Keep your emphasis on creating an enjoyable experience and the experience itself will contain the learning. Shared/Guided Reading will offer many opportunities for more formal instruction.






"Today, authors for children are realizing that there is a growing audience for information presented aesthetically and effectively in books geared to the child's abilities and interests. Adults must be wary of books that purport to present facts but have no appeal or artistic merit. Everything a child reads contributes to his or her picture of what a book can offer." (Booth, Swartz, & Zola, 1987, p. 79)














For children not accustomed to being read to or those who have difficulty concentrating, you need to "get right into the story" and keep it moving, dramatizing the events with vocal and facial expression.






Asking closed comprehension questions that elicit specific details from the children is not recommended for emerging learners. Avoid possibilities for right/wrong answers and accept all children's comments as valid.


"In studies of books that are repeatedly read aloud to the same class, researchers have found that children ask more involved questions, point out different story and illustration features, and increase their comprehension of the story each time the book is read." (Raines & Canady, 1990, p.110).

Reading to Children Daily

• develops active listening abilities
• increases knowledge of story structure
• aids language and vocabulary development
• develops awareness of the language of books including differences in the language of fiction and nonfiction books
• increases knowledge of basic concepts related to books including the concept of author, illustrator, cover, and title.

Students will demonstrate emerging:

• ability to use listening to understand the meaning and intent of others.
• interest and enjoyment in listening to or reading a variety of literature.
• desire to participate in the discussion of ideas and illustrations in a variety of resources.
• awareness that print and symbols in their environment convey meaning.
• awareness that various cultures, lifestyles, and experiences are portrayed in literature.

1. Develop a daily routine. Teachers should establish a practice of reading to the class from a variety of fiction and nonfiction books at least once a day. Use good quality children's literature and read at the same time each day--establishing this as a regular and enjoyable routine. Incorporate reading nonfiction books to children as well--integrate this with current topics in science, social studies, health education, or arts education.

   Choosing Nonfiction Books for Young Children Young children are curious about a wide range of phenomena in their world. Information books can respond to their innate curiosity and sense of wonder. Good information books for emerging literacy learners have many of the following qualities. They: teach important basic ideas or generalizations are accurate pay attention to detail have succinct texts contain clearly-presented material refrain from the use of stereotyping and do not distort natural phenomena (for example, giving animals human qualities) have visual appeal nurture thought and wonder.

2. Use your classroom library as a place for additional reading aloud experiences. Children in the Emerging Phase benefit from being read to more than once every day. Additional experiences can be added during center time when you or another adult join children in the library center. One way to encourage children to visit the library corner for the purpose of having someone read to them is to use a signal. You could place a lamp in the corner and teach children that when "the reading lamp" is turned on, it means that you or another adult are available to read favourite books to children in that center. You could also use a sign 'Librarian' is in/'Librarian' is out to signal that an adult is available for reading to children.
3. Enlist support. Additional experiences of being read to (for individuals or small groups of children) can be achieved through the use of teacher associates, older students, or adult volunteers (see Enlisting Other Adults and Older Students to Read to Small Groups of Students, p. 60 and Mentor-supported Literacy Development, p. 139 for ideas and advice).
4. Get right into the story. Explain any new vocabulary that would hinder children's understanding of the story but keep other instructional comments to a minimum. Remember, the main purpose of the Reading to Children daily strategy is to foster positive attitudes toward books and reading.
5. Do not interrupt the flow of the story too often. For children in the Emerging Phase, stopping once only in the midpoint of the story to ask for predictions is probably offering the right balance of children talking with teacher reading.

   Examples of Questions to Elicit Predictions · "What do you think ____ is going to do now?" · "Oh no! How do you think ___is going to get out of trouble (or solve this problem)?" · "What are your ideas about what might happen next?"

6. Invite children's spontaneous comments at the end of the story. Focus such discussions upon children's initial reactions to, and feelings about, the story rather than the more formal types of comprehension questions. Such teacher invitations as "Tell me how you felt about today's story" or "Tell me about a part of the story you especially enjoyed/liked" are useful. As children become able to stay involved for longer periods of time, you can increase the opportunities for their predictions, ideas, and responses.
7. Reread favourite books many times. On a regular basis, ask children what old favourite they would like you to reread. You might have a display adjacent to your gathering place with a group of books that have been read to them previously to help them with their choice. Choose books to reread that you especially enjoy as well.
8. Make the book available to the children for rereading. One of the main reasons that you are reading to children daily is to increase their interest in books. An important practice is to conclude each story time or reading of a nonfiction book by asking a child to take it and place it in the classroom library (or at the center to which the nonfiction book is related). Encourage children to get the book and 'read' it to themselves whenever they have the opportunity.
9. Support reluctant listeners and children who do not appear interested in books. Some children find books very exciting and want to comment about every picture and event. These comments encourage others to join in and when this happens you may find that the flow of the story is being lost. Other children may appear disinterested and move away from the group or distract other children with their behaviour. In both cases, a talk with the children who are disrupting the story is best done on an individual basis. Explain that all the children want to hear the story and ask for their co-operation. When this is not sufficient, you may have to involve the help of a teacher associate or parent volunteer in sitting with the child during the story to offer them support and quiet reminders of their role. Some teachers have found that seeking such children out immediately prior to a story time and giving them some individual attention helps increase their co-operation.

   A practice that has been demonstrated to work with children who do not appear interested in books or the library center is to ask them to be the ones to put the book you read that day in the library center. When you involve individual children in this way, make a comment such as "We need to put this book in our classroom library so that it will be available for you to enjoy again. ___ , will you put it in a good spot where everyone will be able to find it?"