3321 MON. NIGHT CHAPTER 10

I believe that reading aloud is important because children not only enjoy this time with the teacher or whom ever is reading to them, but because memories are established at that moment. Starting to read-aloud to the very young is essential because these are the formative years. It's also the perfect time to instill good reading habits in children that can continue for a life time.

I believe some of the best series of books to read-aloud are The Dr. Seuss Series, The Eric Carle Series of Books, Clifford The Big Red Dog Series, and The Magic School Bus Series to name a few. These series of books have a rhythm sound that help the very young get used to sound alike words; others teach moral values, and still others teach about the world around them. Each of these series of books have connections to each book in the series. These connections help the children remember, relate, and connect the words to the author as well to the other books in the series.

Read-aloud is critical in all age groups because learning is a continual process in a persons life. "It is considered "seed money" in reaching tomorrow's parents." states Jim Trelease in his book The Read Aloud Handbook. Reading aloud to the very young before starting school develops several aspects of literacy such as: interest in reading, language development, building vocabulary, developing listening comprehension, understanding different kinds of sentence structures, learning how language is used in books, developing a sense of story, and fostering an awareness of the world.

It is never a waste of time to read-aloud to older children because as I said before learning is an on going process, and the benefits of it is increased listening comprehesion, and the introduction of new vocabulary words. Of course books for older children need to be carefully considered. These children need to be challenged and thier interests in the book / story stired up. The teacher must know the book she or he is going to read-aloud if that teacher is to bring a lesson out of it. Thus, the teacher must know what he or she wants to get out of it and why. Most importantly, the teacher must how to read-aloud, and it should not always be for learning either. Fun should have its place in the read-alouds "enjoyment of literature is key,but ways to learn more about it can flow naturally from carefully thinking through the prupose and intent of the read-aloud."