Tips for Parents, Primary Caregivers, and Educators
Initial Book Activities
One of the easiest ways to begin telling the story of a book is
through the use of illustrations. Most books for young children are illustrated in great
detail and noting important details related to the characters, plot, and setting will
provide a wholesome first literacy activity.
- Set aside a regular time and place for books so that reading books
becomes as natural as eating and sleeping.
- Browse through books to help the child become familiar with books and how
they are handled.
- Read the story while the child points to the pictures. Adult and child
can repeat interesting sounds, repetitive word patterns, and distinctive word features to
the delight of both.
- Have the child tell the story using the illustrations, while the adult
reinforces the telling. The two can predict outcomes, discuss how the characters feel, and
relate the events to their own experiences.
- Read the book to the child and enjoy it together. Retell the story
together and talk about the characters, setting, plot, and lire experiences.
- Compare the similarities and differences of children's books available as
- Have children make responses to the books read through art reproductions
such as drawings, or by using clay, papier-mâché, dioramas, or fingerpaints.
- Make regular trips to the library and attend storytelling sessions. Visit
bookstores together to begin a personal library for a child.
Beginning Reading Level Activities
Children at this level should be encouraged to browse through
books and pretend to read the story, an initial step toward becoming an independent
reader. Children may tell the story to themselves or attempt to read frequently
- Read the story as the child points to the pictures on each page.
- Let the child pretend to read the story as the adult points to the
- Read alternate pages, ask each other questions, and discuss the story.
The adult models what he/she thinks of when reading the page 50 the child gets a variety
of perspectives on the ways words have different meanings.
- Use computer programs to expand a child's interest in specific topics and
to provide valuable information for later curriculum study. Compare and contrast video
adaptations of children's books for this and more advanced literacy levels.
Primary Grade Book Activities
- Continue to spend time reading with the child; set aside a
specific time and place.
- Be familiar with Children's Choices books and other high-quality
- Become aware of the interests of your children and books that extend life
experiences so they know what happens in the world around them.
- Encourage children to share books read in school with parents and
caregivers at home. Parents and caregivers should encourage children to share books
they've read at home with their teachers and schoolmates.
- Continue to extend the information and knowledge bases through computer
programs and other technology that capitalize on topics initiated through reading.
Independent Reader Activities
- Challenge readers to compare and contrast books.
- Encourage children to develop an interest in a variety of genres such as
biography, historical fiction, and poetry.
- Encourage children to read books related to beginning career and
- Seek a balance between schoolbook activities; home and school literature
activities; and familiarity with newspapers, magazines, and other text media that address
contemporary social, cultural, and civic issues.
Develop the Desire to be a Lifelong Reader
- Have students bring what is read to bear on what is viewed on
film, television, and computer and other media technologies.
- View technology in the reflection of the literature.
- Keep in mind that the most memorable conversations are often filled with
anecdotes from literature.
Relate what has been read to the solution of problems. By internalizing
what has been read, we use knowledge and wisdom to solve personal problems, to make
significant decisions related to career choices, to find solutions to community and social
problems, and to develop healthy attitudes toward a positive world environment.
IRA/CBC Liaison Committee
Verla Kroeker Klassen, 1995-98 IRA/CBC Cochair
Jonathan Lanman, 1994-97 IRA/CBC Cochair