Reading Aloud to Children

One of the hardest things to do as a teacher is reading a story aloud to a large group of children. They wiggle, talk and just have the hardest time sitting through a story; especially when everyone has something to share about what is happening in the story. When reading to young children it is important to keep them engaged through the story but keeping a large group engaged takes more than just asking the occasional question about what is happening in the story. Allowing children to to interact, move, help tell the story, and using props to aid in the story telling process can help to create a better flowing story time. Using props such as puppets can help to introduce the story or can help to act out different characters in the story. In between stories or if there is a good time in the story to talk a small break would be a good time to do a short activity where the children would be able to move around. Allowing children to ask questions or participate in parts of the story such as saying a repetitive section can allow the children to feel more active in the story and this can result in their attention being kept for longer by the story.