Research tells us that a key component to future interest in reading and literacy is reading books daily with children. We also know that providing examples of language for children through reading, asking open-ended questions and modeling vocabulary can support oral language development.
Watch this video of a child who is reading a story with his teacher in front of a small group of children.
Reading Spiderman
This is a clip of a child reading to his class. We recognize his strategies for emergent reading, such as memorizing words and using visual cues to remind him of phrases. According to the book, Early Literacy in Preschool and Kindergarten, Beaty and Pratt refer to this experience as “practice reading.” Also notice the boy’s strategies for engaging his peers, such as inflection and eye contact. What does his continual eye contact convey about this child’s sense of audience? We also wonder about the teacher’s role in this experience. Why might the teacher choose to hold the book for the child? In this particular experience the teacher was concerned with the audience’s attention span if they could not see the images. She wanted to ensure success at this very public sharing of work. If you were the teacher, how would you support the child in this experience?
[Independent Practice Reading is the] retelling of a familiar story. In this kind of practice, a child reads a familiar storybook to herself, to an adult, another child, or a doll or stuffed animal….they are the ones who love books and who certain favorites they want to read over and over. After children have read along with adults repeatedly in the same book, they are able to say more of the words, and eventually may be able to retell the entire story independently from memory, guided by the pictures.” – Beaty and Pratt
Share what you observed the teacher did to support the child. If you were the teacher, what would you do to support this child? Share your observations on this child’s level of speech and language development for his age?
