Today I read Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes out loud to the group during story time after calendar, which I also now assist with. :) It went very well I thought as the children sat and listened for the entire story. This story was chosen by Jean, because we are currently doing an author study Kevin and have been reading a title by him each day. I highly enjoyed the experience and after I finished Jean and I talked about the purpose of reading the stories. In the beginning, the purpose is to familiarize the children with an author's work, as well as have them practice their listening skills for the length of a book, as well as see how the stories by the same author have connections both in picture and in text. She also described how the books she chooses during the theme units for science and such are used in a way that help the children practice the above skills as well as increasing their observation and 'making connections' skills by asking them more questions during the read alouds that encourage this higher level thinking process. Thus, story time is not just a book read out loud only for pleasure or to simply have some 'group time', rather it should be a teachable moment as well as intertwine itself into the overarching theme (right now it's building awareness and communities) and enhance or challenge their current understandings of the world around them.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Read Aloud
Today I read Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes out loud to the group during story time after calendar, which I also now assist with. :) It went very well I thought as the children sat and listened for the entire story. This story was chosen by Jean, because we are currently doing an author study Kevin and have been reading a title by him each day. I highly enjoyed the experience and after I finished Jean and I talked about the purpose of reading the stories. In the beginning, the purpose is to familiarize the children with an author's work, as well as have them practice their listening skills for the length of a book, as well as see how the stories by the same author have connections both in picture and in text. She also described how the books she chooses during the theme units for science and such are used in a way that help the children practice the above skills as well as increasing their observation and 'making connections' skills by asking them more questions during the read alouds that encourage this higher level thinking process. Thus, story time is not just a book read out loud only for pleasure or to simply have some 'group time', rather it should be a teachable moment as well as intertwine itself into the overarching theme (right now it's building awareness and communities) and enhance or challenge their current understandings of the world around them.
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Hi there Ashley,
ReplyDeleteIt is great that the act of reading a simple story can actually be so much more. This is something I am focusing on, exactly which skills can we elicit from these simple acts. Sometimes when I look to the standards I am confused by the language yet, when it is put into practice I understand it and it becomes achievable. See you next week.