Story Telling

While children are in the classroom books are a major part of their experience. Whether they are reading the books themselves, having books be read to them or even just going along with the pictures they are picking up on literacy concepts and learning as they grow. It is always important to chose books or themes that spark interest in children so they are fully engaged and want to keep going and learn more. It is also important to make sure to be supportive as children learn so it encourages them to want to keep going.

As I mentioned previously, it is very important to support children in their reading process. Every child learns at a different pace and encouraging children that they are making progress and that their observations are accurate or on the right pace is a great way to keep them engaged. In an article I just read the main focus is on how important this strategy is in the classroom especially when it comes to storytelling in the classroom. If a book is being read out loud they believe it is necessary to point to the illustrations and talk out what is going on so that the children will be able to associate what is going on in the picture and the words and put them together in the future. Explaining the illustration also helps the children's vocabulary form. helping children develop oral vocabulary at a young age will only benefit them in the long run.



Fun ideas for home or in the classroom

Fingerplay: Make mini people or objects out of felt or on gloves and make characters from different songs or stories to keep the children involved and engaged. They will love to be able to move their fingers along to the beat or hold up the finger with the character on it when it is their turn in the story. This is a fun way to get multiple people involved in a group activity and can be used in the classroom or at home with the family or friends!

Act It Out: Have all of the students sit in a circle on the classroom floor and assign different characters to each child and provide them with a 'bib' which has a picture of each face or animal of every character in the story. When that character is mentioned in the book have that student stand up! It is a great way for the students to stay engaged and pay attention to the story and the illustrations that they are interested in.