Literacy Blog #1

I write today as if I were sitting in a cafe close to an elementary school where grown people sit with kindergartners and pour their hearts and emotions into their words as they attempt to create emphasis and effect for the students who listen intently.  I write today to explain my thoughts of how I got to this point of preparation for my own attempt to read to a child in the primary grade a book called "Duck on a Bike".  I write today to fulfill a mission to complete every assignment on time and in good standing.  If this format looks different next week, you can assume I achieved one of the two.

Knowing our task is to read a children's book to a kindergartner, I had to figure out how I was going to go about performing the task.  I knew I wanted a fun book that had a lot of visuals but still had a storyline beyond what you might hear from a Preschool teacher.  To help determine which book will be suitable I enlisted the help of my four year old daughter who is attending preschool.  We stopped by the library and began reading every children's book we could find:  What Color am I?, Pam's friend the pillow, War and Peace, and much much more...when finally on book #22 my daughter couldn't keep the smile off her face or her enthusiasm below 1000 db.  She absolutely loved the book "Duck on a Bike" by David Shannon.  I knew right then that if she loved it at age four someone a couple years older must think approximately the same thing...I hope.

Now that I had the book in hand, I needed to get some idea of how to read it for the most effect.  Luckily our preparation conscious professor prepared us with a reading titled "Reading to Kindergarten Children".  One of the main points was to modify the inflection of your voice to create effect, but also to stop and elaborate on points we feel the children might need more understanding.  There are a couple places I have already noted I will need to stop and explain, or check for understanding by asking questions.  Following the story, ask questions to open up the dialog.  "Is this a real or fake story?  Why?"  The reading gives a great table that lists out 15 guidelines for a successful classroom reading to your students.

I write this now feeling fully prepared to enjoy my time with the little ones in the morning.  Now if I can only remember to take the book with me.