Tag Archives: reading aloud

Teaching History With Picture Books

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Jennie

As I read one of the classic children’s books, The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, it turned out to be an unexpected history lesson.  This wonderful book begins with a charming little house on a hill, living through days … Continue reading →

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Conversation

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Jennie

I often write about language and literacy because reading aloud and hearing all those words are what makes the difference in learning.  I want to introduce a new word into the mix: conversation.  That involves more than listening; it implies … Continue reading →

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Making Connections

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Jennie

Museums always inspire me, and my recent visit to the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH was no exception.  The added bonus was seeing Eleanor, one of my former students.  She is now in high school.  How can that … Continue reading →

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How Reading-Aloud Made Me the Teacher and Person I Am Today.

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Jennie

My very first day of teaching preschool in Massachusetts, thirty-two years ago, was both career and life altering.  Lindy, my co-teacher, asked me to read the picture books to children each day after our Morning Meeting.  Sure (gulp)!  I was … Continue reading →

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Children’s Stories

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Jennie

Children have incredible words, given the opportunity to tell their story. As I took down a hallway art display I read (yet again) the story that children had created about living in a castle.  What would they do and who … Continue reading →

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Reading Aloud. ‘Star Wars’, Move Over

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Jennie

Thursdays I read aloud at the library.  I chapter read, and that is far different than reading a story.  Each Thursday ends with and then?  For thirty minutes children are glued to every word, because those words are powerful and … Continue reading →

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Reading Aloud in High School? Yes!

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Jennie

A few years ago at a holiday party I talked with a friend who is head of the English Department at a prep school in Massachusetts.  She teaches senior English. We talked about reading in the classroom, particularly reading aloud.  … Continue reading →

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Reading Aloud; A Source of Making Cuban Cigars

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Jennie

Reading aloud never gets old.  It weathers time and generations.  It makes a marked difference.  Children who are read aloud to are typically one grade year ahead of their peers.  They have ‘the right stuff’, because all those words they … Continue reading →

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Growing Readers

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Jennie

The most important thing I do in teaching is reading aloud to children.  I love what I do.  It started my first day of teaching when Lindy, my Head Teacher, handed me the book Swimmy by Leo Lionni and asked … Continue reading →

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Death and Dying, and Chapter Reading

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Jennie

I finished reading our first chapter book of the school year, Charlotte’s Web.  Children were engrossed in this book because it is a story about the heart, and my most important job is educating the heart.  As such, they began … Continue reading →

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