1. Read Aloud Strategies for Babies
Duval County Public Schools
Happy Birthday Graduate Grant Program

2. It’s Never Too Early To Read To A Baby
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Early language and literacy (reading and writing) development begins in the first three years of life and is closely linked to a child's earliest experiences with books and stories.

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After birth, early language exposure at home predicts the size of children’s growing vocabulary and later verbal skills and literacy skills.

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Children’s experiences at home are critical to early language growth and learning. In particular, three aspects of the home literacy environment promote children’s learning and language: learning activities (e.g. daily book reading), parenting quality (e.g. responsiveness), and learning materials (e.g. age-appropriate toys and books).

5. Why Promote Reading to Babies?
During infancy, brain development is occurring at a faster pace than at any other time in a human being’s development. The networks within the infant’s brain are transformed into an increasingly complex web of visual, motor, language, and social emotional connections that are essential for later learning.

6. What Young Children Like In Books

7. Infants 0-6 Months
Books with simple, large pictures or designs with bright colors.
Stiff cardboard, "chunky" books, or fold out books that can be propped up in the crib.
Cloth and soft vinyl books with simple pictures of people or familiar objects that can go in the bath or get washed.

8. Infants 6-12 Months Board books with photos of other babies.
Brightly colored "chunky" board books to touch and taste!
Books with photos of familiar objects like balls and bottles.
Books with sturdy pages that can be propped up or spread out in the crib or on a blanket.
Plastic/vinyl books for bath time or washable cloth books to cuddle and mouth.
Small plastic photo albums of family and friends.

9. Young Toddlers 12-24 Months
Sturdy board books that they can carry.
Books with photos of children doing familiar things like sleeping or playing.
Goodnight books for bed time.
Books about saying hello and good-bye.
Books with only a few words on each page that have simple rhymes or predictable text.
Animal books of all sizes and shapes.

10. Toddlers 2-3 Years Books that tell simple stories.
Simple rhyming books that they can memorize.
Bed time books.
Books about counting, the alphabet, shapes, or sizes.
Animal books, vehicle books, books about playtime.
Books with their favorite TV characters inside.
Books about saying hello and good-bye.

11. Early Literacy Tips for Parents

12. Read Aloud Every Day
Read to babies even before they can talk. This builds oral language.
Oral language is one of the best predictors of early reading success.
Students from low-income homes were exposed to an average of thirty million words fewer than children from higher income homes during the early years. (Todd Risley, 1995)

13. Create a print-rich home environment
Have a variety of books with bright and colorful pictures
Encourage baby to look at pictures, feel the pages, and babble as if they are reading when they get older
Set a time daily to read to baby….sleeping, eating, and reading routines should be established early

14. Keep Books For Baby Everywhere
Diaper bags, rooms within the home, inside of a car are all places where books should be kept. Having books readily available will encourage mom to read more often to the baby.

15. Be A Model For Baby
Let children see the adults read for work and for pleasure….children love to imitate the adults in their lives
Talking to a child and being a good role model of speech are critically important for increasing the size of a child’s vocabulary

16. Make Reading A Part Of The Routine
Babies are creatures of habit and predictable routines make life easier on mom and baby.
Just as new mom’s must establish feeding and sleeping routines, reading and talking to the baby should be a part of the daily routine well.

17. Music Makes Reading Come Alive
Music has a powerful effect on our emotions. Parents know that a quiet, gentle lullaby can soothe a fussy baby and a nursery rhyme can make us dance and sing.
It doesn't matter how well a person sings! Hearing your voice helps a baby begin to learn language. Babies love the patterns and rhythms of songs and even young babies can recognize specific melodies once they've heard them.

18. Why Read Alouds Are Important

19. Why Read Alouds for Babies?
Reading aloud is widely recognized as the single most important activity leading to language development. Among other things, reading aloud builds word-sound awareness in children, a potent predictor of reading success.
Reading aloud to young children is not only one of the best activities to stimulate language and cognitive skills; it also builds motivation, curiosity, and memory. Bardige, B. Talk to Me, Baby!(2009), Paul H Brookes Pub Co.

20. Why Read Alouds for Babies?
Reading aloud stimulates language development even before a child can talk. Bardige, B. Talk to Me, Baby!(2009), Paul H Brookes Pub Co.
Research shows that the more words parents use when speaking to an 8-month-old infant, the greater the size of their child's vocabulary at age 3. The landmark Hart-Risley study on language development documented that children from low-income families hear as many as 30 million fewer words than their more affluent peers before the age of 4. Hart, B. Risley, T. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children (1995), Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

21. Read Aloud Strategy- Think Aloud
Think Aloud is exactly what it sounds like- you think out loud to assist the listener in learning more
Helps listener understand that reading should make sense and allows the listener to gain more knowledge

22. Examples of Think Alouds to Use With Young Readers Before Reading A Book
“ The title is the name of a book. The title of this book is _________. “
“The author writes the word in a book. ____________ wrote this book.”
“The title makes me think that this book is going to be about _________.”

23. Examples of Think Alouds to Use With Young Readers While Reading A Book
“ I wonder what will happen when___________________.”
“This reminds me of _____________________________.”
“This part is really saying _____________________________.”

24. Examples of Think Alouds to Use With Young Readers After Reading A Book
“ This book was great because ______________.”
“My favorite part of the book was _____________.”
“I didn’t like ___________________.”

25. Questions?