Engaging the older crowd

Hello? Am I getting through to you at all?

As a Read-Aloud volunteer for the past four years, I have often found myself asking that question, especially when it comes to holding the attention of some of the older kids. It’s not easy to keep them interested, focused and entertained. The good news is that they have pushed me to be a better volunteer and to stretch beyond the regular Read-Aloud routine. Here are a few things that I've learned.

Nonfiction books are a big draw for older kids. If you can find a subject they like and are knowledgeable about, you may just strike gold. I suggest taking a survey to see what topics interest the older kids. The more they feel involved in the process and the more you can empower them, the more likely they are to actively participate in a Read-Aloud. A few years ago, my reading team had a gifted boy who started acting out as he matured. He would interrupt the readings and instigate poor behavior in the other kids. I realized that he was simply bored. Once we honed in on the subjects he knew about and gave him the opportunity to share that knowledge with the group, we saw a dramatic change. Little did we know that he was a science wizard!


Older children love technology. It can be challenging to incorporate this, but if you are comfortable with it, sharing a video on an iPad or introducing a book on an e-reader can be an easy way to let the kids explore the theme and keep them engaged. On one occasion, my team used an iPad fireplace app to create a “campfire” setting for our outdoors theme. We also used an iPad to show videos of political speeches during a Read-Aloud about the upcoming presidential election. The kids not only ate it up, they also handled the device with great care. 

Kim leads kids at The Berkeley in a game of 
Ninja Simon Says.

Our team has also had success reaching older kids by choosing subjects that relate to their lives. If they can find parallels between the Read-Aloud topic and something they have actually experienced, you will see a more invested kid. That’s also why it is so important to take the time during the reading to talk about the book and to let the kids share some of their own stories. A few years ago we had some baseball players in our group. When we did a baseball theme to kick off spring, the players were delighted to tell us about their own triumphs and visits to the ballpark.

At The Berkeley Read-Alouds, we have a wide age range and often see kids aged 4 and 11 at the same session. Sometimes it helps to pair an older child with a younger one. Putting them in the position of role model or mentor can give that preteen a sense of responsibility and pride. Next time, try teaming up some of the kids during the activity portion of the Read-Aloud.

Finally, there is nothing more important than reinforcing good behavior. The more you can lift them up for doing something good, the more you will both enjoy your time together.

Guest blog post written by TRC volunteer Kim Oates.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Holiday shopping

Are you still looking for the perfect gift for the kids and adults on your list? Lucky for you, The Reading Connection (TRC) is here to help.

Books are a great gift for kids of all ages. Build a love of reading from the very start by giving infants and toddlers board books that were made just for them. Board books can stand up to the heavy love that babies give them.  They are resistant to tears and being chewed on, since their pages are made of cardboard.

Picture books can appeal to young people from toddlers and teens, depending on their design and content. Take the time to read through a picture book that catches your eye. You might be surprised at the wit or depth contained therein. Don't hesitate to ask a bookseller to recommend her favorite titles for the children you have in mind. 

"Early readers" are designed to help beginning and newly independent readers feel confident reading on their own. You'll know these books by the distinctive 6-inch by 9-inch size. Reading books on favorite subjects is a strong motivator for new readers; it's well worth your time to seek out early readers on your young reader's current passion. 

Novels and nonfiction books for older kids come in all shapes and sizes. Find out what gets your recipient fired up and go from there.  Some kids will want the newest book in their favorite series, and these series are available for all ages (one current favorite is Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck). Ask a booksellers advice about the best choices for the age and interests of the child for whom you're buying. 

For the readers on your list, check out the many lists of top books of the year. Some of our favorites from this year are

Picture books: The Day the Crayons Quit and Xander’s Panda Party

Early readers: National Geographic Readers

Middle grade: Wonder and One Crazy Summer

Young adult: Allegiant and The 5th Wave

You can also find year-end recommendations at Goodreads and Indie Bound or on our wish list.  When buying books, please support your local independent bookstores, who support TRC.

Consider honoring friends and family who love books by helping to provide free books and literacy-rich experiences for at-risk kids and families. A $10 donation to The Reading Connection can purchase and deliver a book to the home of one of our Book Club kids. 

Use yoga to help kids focus at Read-Alouds

How can you get kids to settle down when they're full of energy? Try using some simple, kid-friendly yoga moves.

An article entitled How Poverty Affects Classroom Engagement in the May 2013 issue of Educational Leadership discussed the benefits of yoga and movement on kids’ focus and behavior. 

“Having students engage in slow stretching while taking slow deep breaths can increase their oxygenation. Yoga training has been shown to increase metabolic controls so children can better manage themselves.”

“Recess and physical education contribute to greater oxygen intake and better learning (Winter et al., 2007)....The use of games, movement, and drama will trigger the release of glucose, stored in the body as glycogen.  Proper glucose levels are associated with stronger memory and cognitive function.” 

The following yoga moves are taught in the Yoga4Classrooms™ training, created by Lisa Flynn. Use these moves alone or in combination with others to energize or calm kids at transition times.

Yoga Moves for Calm

Bumble Bee Breath

• Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose before exhaling out “hmmmmm” as long as possible. 
• First try this with your eyes open, and then with your eyes closed. Then try blocking your ears to make your head fill with the humming sound.

Flying Bird Breath

• Breathe in slowly while lifting your arms out to sides and then up over your head with your palms facing up.
• Slowly exhale as you lower your "wings" down to your sides, palms facing down.

Cat

• Sit up tall with your fingers laced together. 
• Turn your palms out and inhale deeply while extending your arms straight up in the air.
• Exhale, round your shoulders, push your spine back and push your arms in front of you.

Yoga Moves for Energy

Waterfall

• Stand up tall with your feet under your hips.
• Inhale as you bring your hands in front and above your head and lean slightly backwards.
• Exhale and lean forward, letting your arms swing down like the water over a waterfall.
• Inhale and bring the water (your arms) back up to the top and then have them crash down again.

Washing Machine

• Stand up tall with your feet under your hips and let your arms hang loose by your sides.
• Turn your upper body from side to side and allow your arms to wrap around you as you twist.
• Once you are all clean, turn off the washing machine and slowly come back to standing still. Finish with Flying Bird Breath to dry out.

Twisting Star

• Spread your feet wide apart and stretch your arms out to the side. You should look like a five-pointed star.
• To make the star twinkle, reach your right hand down to the ground between your feet with your left arm pointing up. Stay there for a breath or two and then switch sides.
• You can also make the star twinkle by going back to the basic star position and rocking from side to side while balancing on each foot. You can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" while rocking or saying “twinkle, twinkle, stop.”  Freeze and balance when you say stop.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Encouraging creativity

Creativity is an essential quality for children to have. It urges them to ask questions and learn about things they've never heard about. It pushes them to problem solve when put in an unfamiliar situation. It was the gem behind the creation of inventive devices and thought processes that make our lives easier and more interesting.  

There have been many articles published recently about the importance of creativity and how to foster it, both in adults and in children.  For adults, the Wall Street Journal suggests that one of the most important keys is to step back from the issue and daydream. Your mind just have the ability to find a solution or an invention on it's own, but thinking about it too hard may inhibit that ability.  For kids, the BBC reminds us how imaginative kids can be when given the time. Allowing them to be bored or to have unstructured time gives them the chance to invent imaginary worlds to act out, write or draw.

Sometimes we need a spark to get our brains thinking outside of our everyday boxes. Prompts can come in any form, even a picture. One of the great things about art is that even the youngest kids at Read-Alouds can be successful, they don't need to be able to read or write yet. 

Give kids a clipping of a picture, such as a part of an animal or a piece of a building or something that relates to your theme. Bring multiple options so each child has their own starting point. Glue or print it onto a page in a random location. Then ask each child to complete the picture in their own way. Their creative wheels will start turning with all of the directions they can take their art. 

Ask each child to share the story behind their picture. You'll be impressed of how much they've thought through their scene. If they struggle, ask what season it is, why the animal or person is there, where are his friends and any other question to prompt the child to explore the scene.

If kids want to continue to expand on their scene, ask them to write the story of their scene. Who knows, it could be the start of a great storytelling experience. 

For other ideas of open-ended crafts check out this recent post. The inspiration and artwork from this post comes from ArtMommie.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

The Children's Book-A-Day Almanac: A Great Tool for Planning Read-Alouds

You say you have a Read-Aloud next week (shall we say April 29?) and haven’t a clue what to do? 

Here’s a blog that can help solve your dilemma. Check out the Children’s Book-a-Day Almanac, written by children’s book expert Anita Silvey. Silvey, one of les grandes dames of children's book world, has worked for over 40 years in the field. She has been a publisher at Houghton Mifflin and a editor of The Horn Book, two renowned names in American publishing for children. 

She began the Childrens-Book-A-Day Almanac about two years ago. It contains one page for each of the 365 days in the year, each day’s posting featuring a children’s book of unimpeachable quality.

The featured book for April 29 is The Red-Eyed Tree Frog.  This is a perfect Read-Aloud anchor book, a short nonfiction selection with large, colorful photos of the red-eyed tree frog and its environment, for children ages 4 years to 7 years. Guess what?  You have a Read-Aloud theme: frogs, or perhaps the rainforest.  A quick check of a library website's catalog will supply many other books on frogs you can also take to your Read-Aloud -- the "Froggy" series by Jonathan London, Frog Went A-Courtin' retold by John Langstaff, Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel or Tuesday by David Wiesner. The Umbrella, by Jan Brett, would be a fantastic take-along, if your theme is the rainforest. 

 Click here to be taken to this page.

But, let's say the book featured on the date of your Read-Aloud is just not right. Maybe it's geared for kids older than those at your Read-Aloud, or perhaps it just doesn't appeal to you. (If your Read-Aloud were on April 23, for example, you would find that the featured book is Shakespeare Stealer, a wonderful novel for 11-year-olds, but not useful to you as a Read-Aloud choice.) By clicking on the Tomorrow or Yesterday buttons at the top of the Almanac's screen, you can quickly scan lots of other days and lots of other book choices. While you’re flipping through the days, you’ll notice that Silvey often refers to special months or weeks. She tells us April is Gardening Month, National Poetry Month and Pets Are Wonderful Month. Within April are National Dance Week (April 20-29), Bat Appreciation Day (17) and Drop Everything and Read Day (12). Any one of those topics could spark your imagination and become the theme for your Read-Aloud. And you'll start with at least one book title, chosen with the benefit of Silvey's vast experience. 

Still haven't found the right theme? For even more ideas, take a look at the sidebar "A Few Other Events for . . . " that appears on each page. The sidebars are packed with date-related trivia, starting with people who were born on the date.  Of more Read-Aloud value are the other random events and celebrations listed, all of which are somehow related to the date under consideration. All of these can be mined for Read-Aloud ideas. The selections for April 29 include titles of several wonderful picture books about hair. They give you another set of options for your Read-Aloud, and you don't even need to mention that the musical "Hair" opened on April 29, 1968. 

The information in the "Children's Book-a-Day Almanac" blog is also available in book form.  The book is available at many libraries.

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

STEM: A New Horizon

At last week's volunteer seminar, we asked volunteers for their reactions to Read-Alouds on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).  Here are some of the things they had on their minds. 

• It will feel too much like school.
• Kids don't like science and math, so STEM topics won't hold the kids attention.
• How can math be made interesting?
• Is there any good fiction about math and science?
• Many STEM subjects are very complicated and the kids won't understand or will ask questions I can't answer.
• There's not enough time to do complex activities required for these themes. 
• The activities are often messy or require equipment I don't have.
• The kids at my site are too young to understand.
• The age range at my site is too wide to be able to talk about science or math.

During the seminar, we explored these topics.  By the end of the evening, most volunteers said their reservations had dissipated. When you think of science and math in the form of rockets, robots, baking and color, what's not to likke? So bring them to life at your Read-Alouds!

Here are some tips on how to have fun with STEM at a Read-Aloud.

• Pick aspects of STEM that are exciting. See the the list of ideas that the volunteers produced at the seminar.
• Adapt activities to the age of the kids at your site. Do more of the preparations beforehand if you are working with younger kids. Searching the internet and books like Bite-Sized Science will help you find manageable activities.
• Check out the Read-Aloud outlines posted last week for books and activities that work with kids as young as three- or four-years-old.
• Bring a reference book about your topic to help answer questions that are sure to come up. The kids will like the challenge of finding their own answers.
• Books by Greg Tang and Loreen Leedy for math and Steve Jenkins for science are a great place to start.
• Check out TRC's STEM Resource List for more websites and books to check out.
• A wealth of math books and activity supplies are available at TRC for you to use. Check out the complete Math Resource List here.

Good luck!  Let us know how your STEM endeavors turn out!!

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Focus on the process, not the product

“All young children are great artists. The importance of their art is in the act of creating with confidence and in using their imaginations. It is our sacred trust not to take away this gift from our children, but to encourage and nurture it at every opportunity.” ~ Susan Striker, creator of the Anti-Coloring Books.

All too often when planning art activities for kids, we focus on the finished product and forget to leave room for kids' individuality in their creations. Providing a model for an activity is a good idea because it provides guidance, but it is always best to encourage the children to follow their whims. Some kids will take just a few minutes to add just a bit to what you give them. Others will add and add and add more and more materials. Some of the difference is a matter of age. Some kids just love to manipulate craft materials and use their fine-motor skills. 

We believe open-ended projects help build children's confidence in their skills and their individuality. It is important to praise equally those children who make elaborate extensions to the activity AND those who seem to engage only briefly. Who knows what elaborate extensions may be being built in the second child's imagination?

Open-ended activities work well for Read-Alouds because they are easily adaptable to wide age ranges. A four-year-old will enjoy these projects as much as an 11-year-old, but will likely produce a less ambitious product and spend less time at it. At a recent Read-Aloud at Next Steps Housing, the volunteers read Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews and gave each child dots with which to create an image of their choice. All of the kids, ranging from four to fourteen years old were thoroughly engaged in their creations and loved the freedom of the activity. 

Here are some open-ended ideas that could be adapted to fit a variety of themes.

From ID Mommy blog.

Collage.  Save or collect old magazines, catalogues and newspaper pages. Cut out pictures, paste them together on a sheet of construction paper to make a collage. Kids can create their favorite meal, if reading about food, or their ideal vacation spot, if talking about travel. Libraries often have old magazines for sale for $.25 each. You can also include nonpaper materials. For example, beans and rice, add so much to this farm scene.

Paper cutting. The classic example of paper cutting is making paper snowflakes. Show children how to fold the paper and where to cut so the finished product does not fall apart. Then give them the freedom to create snowflakes in different shapes and colors. Copy paper, tissue paper and coffee filters are great for this activity. 

Papel Picado is another great example of paper cutting. It's a traditional Mexican decoration that is easily adapted for kids. Fold colored tissue paper much like you would for a paper snowflake and cut out designs. These are often strung together to make colorful banners.

Clay and other manipulatives. Give each child some clay, play dough or pipe cleanesr and let her to create something related to what you've been reading. A team at Virginia Gardens last year let the kids create dinosaurs out of pipe cleaners. The kids were so proud of their creations. Have a look here:

Creating a scene. Provide each child with a piece of heavier stock paper as the base and a variety of materials to create a scene based on your theme. If creating a winter scene, provide cotton balls, glitter, pine needles, colored construction paper and stickers and let the kids create winter vistas.

When doing open-ended crafts, there is no "right" or "wrong" result, and it is finished when the child decides it is finished. The focus should be on the process of creating, not necessarily the end product. To spark conversation, ask each child to tell you about his art and what he used to create it. Let each child's personality and skills shine through their art.

For more ideas for open-ended crafts, read this pamphlet by 123child.com.



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Books about books

When getting kids into the habit of reading and loving books, few themes are better than books themselves. There are a variety of books about books, that can get kids excited about reading. Some feature kids who dislike books and reading, others explore the variety of characters and themes explored in books and others talk about reading in libraries and at home.

Here's a list of some of our favorites:

Books for kids from birth to age three
¡Libro! Book! by Kristine O'Connell George 
Read to your Bunny by Rosemary Wells

Books for kids aged two to five
Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed by Eileen Christelow
Reading Makes You Feel Good by Todd Parr
Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn

Books for kids aged four and up
I Will Not Read This Book by Cece Meng
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
The Bored Book by David Michael Slater
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
It's a Book by Lane Smith


Nonfiction titles for kids aged six and up
How a Book is Made by Aliki
What do Illustrators Do? by Eileen Christelow
The Art of Making Comic Books by Michael Morgan Pellowski




Once you've read a few stories about books, let the kids have a shot at it themselves! This website has tons of ideas for making different types by hand. The YouTube tutorials are especially helpful.

Start a discussion about how books have evolved over the years from oral storytellings to clay tablets, parchment and then eventually to the present day book and e-books. Touch on issues such as portability, durability, cost and amount of information that can be handled. 

A more extensive list of picture books about books and libraries can be found here and here.



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Get in on the ground floor: early literacy development at your Read-Aloud

Reading research demonstrates that literacy learning starts at birth. Crucial components of reading skills are built long before a child starts school, mostly by adults talking with young children, reading to them and providing them with lots of experiences.

Fortunately, very young children are champs at absorbing these important concepts and skills they’ll need later on. They just need a grown-up to show them. If I child doesn’t learn these concepts and skills before school starts, he’s going to be playing catch-up for a while. And even as kids are catching their stride as independent readers, practicing these early literacy skills strengthens their abilities. 

Here are the cornerstones of early literacy development and some ways to incorporate them into your Read-Aloud or a reading experience with a child in your life. 

Comprehension

Understanding what you read requires a large vocabulary, lots of experiences in the world and the abilities to both predict what will happen next and to connect what you are reading with your life experiences. 

 
Every new word a child learns and every experience a child has are money in the bank that he can draw on to help him understand as he reads or listens to a new text. The bigger the vocabulary and the more life experiences, the bigger the “account” from which to draw. 

To develop comprehension skills at your Read-Aloud, choose books with unusual words and take the time to talk with the kids about what those words mean. Choose books with a repetitive or predictable structure and pause while you are reading to let the kids practice predicting what will happen next. Some books, such as Who Hops? by Katie Davis, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr. and many books by Jan Brett include hints and questions to help kids guess what will come next. Encourage the kids to make connections between the book and their own experiences. Model these skills by saying things like “I wonder what that word means.” or “Gee—what will happen next. Maybe…” or “Oh, this reminds me of the time when I …”

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness means being aware that letters have sounds associated with them and words are a combination of those sounds. Children’s books are the perfect tools for helping kids become aware of letter and word sounds because so many of them have great rhyme, alliteration and rhythm. 

Rhyme and alliteration help kids learn about the sounds that letters make. Rhythm helps kids recognize words, syllables and the sounds they make. Nursery rhymes are also a great way to teach these skills since they include rhyme and often incorporate hand motions that illustrate the text.

"Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are four years old, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they are eight."  -- Mem Fox, Reading Magic.

Why? Because nursery rhymes have great rhyme, rhythm and alliteration.

To build phonological awareness at your Read-Aloud, choose books with rhyme, rhythm and alliteration (words all starting with the same sound.) Encourage the kids to finish rhymes when you pause, clap out rhythms and name other words that rhyme or start with the same sound.  Try pairing a book with an associated nursery rhyme. Teach younger kids the words and help them sing along.

Alphabetic Principle

Letters are just symbols. They are shapes that have sounds associated with them. Developing this concept requires helping kids recognize letters, name them and learn the sounds that are associated with them.

Read ABC books and books with alliteration with the kids. Encourage the kids to point out letters they recognize and to make the different sounds letters make. A recent story on NPR tells of a study that found that asking kids to identify letters on a page in a story helped their reading skills even several years later.

Concepts about print

Simply put, it’s understanding how books work. Any book will do. 

Help the child identify parts of the book (cover, spine, title page, author and illustrator), orient the books for reading (right side up), understand the direction of text (in English, we read left to right) and distinguish words from pictures. 

Reading research has identified the four concepts above as the cornerstones of early literacy development.  I’d add one more:  delight in books and reading.  Developing positive feelings about books and reading are also essential to becoming a life-long reader. So be sure to keep your Read-Alouds fun. You’ll be helping create readers from the bottom up!


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Just the facts, please! Using nonfiction books in your Read-Aloud

Usually, when folks think about reading aloud to a child, they think of favorite story books:  Madeline, Where the Wild Things Are, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. In a word, fiction. But nonfiction is wildly popular with kids. It feeds their need to know why and how and who. It helps kids make connections between fictional situations and the real world.


Nonfiction opens up so many options not available if you stick only to fiction. A large part of a library's collection is devoted to nonfiction, including science, history, math, poetry, folklore and fairy tales, biography, how-to books and atlases and almanacs.  Ask your children’s librarian for nonfiction titles about your Read-Aloud topic and you’ll be amazed at what he or she pulls off the shelf.

Publishers have created some excellent nonfiction series. The Let’s Read and Find Out series has more than 190 titles in an accessible, illustrated picture-book format. Its Stage 1 titles are appropriate for preschool- and kindergarten-age children. Their Stage 2 titles are written for kids ages 5 to 9. The Scientists in the Field series combines stunning photographs with engaging text that explores both science and what it is like to be a scientist. This series is appropriate for the 8- to 12-year-old crowd. DK publishes oodles of nonfiction in picture-book and early-reader formats with glossy photos and short catchy text. Their DK Readers and Eyewitness books will have titles appropriate for all ages at your Read-Aloud.  Chances are, whatever topic you have in mind, DK has published a book about it. 

Some of our favorite nonfiction authors include Steve Jenkins, Gail Gibbons, Seymour Simon, David Macaulay and Russell Freedman. Their books are carefully researched, well written and beautifully illustrated.

The design of nonfiction books is likely to be more complex than fictional picture books. You'll even find nonfiction titles in graphic novel fomat--always a hit with the kids. Innovative design can make nonfiction books more engaging for kids, but it can also make them more challenging to read to a large group. If you choose a nonfiction title to read aloud with a large group, be sure to choose one that has a simple narrative format instead of a reference-book format. For reading in smaller groups or one-on-one, feel free to use a title with more text or a reference-book format. Depending on the design of the book, you might need to read it differently than you’d read a fictional picture book. For example: instead of reading the book from front to back, use the index and table of contents to jump around and answer kids’ pressing questions. PBS's Reading Rockets website provides great tips for reading nonfiction with kids in this article. 

Nonfiction can add so much to a Read-Aloud:  depth, variety and fun.  Try it, you'll like it!


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Read-Alouds for the older crowd: how to keep tweens engaged

Occasionally you might find yourself at a Read-Aloud mainly populated by kids who aren't as interested in hearing picture books read out loud. The problem isn't that they're too old for Read-Alouds; many kids enjoy being read to until thirteen or fourteen (and we know some adults who like to be read to, as well!). The problem is the book!

By the time kids are old enough to read on their own, they might be able to read the text of a picture book in their heads faster than you can read it out loud to them. This can be frustrating and, frankly, boring for an older kid who's moving on to bigger and better reading materials, even if the pictures are interesting. 


Parents can solve this problem by reading ten or twenty minutes from a chapter book every day until the story is finished, but it's harder to do that in a Read-Aloud situation. In an article on booklistonline.com, author Rob Reid gives a suggestion for how to handle having an audience with minds that are hankering for longer, more complex material than picture books. 


Ried's suggestions are aimed towards young people who "want to learn about themselves and their own place in the world." If you capture their attention with a segment from a chapter book, it might inspire them to pick up the book themselves!


See Ried's article for his segment suggestions, including selections from Ben and the Suddenly Too-Big Family by Colby Rodowsky and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.


Here are some suggestions by TRC for selections from chapter books that could be read to an older group (ages 8-11):


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

This is a book that requires very little introduction! After explaining the basic premise (keep it simple: Harry Potter and his friend Ron are at a school for wizards called Hogwarts) read from chapter ten, 'Halloween'.

Start towards the end of the chapter, with "On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell..." (in the American paperback addition this is near the bottom of page 170) and read to the end of the chapter. This segment is about ten pages long and works for a few reasons: it shows Hogwarts students in Charms class, really highlighting Rowling's Hogwarts universe; it shows Harry and Ron and Hermione fighting a mountain troll and then becoming friends; and it works well as a self-contained story in that it resolves -- though the audience will definitely be left wondering what happens! 




Rascal by Sterling North


In Sterling North's largely autobiographical children's novel, the eleven-year-old protagonist becomes unlikely friends with a baby raccoon. He spends a year raising his new pet, named Rascal, and the book details the adventures they have together.


There is a memorable chapter where Sterling and Rascal enter (and win!) a pie eating contest together, and this segment would make a great Read-Aloud. Begin towards the middle of the "September" section of the book, with the sentence, "The most exciting event in Brailsford Junction each September was the Irish Picnic and Horse Fair..." (around page 119, give or take given the edition) and read until the section ends with "it was a delicious victory." No kid will be able to resist the image of a raccoon helping out in a pie-eating contest!



Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Kids might be familiar with this title; the book is old but it was recently adapted into a film starring none other than the famous Selena Gomez. The introduction for the story is that Beezus Quimby is having trouble with her little sister, Ramona--something many kids might be able to identify with! 

In this short selection, Beezus is having a hard time on her birthday. Start at the beginning of chapter six, page 131 in our edition (pictured), with the very first sentence: "When Beezus came home from school on the afternoon of her tenth birthday..." and read through to (on our page 144) Aunt Beatrice's line: "What's an aunt for if she can't come to the rescue with a birthday cake once in a while?" The section ends on a positive note after ten pages of birthday cake drama. And what kid (or adult!) doesn't feel horrified at the idea of a ruined birthday cake? Everyone will enjoy watching Ramona's cake-antics--especially since Beezus comes out on top in the end with a wonderful birthday.

 The Enormous Crocodile, Esio Trot and The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, all by Roald Dahl.

These novels are short enough that you could conceivably read  the entirety of one in a Read-Aloud. They all feature pictures, too, so they're even shorter than they look.




If you read a segment of a book, round out the Read-Aloud by having a couple copies of the book in case kids want to hear some more of the story during small-group time, and have some picture books on similar topics in case the younger end of the age range want to look at those.

If you're a TRC volunteer and decide to try this out, let us know what book you're going to read segments of; we might be able to put some of the same title in the give-away book box for kids who are eager to continue the story! They might be big enough to read it on their own, or have a parent to read to them at home. And having a really good book that's a little too hard can be a great incentive to struggle through the difficulty.

Post by The Reading Connection intern Anna McCormally.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Get Moving!

Kids have lots of energy! No matter how much kids love it when you read to them, they often have trouble sitting through a Read-Aloud. Most of the time the kids at a Read-Aloud have spent all day being asked to sit still and listen at school and during their after school programs. Schools have recess, fine arts and PE to give the kids a chance to give their minds a break. Read-Alouds should have time built into them for the kids let loose a bit as well.

Start out your Read-Aloud with a game of Simon Says, a round of stretches or a one minute dance-around. This will give the kids a chance to clear their brains and use some of the energy they've been storing. This is especially important on a rainy or snowy day when the kids have been cooped up inside all day. A simple routine of reaching up to the sky, down to the ground, to the left and right can do wonders.

It is equally as important to let the kids move again when they get restless between books. Ask the kids to participate in the story, acting out what the characters are doing by stomping their feet like the dinosaurs or waving their arms like the monkeys in the book. 

If the crowd is on the younger end of the spectrum, try a song with movements such as Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes or I'm a Little Teapot. Check this blog post from last September with more song options.

One of our favorite sources of movement activities is a book from Responsive Classroom entitled Energizers! 88 Quick Movement Activities that Refresh and Refocus by Susan Lattanzi Roser. Many of these activities have accompanying videos online so you can see them in action.  Check out a few of the examples below and consider using one at your next Read-Aloud. Also be sure to check out the monthly Read-Aloud tips for theme-related movement activities.

A Tootie Ta

This song asks the kids to do certain actions and to combine them as the song continues. Hilarity will ensue, so be sure the adults do it too, so the kids know it's okay to be silly.

This group of pre-K kids will show you how it's done.

Lyrics: A tootie ta, a tootie ta, a tootie ta ta (x2)
Add one of the following at the end of each verse. This part is call and response.
Thumbs up, elbows back, feet apart, knees together, bottoms out, tongues out, eyes shut, turn around.

Go Bananas! 

Let the kids "go bananas!" and channel some of their energy! Don't worry if they mix up their lefts and rights--the point is to have fun!

Words	Actions
Bananas…Unite!	Arms above head, palm together
Peel Bananas, peel-peel bananas (x2)	Lower arms one at a time, then return to above head
Peel to the left	Lower left arm
Peel to the right	Lower right arm
Peel down the middle	Lower arms in front of body
And chomp! Take a bite	Clap arms like an alligator mouth
Chomp, chomp! Take a bite	Clap arms like an alligator mouth
Go bananas, go-go bananas! (x2)	Jump and spin around freely

Now here it is in action:

Dum Dum Dah Dah!

This follow-the-leader activity gives kids a chance to be the leader once they've gotten the hang of it. This can be useful for validating kids who might not often have the chance to lead a group.

The leader says "Dum dum dah dah" and demonstrates two different actions. Then, the group imitates him or her. Here are some examples:

Leader: Dum dum (clap hands) Dah dah (clap thighs)

Group: Dum dum (clap hands) Dah dah (clap thighs)

Leader: Dum dum (pats shoulders) Dah dah (pats head)

Group:Dum dum (pats shoulders) Dah dah (pats head) 

Possible movements include (but aren't limited to--make up your own, and have the kids make them up!) toe touches, straight knees/bent knees, lean left/lean right, snap fingers.

Over the course of the exercise, get quieter and quieter.  End with "Shhh shhh shhh shhh"  and make a "quiet" gesture, like fingers on lips. 

With all of these exercises, practice the words together first, and then add movements. Make sure that all of the kids have room to spread out and move around without bumping into each other! Have fun getting everyone's wiggles out and be sure to end the activity in a way that settles everyone down to listen to a book.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.