Let’s Talk About Books

It is always amazing to me the things that come out of kid’s mouths. There was even a show at one point about the crazy things kids say. Even though kid’s comments may seem off-the-wall sometimes, what they are saying gives us insights into what they are thinking. Sometimes their comments help us understand more about who they are as a person and sometimes their comments help us see misconceptions they have. In our overscheduled, busy lives I am having to remind myself to slow down and just listen. There are times when I force myself to be still and listen even though there are a million other things that need to be done.  While the stories can be long-winded and hard to follow at times, I never regret the time I give my children. Please know that I don’t always do this and there are often stories told as we are rushing out the door – however, as they are getting older and I am recognizing how quickly time is passing, I am trying to slow down and listen more and more. As an educator, I know that talk has tremendous benefits for kids’ comprehension and as a mother, I am recognizing the incredible bonding that takes place when I talk with my kids.

If you have read the lessons in the Empowering Readers Course, you know that there is huge value in reading with your children. There will be times when you only have time to read the book and there will be times that your child’s attention span does not allow for conversation while you are reading with them. When we can, it is so beneficial for our children to talk about the books they are reading and the books you are reading together.

Their Talk Gives Us Insights

Often, I wish I could look into someone’s mind to know what in the world they are thinking but I can’t so the only way for me to get an idea of what is going on inside their head is to listen to what they say.

Their Talk Strengthens Their Understanding

There are so many times that I have had to talk through a problem or talk through a situation so that I could process what I was thinking. When we share what we are thinking out loud, it forces us to organize our thoughts in a way that makes sense to us and would make sense to someone else. There are many times when I have said something out loud and realized that my thinking needed to be revised or what made sense in my head didn’t actually make sense when it came out my mouth. The same is true for children.

When they talk about their thoughts around a story, they are able to hear others perspectives. This is especially true in a classroom, but it can also be true at home. We each bring different perspectives to a text and when we talk, we are able to share our different ways of looking at things. When we are able to share different perspectives with others, we all learn to look at (analyze and evaluate) texts in more than one way which can be incredibly beneficial for comprehension. 

 When I am asked to share my thinking with someone else, I often challenge myself to reach deeper. I want to share the best parts and I want to be thoughtful in my responses. When I am reading on my own, I may only think quickly about what I am reading and may not capture the nuances or deeper meaning. However, when I know I am going to talk with someone about the book, I read in a more purposeful way.

            There is a great body of education research demonstrating that talking about books supports the readers comprehension by helping them clarify understanding, apply comprehension strategies, and communicate knowledge together (Fountas and Pinnell, 2016; Moses & Ogden, Kelley & Clausen-Grace, 2013; Roche, 2015). 

Talk Builds Bonds

“The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading” . – Mem Fox, Reading Magic, p. 10

When we talk with our children we take the time to hear what they have to say and honor their thoughts and voice (Moses, Ogden, & Kelly, 2015). According to Sarah Mackenzie in the Read Aloud Family (2018), when we talk with our children about books, “we communicate that their reading life matters and that it ought to be a source of joy and delight to them. We allow them the freedom and ability to engage with ideas in the place we want them to love most of all: home. Perhaps best of all, we give them a fighting chance of falling madly in love with the reading life.” (p. 105).

Here are some prompts to get your child talking about their reading:

• What are you noticing?
• (Silence) – sometimes we just need to give them space to share their thoughts. This always feels more uncomfortable for you. If your child asks why you aren’t reading, you can say something like, “I’m thinking about what we just read” or “That was an interesting part. I am thinking about what that means” or “I want to make sure I understand what is happening here”
• What do you think the author is trying to say right here?
• What do you think this character should do?
• Is this book like any others that you’ve read? How so?

Try out these supports to get your child talking more about the books you read together (you read aloud):

• Ask them what they think about the book.
• Ask them if they liked the book and to explain why or why not.
• Ask them to retell or summarize the story. (This can help you see if they understood the book, where they might have misconceptions, and some places to start additional conversations).

Here are some ways to support retelling or summarizing:

• Use the pictures to retell a story.

You can encourage your child to use the pictures to help them retell a story or a part of the story. You can prompt them to

1. touch the page,
2. look at the picture,
3. say what happened.

This can be continued throughout the entire book.

• You can help your child to summarize what’s most essential

I love this wording by Jen Serravallo in The Reading Strategies Book, “A summary is a short recounting of what you just read. When you get ready to summarize, you have to think about what parts of the story you’ll tell. Your summary should include enough information to make sense to someone who hasn’t read the story before. That means you need to make it clear in your summary how one event led to another. You’ll first think about the most important things that happended in the story – probably connecting the problem in the story, if there is one, or what the character wants the most. Then, you’ll tell the most important events in the middle of the story that connect back to the want or the problem. It’s important to tell those middle events in order. Then, think about how the whole story ends up, and tell the ending. For each part you tell, try to say it in one short, simple sentence.” (p. 136)

• Summarize based on what the character wants is another great way to support our kids talking about their books. In many chapter books, there are so many important events it makes it hard to summarize. You can encourage your child to think about what a character wants as the driver of the plot so it can help them summarize. In the Reading Strategies Book, Jen Serravallo offers the following example:

In Pinky and Rex and the Perfect Pumpkin (Howe, 1998), I know after the first chapter that what Rex really wants is to be included with Pinky’s grandparents and cousins. In Chapter 2, “The Perfect Day,” I could think, “What is the one event that connects to that?” I would say that during the whole car ride, while the grandparents kept saying what a perfect day it was, Rex was totally silent and feeling upset because Pinky was only talking to his cousins and ignoring her. In Chapter 3, “Pumpkin Picking,” I might say that every time Rex picked a pumpkin, one of her cousins would say it was too small or skinny or had a bad spot and one time even said it was the ‘stupidest-looking pumpkin I ever saw’ (14). So in each chapter, I think of all the events that happen, which is the one that connects back to what the character wants? In this way, I can focus my summary” (146)

Hope this inspires you to talk more with your child about the books you read together and the books they read independently.

Happy reading (and talking)!

References:

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. (2016). The literacy continuum, grades K-8: A guide to teaching. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.

Fox, M. (2008). Reading magic. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: New York, NY

Mackenzie, S. (2018). The read-aloud family. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI.

Moses, L. & Ogden, M. (2017). What are the rest of my kids doing? Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.  

Serravallo, J. (), Reading strategies book. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.