Shared Reading

Share a Book Together

As you read a book aloud, encourage your child to participate — make it interactive! Shared book reading is one of the most important ways adults can help children get ready to learn to read.

There are many ways to share a book with a child:

• Encourage your child to turn the pages.

• Focus on the text.

  • Point to words in repeated phrases

  • What does the font or layout of the text tell you?

  • What letters do you notice?

• Help your child tell a story from the pictures.

• Look at the pictures on one page. What do they make you and your child think about? Talk about them together.

• Read the story straight through to get the flow of the story. There may be short interactions with your child.

• Encourage your child join in with a repeated word or phrase.

• When reading books with repeated phrases or actions, or rhyming books, stop before the end of a line and let your child finish it.

• Ask questions to involve your child: "What do you think is happening here?"

• Ask open-ended questions: "What would you do if that happened to you? How would you feel? Why do you think happened?"

• Talk about or explain words your child does not know.

• Give your child time to ask questions or make comments.

• After reading the book, talk about what happened first, in the middle, last.

• Ask questions that prompt your child to reflect on the story. Examples:

  • How would you have solved this problem?

  • Now that you know what happened, why do you think the character acted that way?

  • How was the story different from what you thought would happen?

Guidelines from: Saroj Ghoting, www.earlylit.net

Ready for more? Check out MemFox's Ten Read Aloud Commandments, simple and important advice from a leading children's author!