The Read~Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease A book about teaching a child to WANT to read ~~not HOW to read.

??Why are YOU a teacher?? To make the BIG bucks?? Because you enjoy moving all your belongings to a new “office” annually?? To administer standardized tests??

I became a teacher because... In your groups, discuss the REAL reasons you became teachers. One person from each group write down reasons stated. We’ll share!

What we teach children to love and desire will always out weigh what we make them learn.

U. S. Dep’t. of Education in 2004 stated: K ~100% enthusiasm and desire 4 th ~54% read for pleasure 8 th ~30% read for pleasure 12 th ~19% read for pleasure Any business that kept losing this much of its customer base would be in bankruptcy!!

A school’s objective should be to create lifetime readers~~ not just schooltime readers.

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. It is a practice that should continue throughout the grades.” ~~ Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report of the Commission on Reading, U.S. Dep’t. of Education, pg. 23. ~~This study took 2 years to review over 10,000 research projects that were conducted over 25 years.

We read to kids for the same reasons we talk to them~ To reassure To entertain To bond To inform/explain To arouse curiosity To inspire.....

In reading aloud, we also~ Condition the child’s brain to associate reading with pleasure Create background knowledge Build vocabulary Provide a reading role model

Every time we read to a child we’re sending a pleasure message to their brain.

Unfortunately, sometimes there are displeasures associated with reading and school: Tedious Boring Threatening Without meaning

Two basic facts that must work together with other reading skill developments to ensure reading success: Fact #1:Human beings are pleasure centered Fact #2:Reading is an accrued skill

International study of 150,000 4 th graders found that students who were read to “often” at home scored 30 points higher than students who were read to “sometimes”. The more a child is read to the more words are heard......the more likely it is a child will associate reading with daily pleasure

But beyond pleasure~~ ~~reading aloud builds higher reading scores because listening comprehension comes before reading comprehension. How’s your Chinese??

As you read to a child, you’re pouring into the child’s ears and brain all the sounds, syllables, endings and blendings that will make up the words he will someday be asked to read and understand. And through stories, you are filling in the background knowledge necessary to understand things that aren’t in his neighborhood~~like oceans or spaceships or trains. ~~Jim Trelease

Research MORE than validates the importance of phonics in children’s reading. It’s true that kids who understand the mechanics of reading have a great advantage. But, our students need the combo of know-how AND motivation.

Do you read because you have a favorite vowel?? Maybe a favorite consonant blend??

What motivates children and adults to read? They like the experience a lot They like the subject matter a lot They like and follow the lead of people who read a lot..... LIKE

OPRAH!!!

Total words heard by child by age 4: Poverty level: 13 million Working class: 26 million Professionals: 45 million

If “No Child Left Behind” expects the teacher to get the child at poverty level caught up, she will have to speak 10 words a second for 900 hours to reach the 32,000,000 word deficit by year’s end. Even teachers can’t talk that much!!

We have our students about 900 hours a school year~~we can do a lot with that amount of time! But....guess how many hours they spend at home during a school year???

7, 800 hours!! We need to do what we can to make sure there are things happening in our student’s homes to assist us!!

Most influential factors in student success: Family income Parental involvement in student school work Parental expectations for child’s future

Often we say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” But we can try to change the tree if we want different apples!

1999 U.S. Dep’t. of Education Early Childhood Longitudinal Study found that kids that were read to at least 3 times a week~~ ~~had a significantly greater phonemic awareness when they entered Kindergarten than those read to less often. ~~were 2x more likely to score in the top 25% in Reading.

How’s this going to help the students that are in my classroom now? They’ve missed out!!

We educate and equip their parents! It’s never too late!!

HOW? Understand barriers Teach & Motivate Corsicana Library/Book Stack Classroom involvement What else?????

In your classroom~ Read to your students above their reading level Allow SSR time every day Model SSR to your students Start book clubs FILL your classroom with books ~ no matter what grade or subject you teach

2 things Bowie can do now! Book Clubs Wiki Website

Book Club: 4 Lessons from Oprah: Her book club would have never succeeded if she hadn’t been an avid reader Book Club suggests invitation, belonging More talk, less writing, open discussion The love of reading is more caught than taught

Wiki website for Bowie! A wiki website (think Wikipedia) is a website where members can add information, share stories, etc. A tool for ongoing learning and motivation for teachers at Bowie.

What else? Brainstorm with group to come up with other ideas. What else can we do? Choose the best from your table to share. Don’t forget to join our Wiki website and add your ideas!!!

“Few children learn to love books by themselves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word; someone has to show them the way.” ~Orville Prescott