Through the past months in this series, we have established why reading with our kids is important. We have even discussed some ideas for how to help encourage reluctant readers. Today we are going to talk about HOW.

I know you can read: you’re reading this right now! But how we read articles and how we read to children are entirely different.

Mem Fox devotes an entire chapter to explaining how to read aloud to a child in her book Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. I want to share some of her insights here as well as some thoughts from Jim Trelease in The Read-Aloud Handbook about how to engage your listeners when you are reading aloud.

Get Them Engaged

Mem Fox says, “The more expressively we read, the more fantastic the experience will be. The more fantastic the experience, the more our kids will love books, and the more they’ll ‘pretend’ read. And the more they ‘pretend’ read, the quicker they’ll learn to read. So reading aloud is not quite enough–we need to read aloud well.”  Aren’t we reading to our kids so that they see the entertainment value in a book? Don’t we want them to be engaged and interested in the story? Each time we sit down to read with a child, let’s consider the following details to maximize our time and efforts.

Location

Find a place to sit that is relatively free of distractions (turn off the TV, put away your cell phone, etc.). Obviously, every situation will be different, but try to control the distractions you can. Sit together, whether in a chair together, or gathered together on a rug. Present the book to the child as though you are showing him a fantastic treasure.  Include details like, “This is one of my favorites,” or “My grandma used to read this book to me when I was a girl.”  Your excitement is contagious.

Volume

Mem Fox teaches, “There’s no exact right way of reading aloud, other than to try to be as expressive as possible.”  In my experience , the most engaging way to start reading a book is QUIETLY (Notice I did not say “softly”–big difference). We live in such a loud world, that often when you speak with lots of energy and a lower volume, people lean in to listen. I’ve used this trick with children and students of all ages. Try it! I had a choir director in high school who infamously said, “Loud is not thrilling. Thrilling is thrilling.” If you start with quiet intensity, you have somewhere to go with your volume. If you start loudly, you will never be able to add any dynamic contrast within the story. After all, you don’t want to be like Will Ferrell in the old SNL skit where he “suffers” from “Voice Immodulation Syndrome.”

Make Eye Contact

I know the words are on the page, but carrying the words from the page to your child requires both your voice and your eyes. Mem Fox counsels, “If we read a story without allowing its emotional value to show through our eyes, we’re wasting a prime asset…The story ought to be in the eyes as much as it’s in the mouth.” Take the time to look into your child’s eyes with animation. If the character in the book is angry, make an exaggerated angry face with a furrowed brow. If the character is surprised, open your eyes wide. Yes, even if there are illustrations, young readers who are still drawing connections and learning the value of reading need you to bridge the gap between the lifeless book and the actual story and your eyes are a powerful tool for doing just that.

Speed Up, Slow Down

This is an excellent way for our voices to translate what is happening in the story. If the characters are running away from something quickly, read those lines faster. If the character is sad, slow it down and allow a little sniffle in there somewhere. Be sure that you are not reading along as if you are following a metronome. Allow yourself to change the tempo at least a few times during your reading session, whether in a chapter book or picture book.  It can be tempting to fall into the metronome trap when reading a book written in rhyme. If the rhyme is written well, the meter will remain even when your tempo changes. Don’t shortchange the book!

Different Voices

This can be tricky. I am not very good at impressions. I don’t do accents well. But I can raise the pitch of my voice a bit if the character is a woman and lower it a bit if the character is a man. I can make my voice softer for a child and more gruff for a big monster. If you are great at doing multiple voices, go for it! Just remember to be consistent with the voices you choose (Another reason why I stray from using very distinct “voices” for each character–I want to keep changing them or I forget how I was doing them before!). Changing your tone is crucial, especially if you are reading a book with dialogue so your child can easily distinguish when someone is speaking and will give them their first insights into a character’s “voice.”

Another note about voice: Please, oh, please, remember that our goal is to be entertaining. We never want to use a patronizing voice with our kids, especially when we are reading. Please resolve here and now that you will never never never talk down to your children (or anybody’s children).

Pause for Predictions

A major part of most standardized reading tests is making predictions in a story based on a picture or context clues. I, personally, am not an advocate for teaching to a test. But, it makes you wonder why so many tests include questions about making predictions, doesn’t it? I think it is because making predictions is a crucial part of literacy. If we notice the clues the author is giving about what is coming, we will have a more enriched reading experience. If our children are only reading to finish, they will miss out on so much fun in reading!

Start with Predictions

So, the next time you read a story with a child, hold up the cover of the book and ask what he thinks the story will be about. He may shrug and say, “I have no idea.” Or he may make up some outlandish story of his own. Either way, it engages him instantly.

Predict Emotions

Read the story together, but pause along the way to ask conversational questions. I say conversational because we don’t want the questions to feel like a comprehension quiz. I typically ask things like, “How do you think he feels now?” and I point to the illustration and let the child respond. This helps me see whether or not she understands what is happening in the story. Usually the responses are aligned with the story, but sometimes younger children may say “happy” or “sad” not totally understanding how to identify emotions yet. That is OK. In those instances, I will typically pipe in and say, “I think he feels _______ because…”  I’ll point out the expression on his face and the situation the character is in and say, “If that were me, I’d sure feel _____.”

Predict at the Climax

One of the best times to stop and get a prediction is at the height of the action when you naturally say wide-eyed, “What’s gonna happen?” Instead of rushing to turn that next page and find out, let your reader make a quick prediction. Once they say something (anything!), you can say with as much drama as you want, “Hmm…Let’s find out!” Reading in this way makes the story an interactive experience that is fun for your child and fun for you. Sometimes those predictions are more entertaining to me than the actual story! Kids are so creative! Keep the prediction conversations light and natural.

Endings

Every story or story time has an ending. When that ending comes, slow down! Mem Fox says, “If anything could be more important than the first line of a story, it’s the last line….A rapid finish feels oddly wrong. A slow finish is an absolutely delicious experience. Both teller and listeners find themselves in a state of bliss, akin to ‘living happily ever after.'”  She describes the importance of the last line: “As we say it, we’re releasing our listeners from their contact with us. Without this drawn-out final line, our listeners will feel an uncomfortable sort of incompleteness.”

To me, reading the last line slowly is like saying “goodbye” at the end of a phone conversation. It is the release that lets us know it is now OK to hang up the phone. If we rush through it, it is like hanging up without saying “goodbye.”  Have you ever had someone hang up on you near the end of a phone conversation? You sort of sit there for a moment wondering if that was on purpose or by accident, right? We want our children to love reading and feel comfortable doing it. Leaving them with such a strange, unnatural ending can be confusing.

Chapter Books

If you are reading a chapter book with your child and the chapters are too long or you don’t have enough time to finish an entire chapter, find a suspenseful place to stop (and make it suspenseful with your voice and face). If you leave your audience hanging, they’ll be much more excited to read again at your next opportunity.

Transition with Discussion

Before moving on to the next thing, take a moment to talk about what you just read. Let your child share some thoughts. Ask an open-ended question like, “What did you think about Oggie the Otter?” instead of a simple, “Did you like it?”  If your child is really excited by a story, you could encourage him to draw a picture of what might happen if he was in the story. Or he could make a sequel or prequel to the story. These are fun ways for kids to process the stories while using their own imaginations and creating new works of art. Don’t turn these discussions into quizzes or force deep conversations when your child is obviously uninterested. Our goal with these reading-aloud sessions is to help our children come to love reading and to excel at it.  We don’t want to turn reading into a chore that they dread (that’s what General Ed. courses in college are for, right?–heehee!).

Ready, Set, Go!

Jim Trelease says, “Remember that reading aloud comes naturally to very few people. To do it successfully and with ease, you must practice.” Keep trying and keep improving. The good news is that if you start with toddlers and consistently continue, by the time they are old enough to remember your stories, you will be a pro! But no matter what age your audience is, imperfect reading with effort is better than not reading at all. Keep these pointers in mind and share the joy of reading with a child every day.

What is your favorite book to read aloud with a child? Why?

{To see the other articles in Reading with Kids series, click on the links below:}

Intro

Avoid the Fourth Grade Slump

Picture Book Recommendations Part One, Part Two

Set a Goal for 10 Minutes a Day

Purchases to Support Reading