Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 1 Early Literacy Tip Tuesday September 22 nd – R eading A loud Hi everyone! Welcome to another installment of Early Literacy Tip Tuesdays. I’m Miss Lizzi, the Youth Services Librarian at Tremont District Library. This week we’ re starting our discussion on the third Early Literacy Practice: Reading! Let’s start with talking about Reading Aloud and the benefits this has on pre - literacy children, or children who cannot independently read yet. Just like Talking and Singing, Reading Aloud to your child helps them develop their vocabulary, learn new skills like counting or patterns, and helps them learn the storytelling skills . Hearing another perso n read aloud also helps de velop children ’ s comprehension and flue ncy. Here are some tips to help make the most of reading aloud time with your child. O ne : Make the story interactive. E ngage and include your child in the story with repeated phrases, actions, or questions. An easy book to incorporate repetition with is one I bet you already enjoy, 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Be d . There are lots of versions of this story, but I personally enjoy Eileen Christelow’s copy and all her versions of it. Teach your little one to say “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” after you say “...and the doctor said...” and give them a cue. This helps to keep them engaged in the story and learn transitional phrases! Books that require actions from the reader are also super popular! A classic favorite of mine is Sesame Street’s The Monster at the End of this Boo k . Each page pleads with the reader to not turn it and it is fun to see kids l augh their way through this story . Other popular interactive titles include Herv é Tullet’s Press Her e , Mix It Up ! , and Let’s Play ! . Check out the link in the d escription for more interactive titles. Asking questions while you read is also great for helping to keep children engaged in a story. These questions can be simple for little listeners such as, “Do you like to play outside like this character too?” or de eper questions for older Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 2 listeners like “How would you feel what happened to that character happened to you?”. Don’t forget to discuss the pictures too! Your child is using the illustrations as a visual aide in imagining the text. Ask them about the scenes they see, or if there are any hidden creatures or objects they can find. T wo : Don’t be afraid to get silly! Use different voices for different characters. U s e a loud voice for big text and a quiet voice for small text. You don’t have to be a theater professional to mak e telling storytime fun . I can guarantee that all throughout t heir life your child will remember the way you read them a story very fondly , no matter how silly you may feel at the time. Children will also learn from the dialect a nd tone that you use and incorporate them into their own stories that they tell or read aloud. T hree : For older children, preschool aged or beginner independent readers, make a point of following the text with your finger as you narrate. This helps your child c onnect spoken words to written text. Young listeners focus mainly on the pictures in a story and this helps them transition to learning how to enjoy a story through text. Following along word by word helps children who are learning how to read develop a se nse for how words work together to make sentences and stories. Reading Aloud to your child also gives them an opportunity to experience stories or genres they might not have known about or picked up on their own. This is a benefit that applies to all read ers, not just our Early Literacy learners. Young child ren “judge books by their cover ” and that’s alright! One of the most importan t aspects of a story for them is engaging illustrations. Use your experience and reading skills to broaden their horizons an d find books about new topics or environments they might not have known about before. I could go on for days about how much reading aloud to your child helps their early literacy and learning skills develop, but I don’t want to overwhelm anybody with an hour long vide o. Instead I encourage everyone to set aside time each day to read aloud Lizzi Ogle – Tremont District Library 3 with your child. Watch how this time turns into a favorite part of each day and how your child’s story telling skills soar. If you want to learn more about the benefits of reading alo ud to your child or more ways to make storytime fun at your house , check out the links in the description. I hope you all enjoyed this Early Literacy Tip Tuesday video. Next week we’ll be discussing everything Board Books for our very youngest of read ers. Stay tuned ! Book/Media Recommendations: 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Chrsitelow The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone Press Here , Mix It Up! , Let’s Play! By Herve Tullet M ore interactive stories : https://imaginationsoup.net/the - best - interactive - picture - books / Articles for more information : https://www.readingrockets.org/article/repeated - interactive - read - alouds - preschool - and - kindergarte n https://www.readingrockets.org/article/reading - aloud - build - comprehensio n https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/why - re ading - aloud - to - kids - helps - them - thriv e https://www.readbrightly.com/importance - of - reading - aloud - to - big - kids / https://neurosciencenews.com/child - reading - vocabulary - 15283 / https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1833 - read - early - and - ofte n