Today we highlight the importance of talking. It almost seems silly to highlight this because we already talk to our kids, but it's the how and why of it that is so important. Talking together gives us a goldmine of opportunities to create learning experiences. It is one of the best ways to help them learn new words and information.
In storytimes, youth librarians often talk about dialogic reading. It basically means talking about a book together, in particular the pictures in a book. You don't read the book in a traditional sense, rather the caregiver asks questions and listens to the child's responses, using them to guide the conversation. If a child can answer a question, they are ready for dialogic reading. This develops vocabulary and narrative skills, giving the child an opportunity to describe stories and events in a book which will lead to conversations beyond the pages. I like to tell my preschoolers that they can still read a book aloud, even if they don't know how to read the words yet. I tell them that they get to be the storyteller. If I am working with a smaller group, I have been known to let kids take turns on the story stool. It leads to amazing and entertaining results! It also empowers them and gives them confidence which is very helpful when beginning to learn how to read.
Saroj Ghoting is an Early Childhood Literacy Consultant. I have heard her speak at several conferences and in-services throughout my career. Her website, www.earlylit.net has a wealth of valuable information and resources for librarians, teachers, and caregivers. She offers tips for how to build vocabulary and tips to build sentence skills.
In storytime, I like to share books that are interactive and can really inspire some interesting conversations. I take time to ask the kids questions as we go through a book together. This was how I learned many years ago from a 4 year old that the reason why we don't see dinosaurs around anymore is because they all retired and moved to Florida! If you take a gander through some of my storytime program outlines, I like to share a variety of books and some that tend to repeat themselves year to year because they have become tried and true awesome dialogic conversation starters. Bob Shea comes to mind as one of my favorite children's authors. He often shows up in my programs. Todd Parr also has amazing books that I like to share, especially Reading Makes You Feel Good. The cover itself makes me smile even before I open the book! You can get double duty and use this book to promote the magical skill of reading (coming soon to a blog near you!) We had an epic conversation about this book that still makes me smile
and makes me miss my storytime programs more than I already do!
Books that rhyme, books with repetition, books that ask the reader to mimic sounds - these are all great choices to promote talking and sharing together. As we go through each of the 5 skills that promote early literacy development, you will see that there is quite a bit of overlap. It illustrates just how easy it is to seamlessly make them a part of your daily life. Books that go through the course of a day or follow any kind of journey are great for promoting narrative skills and storytelling. All Through My Town by Jean Reidy, illustrated by Leo Timmers is a good example. It would also work for a community helper theme.
I could spend all day giving you book titles, but I will end this post with the two books that I read to my daughters' classes when they were in 1st grade. I got to be the guest reader during their student of the week festivities. This was after a long fought campaign to be said guest reader. Okay. Real story? I basically called dibs and refused to relinquish the title to anyone else. No one was going to do it but me. Fortunately my girls realized that there was no arguing with their headstrong mother and just let it happen. Anyway these are the books that I read in 2018 and 2020 respectively that their classmates STILL talk about and love. Sorry to the other parents, but there was no way you were going to out
read a children's librarian! Just kidding! Read these with your kiddos and let the conversations and shenanigans begin!
This was Natalie's choice. I read it in October 2018 to her class. Before I began I included a note of apology to her awesome teacher because I knew what was going to happen. Having read this during school visits prior, I was prepared! Another fun fact? I read this book to classes during Right to Read week at our local elementary school to grades 1-5. Yes, I got 5th graders captivated and talking! Anyway, my 5th graders decided that Rock bore an uncanny resemblance to Thanos, (Avengers was big at this time!) and that led to a spirited discussion of who Paper and Scissors looked like. In any situation this book leads to many battles of the famous game. Reader beware.
I asked my younger daughter, Julianna if she wanted me to read The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors again. She is a grade younger, so this would be a back to back performance. She had a better idea. Julianna loves this book. LOVES it. I think it's because the reader has to be very silly and make a bunch of ridiculous sounds in reading this book. She had the same rock star 1st grade teacher as her big sis the year before. Mrs. Z was excited because she knew I was bound to read something epic. Instead of being the guest reader in a classroom, I got to be the class reader in a Zoom meeting this past May. This book delivered. The kids loved how Juli's mom got to say things like "blork", "bluurf", and"boo boo butt!" A word of advice? This book should only be read aloud by people with a sense of humor and a feeling of no fear when it comes to acting a fool!
The moral of this blog post? Get reading and get TALKING! Silly nonsense words are encouraged!
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