Improve Time Spent Reading Aloud to Your Child and Build a Stronger Reader

You know the importance of reading to your child, but perhaps you want to increase the impact of read alouds. Despite dutifully reading together daily, you sometimes feel that there might be a little more you can do to enhance the reading. After all, it seems your distracted cherub is more interested in picking at that hole in his jeans or repeatedly asking for a little snack than focusing on the wonderful picture book you have in your lap.

But, alas, short of duct taping your child to a chair and ridding the room of every possible distraction, you wonder if there is anything you can do to making reading aloud a more powerful experience for your child and a more pleasant experience for the both of you. The answer is there is something you can do. This article will detail the simple method of a "picture walk". The picture walk will engage your child in the story and build reading skills.

What is a picture walk?

The picture walk is a pre-reading technique that helps your child develop an understanding of the story and elicits story-related language. It is a brief introduction to the story that looks like it sounds. You open the book and walk through the pictures of the story. It really is that simple. It really does have great benefits.

How will my child benefit from a picture walk?

• It stimulates your child's interest in the story.
• It helps him focus on visual cues in story reading.
• It helps your child connect his personal experiences to the story.
• It provides the basis for a discussion of story-related language and story elements.
• It improves comprehension.
• It builds skills necessary for independent reading.

How do I use the picture walk strategy during a read aloud?

• Begin by holding up the book and reading the title and author to your child. Engage his natural curiosity by asking him to tell you what he thinks the book will be about.
• Without reading a word from the story, slowly go through the book page by page. On each page ask your child to tell you what he thinks might be happening in the story. You want him to make inferences about the story based upon the pictures that he is seeing, not the words.
• Use the five "W" and one "H" question words (who, what, when, where, why and how) to stimulate a discussion of the story. Examples: What is happening on this page? Where do you think they are going?How do you think this story will end? Respond to his answers vaguely, so as not to give away any of the story.
• Read the story with your child. Do not disrupt the flow of the story by peppering your child with too many questions or excessive commentary. Short discussions are helpful to reinforce key points, but do not abuse the continuity of the story.
• Upon completion of the story, revisit the predictions made during the picture walk. Ask questions that prompt your child to reflect on the story. Examples: How would you have solved this problem? Now that you know what really happened, why do you think the character acted that way? How was the story different from what you thought would happen?

There you have it. A simple and concise way to cultivate your child's reading skills and develop an interest in reading. No duct tape, no purging the room of any and every possible distraction involved. Take reading aloud from a hum-drum activity to a powerful lesson in literacy. Take a picture walk.