From: tbaker3 at slis.ua.edu <tbaker3>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 11:02:50 -0500 (CDT)

Hello all,

I would like to share the read aloud story of a fellow preschool teacher. Of course our kids loved to listen to picture books, and we read those widely and often. I was impressed however when my colleague introduced these almost four year olds to chapter books through Jenny B. Jones.

They fell in love with her right away, and learned from the experience how to connect with a character over time, how to recall the events heard in an earlier part of the story, and how to pick up where they left off and continue to follow the story line. They were also able to practice the prediction skills they learned from actively reading picture books together. I loved that they learned to enjoy the written word through just listening and lessened somewhat their dependence on pictures for comprehension.

Reading a book aloud has an amazing ability to extend the books appropriate audience. The right chapter book works with preschoolers, just as a good picture book can work beautifully with teenagers. Isn't it wonderful that teenagers can enjoy a good picture book without compromising their *cool* factor if the teacher reads it aloud, or if they read it to a younger person, or if a younger person reads it to them.

We are all here to grow, and listening to a good book being read by someone who cares about you or reading a good book to someone you care about is a beautiful - and as others have said - sacred way to grow.
Received on Thu 05 Aug 2004 11:02:50 AM CDT