want to do and what is good for our children. While I would love to draw them away from, and often tear my hair out at the books I find for sale in the Scholastics Book Club forms, the fact is, these books get my kids reading. It is what interests them. It is what they pick up. Choosing books for my class needs to take this into consideration. So I will continue to hunt for those modern classics to use in the class for book studies and read-alouds that are engaging and relevant but also make students realize that there are more things out there than the Captain Underpants/Squarebob genre of books that are placed prominently in front of children’s eyes.

What do you think? Are there Classic books that you have found kids love? How do you make it engaging for them?

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Filed under classicliterature books reading teaching

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January 22, 2012

Enhanced Books for the Ipad Kid

More and more, kids are using digital platforms like the ipad for reading. With recent studies showing that kids prefer digital e-books with enhanced content over regular paper editions and comprehension levels remaining similar for both digital and print copies, enhanced books are going to become increasingly popular. While some critics state that,

the level of recall actually was less when comparing an enhanced ebook to a standard digital edition” and that “the culprit seemed to be too much focus on enjoying what the screen could do rather than the material itself

there is no doubt that enhanced books are engaging and fun forms of literature that take advantage of new technologies and new ways to bring stories to life (For more on the debate, check out the articles, “Digital Media Brings the Reader into the Book” and “Are Children’s E-books Really Terrible For Your Children”).

My own children, ages 3 and 1, both love the Dr. Seuss books available on the ipad. Not only can they have the books read to them and follow along but they can also touch objects on the screen and have the app say what those objects are. The text is highlighted as it is read so children and see and hear the words and they are both very engaged. Of course, we don’t use the apps exclusively and we provide tons of great print books for our children which they also love. We believe it is always about moderation and allowing them to enjoy the fun of the apps but also knowing that the act of reading print books to our children is also an important bonding experience that an app just cannot give.

Regardless, there are some great apps out there. The blog, Digital Media Diet, has a great post on 25 Essential Children’s Book Apps, where the author has,

whittled down my favorites to just 25 apps I would recommend for a well-rounded collection. This list represents just 10% of the 250 books reviewed on our site (and includes insights from previewing over 1000 book apps overall).

Our Top 25 Children’s Book Apps:

Essential Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes:

The Three Little Pigs - Nosy Crow Interactive Storybook

Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime

Cinderella - A PicPocket Book

Extra Special ‘Wow’ Factor:

Teddy’s Day

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Penelope Rose

Great Enhanced Storytelling:

Fierce Grey Mouse

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really BIG Adventure

A Fine Musician

Digital Classics:

The Cat and The Hat – Dr. Seuss

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The Monster at the end of this Book

For the Very Young:

Scruffy Kitty

The Going to Bed Book

Pat the Bunny

A Present for Milo

For Older Kids:

Treasure Kai and the lost gold of shark island

Be Confident in who you are: a middle school confidential graphic novel

Trans-Media Chart Toppers:

Toy Story Read-Along

Angelina Ballerina’s New Ballet Teacher

Bedtime Favorites:

The Wrong Side of the Bed

Nighty Night!

Too Unique to Miss:

Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island

The Strange & Wonderful World of Ants

Lazy Larry Lizard

Another great site to find Digital E-books is Digital Storytime. The site lists e-books that are available on the ipad and reviews them so you can get a good idea of what the story is about and about how the interactive elements work.

Whatever you decide about digital e-books, there is no doubt that there are going to be more and more published as publishers jump on the digital bandwagon.

What do you think about digital e-books for children? What are some of your favorites?

Filed under books childrensliterature interactive ipad e-books technology

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January 12, 2012

Choosing “Just Right” Books

One of the more difficult things in supporting and encouraging your child’s reading, is knowing the right kinds of books to purchase or borrow that fit with your child’s current reading level.

There are many things that can make it difficult or that you need to think about when choosing appropriate books for your child. These can include:

Finding a book that matches or engages your child’s ever changing interests;
Finding a book that is at their level (more about this in a minute)
Finding a book that appropriate, in that it fits within the context and values of your family

I wanted to expand on the second point as that can be a tricky area for parents. As we choose books for children, we of course want to allow children to have choice as that gives them ownership. However, we also want to ensure that children are reading books at their appropriate level to build reading skills and growth. A student in Grade 6 reading at a Grade 6 level but choosing books that are more intended for a grade 3 students because they are easier, is not providing enough of a challenge. Children also need to be reading books that are at or even slightly ahead of them to build vocabulary, as well as strength in comprehension and reading fluency. I am not saying that everything has to be chosen to challenge them. I myself like to read some YA materials, not only to keep up to date but also for enjoyment. However, if children are always reading books below their level, they are not building the skills they need as they move up through the grades.

I recently came across a couple of resources that I thought would be great for parents and maybe even teachers as they look at supporting their children as readers. The first is an article from the Royal Gazette Online. The author, Darnell Wynn, states that,

Parents want their children to read well and independently for enjoyment. Research has shown that children who read generously develop more expansive vocabularies and achieve higher levels of reading and writing development. Reading daily at home is beneficial for children to learn new vocabulary and information, increase speed and fluency, improve comprehension, experience different authors’ writing styles and ultimately develop a greater interest and love of reading and writing.

How can parents choose ‘just right’ books for their children to support reading and writing development?
‘Just right’ books means your child:
l Is interested in the book
l Can read and figure out almost all of the words
l Understands what he or she is reading and can tell you about the story
l Can read fairly smoothly

Noted educator and author Regie Routman recommends the five-finger rule in selecting the ‘just right’ book for your child. She suggests as your child reads, have him or her count on one hand any unknown words. If there are five or more different unknown words on a full page, the book is too hard for your child to read alone. However, you could read the book aloud to your child. Older children can read several pages before deciding whether a book is too hard. Ms Routman notes that sometimes a book that may initially seem too hard is ‘just right’ once the child has read enough for meaning to ‘kick’ in.

Ultimately, parents should make reading fun for their children. In addition to selecting ‘just right’ books, parents should never tie their opinion of their child to his reading ability by communicating that through attitudes and behaviours. Parents should not push their child to read at higher levels at the sacrifice of understanding. The best way to make reading fun is through conversation about what is being read.

Options for parents looking for ways to support a child’s reading can include scanning stories ahead for difficult or unusual vocabulary and going over these words in advance. Allow your child to read through a story silently before reading aloud (especially if your child is self-conscious about reading aloud). Alternatively, a parent can first read the story aloud and discuss the story content. Parents can add variety to the reading sessions by taking turns with the reading by sharing lines or pages. Read story beginnings aloud to your child to hook interest then let your child finish the story independently. If a story includes dialogue, assume the role of one of the characters and read using different voices, accents and inflections.
When helping your child to understand and respond to stories, think about ways to get your child involved. For example, if the story takes place in an unfamiliar place, use an atlas to locate the place and share as much as you can to generate interest and knowledge about the location of the story.
After reading the first few pages or chapters, stop and talk about the main character in the story and discuss possible events and endings that might occur. Connect the character to your life.

While the reading is progressing, check in to see how the character’s situation is progressing and how your child is reacting to the developments in the story. Have your child read sections aloud that she finds particularly interesting or confusing. You can give your child sticky notes to mark special pages for further discussion.

After the reading, discuss personal reactions to the story with your child. What was liked or disliked and were there any lessons learned?
There may be an opportunity for a follow-up to the story and this can be done in art form, writing, drama or reading another book by the same author or similar genre. The possibilities are there to explore.
Choosing ‘just right’ books and knowing how to engage with your child as a reader and as a supporter of reading is the best way to instill a love of reading and life-long desire to read. Our children learn to value reading when it is a shared and supportive home activity with adults who actively engage with books.

Link

The Reading Rocket site has another way to think about helping your child choose the appropriate books for their level: How can parents help their children find books that are not “too hard” and not “too easy” but instead are “just right”? Here’s some advice.

Five finger rule

Choose a book that you think you will enjoy.
Read the second page.
Hold up a finger for each word you are not sure of, or do not know.
If there are five or more words you did not know, you should choose an easier book.

Still think it may not be too difficult? Use the five finger rule on two more pages.

Choose a book that is a good fit for you!

Read two or three pages and ask yourself these questions:

Will it be an easy, fun book to read?

Do I understand what I am reading?
Do I know almost every word?
When I read it aloud, can I read it smoothly?
Do I think the topic will interest me?

If most of your answers were “yes”, this will be an easy book to read independently by yourself.

Will this book be too hard for me?

Are there five or more words on a page that I don’t know, or am unsure of?
Is this book confusing and hard to understand by myself?
When I read it aloud, does it sound choppy and slow?

If most of your answers were “yes,” this book is too hard. You should wait awhile before you read this book. Give the book another try later, or ask an adult to read the book to you.

Tips on reading with your child

When they can’t read the word, say…

Can you sound it out?
Fingertap it.
Can you think of the word or movement that helps you remember that vowel sound?
What is the first and last sound? What word would make sense?
Does it have a pattern that you have seen in other words? (ex-an, ack)
How does the word begin?
You said_______. Does that make sense?
What word would make sense that would start with these sounds?
Put your finger under the word as you say it.

When they want to read a book that is too hard, say…

Let’s read it together.
This is a book you will enjoy more if you save it until you are older — or later in the year.
[Be honest!] When people read books that are too hard for them, they often skip important parts. You will have more fun with this book if you wait until you can read it easily.

I hope that that gives some good guides to helping you with choosing good books. Your child’s teacher or your local community librarian can also give you some good suggestions on books to share with your child. They have had many years of guiding students to good books and are excellent resources.

Filed under languagearts reading independentreaders leveledreading books justrightbooks

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December 30, 2011

Weekend Fun: Cooking with Children’s Literature

So, I was organizing my kitchen cupboard to make room for the three new Jamie Oliver books I received for Christmas (and boy, does he have a lot of cookbooks), when I came across this delightful book by Liz Franklin called Cooking Italian with Kids.

While it’s a little old for my children, it got me wondering if there was a way to combine favorite children’s literature books with some great cooking experiences in the kitchen. Combining books with food is always fun. Getting to make the food is even more fun (Though it can get messy. Our apologies in advance!).

Some of the books have some very obvious food elements that you can do as a snack to go along with the book. You can either read the story first, point out the foods that are mentioned, then make the snack or make the snack as an introductory activity, then eat it as you read the book. So taking a look around Google, I came up with some great ways to combine children’s literature with some cooking ideas:

1. Chocolate Chip cookies with If You Give A Mouse A Cookie: this is a great series of books with a progressive story line which circles back to the beginning by the end of thestory. Kids love the silly things that the animals do and the illustrations are very nicely done. There are a few books in the series that involve food but chocolate chip cookies are lots of fun for kids to make and taste great.

2. Pancakes with Curious George Makes Pancakes: While Curious George oftentimes elicit expressions of disbelief (and why exactly does the Man with the Yellow Hat keeping leaving that monkey by himself?), children love how Georgegets to do all the things that they don’t get to do but wish they could. In this case, they can make pancakes. The nice thing is that they are not difficult to make. If you want to be even more experimental, try sticking bamboo skewers or popsicle sticks in them as they are cooking to make pancakes on a stick.

3. Strawberry Shortcake with Cook-A-Doodle-Do: a favorite dessert of mine (being a good Nova Scotian boy!), this is a fun story to read. Rooster—rebuffed by Dog, Cat, and Goose just like his Granny was—finds companionship in the kitchen with Turtle, Iguana, and Potbellied Pig. As Turtle reads the recipe aloud, Iguana continuously confuses the instructions to great comedic effect. Scattered through the story are sidebars with cooking tips that offer information on the ingredients, measurements, and techniques mentioned in the text.

4. Blueberry Muffins with Blueberries for Sal: This classic story by Robert McCloskey,has a little girl and her mother setting off in search of blueberries for the winter at the same time as a mother bear and her cub. A quiet comedy of errors ensues when the young ones wander off and absentmindedly trail the wrong mothers.

5. Soup with Stone Soup: Two hungry travelers, denied food by the inhabitants of a mountain village, publicly declare that they can make soup from a stone. Only they need a carrot… and a potato… and a few more ingredients to make it taste really good. Everyone in the town contributes something, pronounces the soup delicious and learns the magic behind it: sharing. Their are several versions of the story but the version retold by Heather Forest includes a recipe for Stone Soup though any simple recipe for soup would work.

6. Popcorn with The Popcorn Book: This is a nice “night lunch” book. Make some popcorn and eat it while reading this fun book by Tomie De Paola just before bedtime.

Some other books you can use include:

In the Night Kitchen
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Bread and Jam for Francis
The Pie and the Patty Pan by Beatrix Potter
Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
The Little House Series
Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke
Pineapple Poet and the Curse of the Smoothie Man
Green Eggs and Ham
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog
My Mom Loves Me More than Sushi

Happy Cooking and Reading!

Do you have any favorite books that could be used as a cooking experience with children? Let us know in the comments!

Filed under books childrensbooks cookingwithbooks

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December 28, 2011

From Classic Books to Screen (Or the new Hobbit trailer)

Quick question …

What’s even better than reading a classic book for the hundredth time; a book that you could probably recite from memory?

Seeing your favorite book come to life on the big screen.

Now, I know what you are saying. So many times, you look forward to the movie adaptation only to be so disappointed that you come out of the theater weeping like the Mock Turtle in Alice Wonderland (I’m looking at you, directors of The Shipping News and The Series of Unfortunate Events! Why, oh, why?). I remember one of my absolute favorite books, which I still read every year at about this time, being made into a movie a couple of years ago. It was the film adaptation of The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, and I couldn’t wait for it to come out. What I hadn’t anticipated was that the director and screenwriters would change just about every aspect of it that made it such a classic book. From the setting to the ending; nothing was sacred. In short, it was a horrible movie and never did well.

That is why I am so looking forward to the film adaptation of The Hobbit. Having seen “The Lord of the Rings” many, many times and loved it’s dedication to the source material, I know that The Hobbit will be beautiful, exciting and faithful to what made “The Hobbit” one of the most important books of the 20th century. If it can even elicit a bit of the feeling I had opening the illustrated version of the Hobbit I was introduced to when I was in Grade 3, it will be wonderful.

You’ve probably seen it but here is the first trailer for “The Hobbit” coming out next year.

Do you have a favorite book that has been made into a movie? Did you like the movie? Let us know in the comments!

Filed under books classics bookstomovies movies favoritebooks childrensbooks

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November 27, 2011

10 Reasons Why You Should Read Aloud To Your Child

After having written the blog post on how to choose a good read-aloud, I thought afterwards that I should have perhaps started with the why of reading aloud. In our busy days and schedules, it can be easy to dismiss prioritizing time to read aloud to our children. In his book, “The Read-Aloud Handbook”, Jim Trelease gives several important reasons to read-aloud. Surprisingly, I just came across this book recently and wish I had seen it years earlier. It is a treasure trove of research and resources for both teachers and parents.

Taken from his book, here are 10 reasons why you should read to your child:

1. It’s an accrued skill - It’s a time thing. The more you read, the better you get. Therefore the more time you spend reading to your child the better they are going to be prepared for actual reading. You are embedding those building blocks. Just because they can’t read yet doesn’t mean that they can’t still begin learning and understanding the process. Quite often, you will hear the kindergarten teachers talk about those students who have come into kindergarten not ready. A lot of times it is because families have not spent the time reading to their children right from an early age. The interesting thing is that often Kindergarten teachers can accurately predict how a child is going to do as they continue through to graduation. Some of that prediction comes from how they enter kindergarten.

2. Create life time readers and not just school-time readers. A lot of times I see parents butting their heads against teachers and homework policies. I have had numerous conversations about how school is for school and home is for home. And there is certainly a place for that thinking. Homework for homework sake is not good and is really what the fight over homework is about in my mind. However, this is not a post about homework per se. The point though is that, we want to build children who don’t just read for school. That just creates students who think that reading is just about schoolwork. Reading at home build’s the “want-to” of reading and not the “just-to”.

3.The best source for brain building at the early ages is through the ear. While young children are not yet ready to read with their eyes on their own, reading aloud to them, helps them to hear the words and associate it with what they see. The rich sounds of words help the child make sense of the words they will read later on.

4. To reassure your child - the whole reading with your child reassures them and comforts them. They can snuggle in your arms and feel safe. It is time well spent with your child that will pay huge dividends later on. They know that the time you spend with them is important and thus, they are important.

5. To entertain and bond with your child - The way you speak the text and interact with the book and your child builds reading as something done for fun. Using voices, emphasis, engaging children with the various elements on display brings stories to life as a tv brings live action to life. The important difference is that the stories you read can proceed at your own pace, not a pace dictated by the television. You can stop to explore, talk about what is going on, ask questions. You are an engaged, interactive audience not passively immobile with no control. I still remember my father reading “Danny, the Champion of the World”. It created an indelible memory in me that makes me remember my father every time I read that book. Now that he has passed away, it is nice to have something that I can remember as having been a bond between us.

6. To arouse curiosity and inspire - as with the previous point, as you begin to delve into the story, the pictures and the concepts, you inspire and grow curiosity within your child. And again, they can stop to think about what they are seeing, hearing and reading. They can go back to a previous idea if they need to. A book of poetry with original photographs can inspire your child to look at photographs in new ways or to create their own photograph album. The possibilities are endless with books. You can find and explore books on any concept regardless of the age level. Just because a child can’t read the book themselves does not mean that it can not still be read to them and explore the illustrations. The interesting thing is that children often have a higher level of listening comprehension than reading comprehension meaning that a child at a grade 4 read level can understand a grade 6 reading level if it is read to them. Often the books, I read in my class are of a higher reading level than what my students can actually read. We’ll talk more about this later.

7. Conditions the child to associate reading with pleasure - When you read with your child, it actually triggers pleasure sensations within our brains. And we always want to return to things that bring us pleasure. My daughter associates reading with getting to snuggle with her father. It is our time together and it brings us both happiness. Developing this joy in reading will help create a reading that is “want-to” reader rather than a “just-to” reader. We will always come back to reading because our brains have associated it with a time of happiness.

8. Creates background knowledge - Allowing your child to find and read books based on their interest, helps them to build knowledge that is relevant to them. I remember being fascinated with Napolean when I was in Grade 3 (Yes, I know I was weird). My mother took me to the public library which had a very limited number of books on the subject and none at my level. So, instead of telling me that there was nothing for me, my mother took the time to go through the material with me and help me to understand and read what I could not. Young children can interact with material as their parents engage them with the text, questioning, pointing out elements of the pictures, etc.

9. Builds book vocabulary - Just engaging with books with your child helps to build the vocabulary of using books. Table of contexts, page turning, reading from left to right, front cover, etc, are all things that children begin to understand just by sharing books with parents.

10. Provides a reading role model - Seeing your parents, older siblings, heros reading is hugely important. I just had a conversation with a parent about their child’s reading at our recent report card interviews. She was complaining that her child doesn’t like reading much at home for pleasure. I asked her what the reading was like for the parents. She looked a little sheepish and stated that she didn’t particularly read much for pleasure either and realized on her own that there may be a connection. If you prioritize reading and make it important at home, your children will know it is important and may be more likely to pick it up themselves. Getting them their own library card, bringing books, books, and more books into the home, going to bookstores, sharing what you are reading, having conversations about reading and books; these are all things that show how important it is. Having their role models doing this … it just makes even more of a case for getting into it themselves.

The Read-Aloud handbook is a great resource for parents and teachers. You can probably find it at your local library. If not, you can find quite a bit of good information online at http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-intro.html.

What do you think? What reading traditions have you started with your children to develop a love of reading? Let us know in the comments.

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