Jj is for Jottings 97.  Reading-Aloud Games.

Following on from interactive reading with children, here are some ideas for “reading-aloud games” which you can play with children while reading stories with them.  The idea is to be spontaneous, just playfully engaging in banter whilst actually providing wonderful learning opportunities as a bonus.  It may sound strange, saying to be spontaneous and then making suggestions as to what to do.  But it is helpful to see the types of games you can play and, once you have the idea, you can invent your own activities in the moment.

THE IMPORTANCE OF REPETITION IN READING ALOUD.

The first thing to do with any book is to read it through, then read it again and again (not necessarily on the same occasion).  You can’t read a favourite book too often.  It’s best to position yourselves so children can follow the text with their eyes.  This way they will pick up heaps of information about word shapes and sound-letter links without noticing. For more on the importance of repetition see repetition, repetition, repetition and more repetition.

READING-ALOUD GAME IDEAS.

EARLY STAGES.

1. When reading a story you may become aware that two words have rhymed. Point it out – “Listen, big and dig rhyme: big,dig.”  Then keep reading.  At some stage you may also like to search for other rhyming words, depending on the text.  For further information see rhyming part 1 and rhyming part 2.
2. You might begin to read the book upside down, or start to read from the last page. Children love telling you how silly you are and putting you right.
3. Another bit of silliness – pick up the book you intend to read, read its title, and then start the story of another familiar book.   You have ‘The Ugly Duckling’ in front of you.  Read the title, open to the first page and say, “Once upon a time there were three little pigs.”  Since your child is familiar with both books – “Noooo, don’t be silly.  That’s not ‘The Three Little Pigs’.  Look.”
4. Be sure to look at the illustrations together and talk about them. The old saying “A picture paints a thousand words” is close to the mark.  The pictures add meaning and help children understand the story.  The younger the child, the more you will be talking about the pictures together.

MORE ADVANCED READING-ALOUD GAMES.

As children advance along the reading continuum, you can begin to focus more on the words.  The sorts of games you can make up on the spot include:

1. Point to a word that is repeated on the page.  “Look, this word says elephant and that word is the same, so it says elephant.  I wonder if there are any words repeated on other pages.”  On the next page:  “This word says   Can we find it anywhere else on this page?  It starts with f which looks like this.”  Show the child f.  “That’s wonderful, you found it.  See, they are exactly the same.  There’s the f at the start and all the other letters are the same, too.”  If the child doesn’t find the word, find it for them and fudge it so it looks like they found it for themselves.  All this is done with high energy and the excitement of making wonderful discoveries together.
2. Once you’ve discovered repeated words which are a bit unusual, you can then turn your attention to some common words – words which are likely to crop up on many pages in most books. “You know, I think it says he said on practically every page in this book.  Look – here it is on this page, and here it is on that page.  See – it’s two words.  The first word starts with h (point to it) and the second word starts with s (point). Let’s have a look on the other pages and see if they are there.”  And if your read-aloud story time is anything like some of my speech therapy sessions, there will be much loud hilarity and jubilation as the child finds the words.
3. You can do the same thing with other common words – and, the, because, there, was – and so on. Not all at once.  Different words on different occasions, depending on the book, your time etc.
4. You can read a story – even an unfamiliar one – with the child reading just the one word every time it appears. You read all the other words and stop for the child to fill in that one word.  If the child is following the print, they will fill in the word quickly whilst at the same time hearing the pairing of the spoken word with the printed word of every other word in the story.  Next time you read you can add another common word, so the child is reading two words every time they appear.  And so on.

These reading-aloud games encourage children to look closely at print, which is something children who struggle with reading often don’t do.  It seems to me that they have not had enough experience of having stories read to them to have realised that there is a connection between what they are hearing and what they are seeing.

THE SMALLEST ELEMENT.

The smallest element of a word is the sound-letter link, or phonics.  Aa is for Alpacas (see Why This Book?) was written with the express purpose of teaching sound-letter links.  You can also check that you are saying the sounds correctly (as opposed to letter names) on the link above, by clicking on the Video button.

Within the context of a story you can ask the child to find a specific letter wherever it occurs on the page – say the sound it makes as you do so.

 

READING-ALOUD GAMES – A FINAL THOUGHT.

The most important word to remember is GAMES.  You are not out to teach the child, you are there to have fun while reading with your child.  You are a parent, not a teacher.  The fun, the stories themselves, the close contact, the conversations that crop up, the cuddles and the spontaneity all combine to create children who love books and stories.  That’s half the battle.  But at the same time they learn so many reading – and language – skills without being taught a thing.  And the parent-child bond grows ever stronger.

Check out the Facebook page: Aa is for Alpacas.