You Read To Me
What you need
- a picture book they have heard many times
How to do it
- Read the picture book once through, the way you always do.
- Then hand it over and sit back: "Your turn. You read it to me."
- Listen as they turn the pages, and answer the way you would answer anyone telling you a story: "Oh no!" or "And then what?"
- When they shut the book, clap and say "The end!"
Why it matters
A book they have heard again and again carries a tune, and being the reader for once lets them try that tune with their own sounds.
What they're learning
- Story voice
- Babble that rises and falls, a little like your reading voice.
- Book handling
- Holding the book their way round and turning one page after another.
- Taking the lead
- For a few minutes they choose the pace, the pages and the words.
What to look for
Enjoy the ups and downs in their voice as they turn each page: the tune of the story, even without the words.
A tip
Any sound counts as reading here. Answer the story they tell rather than the one printed in the book, and leave correcting for another time.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: read it together, with them turning the pages and you pausing so they can add a sound or a word
Harder: sit Teddy next to you, so they have two listeners
