Read-Alouds With Young Children

by Robin Campbell

Children enter the elementary school classroom with varying amounts of exposure to books. Regardless of this personal experience, however, teachers can greatly extend a child's literacy development through interactive classroom read-alouds. Reading a story aloud presents endless opportunities for related activities, from classroom discussions to role plays, shared readings, group writings, arts and crafts, and songs. Read-Alouds With Young Children explores read-alouds in both home and school settings and encourages the use of read-alouds as a starting point for further learning in several curricular areas. Read-alouds provide many types of literacy support for Children learn about literacy through an adult who provides a model of reading; they form an understanding of how print functions and how it is used; they develop a knowledge and understanding of letters and letter-sound relationships; they learn new words, new sentences, and new discourse patterns; they learn about the structure of stories; and they develop a positive attitude toward books. As this book illustrates, the opportunities for developing a curriculum from read-alouds are almost limitless. Classroom teachers and teacher educators will find this book useful as a means of reconsidering the contribution of read-alouds to a literacy curriculum. Not only do the ideas presented here provide a basis for children to learn through literacy, they help retain children's enjoyment of the read-aloud and encourage them to become lifelong readers.

107 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001