Parent and Family Engagement
Read it again, please!
Any parent who owns a copy of Goodnight Moon knows that there are some books children can listen to over and over (and over!) again. Teachers know this, too. Knuffle Bunny. Click, Clack, Moo. Amazing Grace. These books remain evergreen staples for many home and classroom libraries. Children seem to feel for Trixie, root for those cows, and cheer Grace on with the same amount of enthusiasm whether it’s their first or sixth hearing the story.
As teachers and caregivers, we might groan a bit about reading the same book multiple times, but there are good reasons why children like it.
Hearing the same story again and again feels safe and secure.
The words, pictures and even the intonation and expression of the reader is predictable and comforting to children. Familiar books are like old friends. Children light up when they encounter a favorite from kindergarten on the shelf of their new first grade classroom.
Rereading favorite books is not just enjoyable for children, but helpful, too!
Children learn through repetition. A study on language acquisition found that children pick up new vocabulary quicker from repeated readings of the same book than when they encounter the same words in different new texts (Horst, Parsons & Bryan, 2011.) This is especially helpful for multilingual learners. Multiple readings of the same book support them as they learn new words, phrases and sentence structures.
Reading together is a great opportunity to spend time with children.
When we reread books together, our conversations around them get richer and richer. Our understanding deepens as we get to know the characters better, fill in gaps that might’ve snuck their way in during an earlier reading, and notice new details in the story. The focus shifts from understanding what is happening in the story to big ideas around author’s message and theme. Researchers found that children’s responses to questions during rereading grow in variety and complexity. They are able to make more associations, judgements and elaborative comments. (Morrow, Frietag & Gambrell, 2009)
When children begin to know a book or story, it increases their confidence and their ability to engage.
The stories that we read aloud multiple times become the familiar stories that children love to read on their own, with a partner, or as a group. Stock your library with favorite familiar read alouds. Children will gravitate to these books, eager to use what they know along with new reading skills they are acquiring. When children read, retell or recite a familiar book they are using skills beyond simple memorization. They are practicing many reading strategies as they use picture clues to support pacing, comprehension, and problem solving. (Collins and Glover, 2015)
Sharing books that the whole class knows and loves builds a culture of literacy and sense of community in the classroom. It gives everyone a common language to go deep into one story and a solid base for exploring new ones.