The Importance of NonFiction ReadAlouds and Activities to Teach Vocabulary in Kindergarten Why We Chose Read Alouds As kindergarten teachers we can see firsthand the power of read alouds to teach content and build vocabulary ID: 720674
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Slide1
By Lynn Brown and Tiffany Watson
The Importance of Non-Fiction Read-Alouds and Activities to Teach Vocabulary in KindergartenSlide2
Why We Chose Read-
Alouds?
As kindergarten teachers we can see firsthand the power of read alouds to teach content and build vocabulary.
Many times Kindergarten teachers have the task of creating student’s background knowledge in all content areas.
Read-aloud experiences also build on the prior knowledge other students have already acquired.Reading aloud across the curriculum is a powerful tool in meeting the standards in the new Common Core.Slide3
Our Research Findings
Recurring successful strategies:Repeated Read-AloudsInteractive Read-AloudsComprehension Activities
Effective Questioning
Interactive Class Discussions
All genres to teach across the curriculum Slide4
Ten Commandments of Read-
Alouds
By
Mem
Fox
1
. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes
every single day
reading aloud.
2. Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read.
3. Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.
4. Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.
5. Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again, and always read in the same ‘tune’ for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.
6. Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.
7. Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are really short.
8. Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that start the child’s name and yours, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.
9. Never ever
teach
reading, or get tense around books.
10. Please read aloud every day, mums and dads, because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do.Slide5
Importance of Repeated Readings
In the articles we read, research supports: A single reading of a book is not sufficient for teaching. Repeated readings are essential for maximum student learning.
Through re-reads teachers can focus and spend appropriate time on any chosen vocabulary words.
“These studies suggest that merely reading books aloud
is not sufficient for accelerating children's oral vocabulary development and listening comprehension. Instead, the way books are shared with children is what matters.”Slide6
Read Aloud: ComprehensionSlide7
Importance of Interactive Read-Alouds
Children gain through experiences that are interactive and invite all students to respond and discuss about what was read.Include a wide variety of texts that engage the students through the rich vocabulary and eye-catching illustrations.
Continue to associate reading with warm, pleasant feelings; learn about words and language; build listening skills; expand vocabularies; talk about the characters, settings, and plot then relate them to their own lives; gain knowledge about a variety of topics,
Discover which authors and writing styles they (children) like.
Explore social and moral issues and behaviors.Gain exposure to a variety of writing styles and structures.“Repeated interactive read-alouds, allow teachers to scaffold children’s understanding of the book being read, model strategies for making inferences and exclamations, and teach vocabulary and concepts.” Lea M. McGee and Judith SchickedanzSlide8
Our Research on Non-Fiction Read-Alouds
February-Two main topics we cover in Kindergarten are “Dental Health” and “The Presidents.”We wanted to focus our learning on these units through non-fiction read-alouds.We met before and chose appropriate
books
our focused vocabulary words and activities to build vocabulary.Slide9
“Dental Health” Vocabulary Words
Purpose: To assess student’s prior knowledge with the following vocabulary words:Incisor
Molar
Fluoride
PlaqueEnamelProcess: Teachers administered the assessment to the whole class. Each Vocabulary word was read and students circled the picture they thought to be correct.Results: Data was analyzed to guide instruction.Slide10
Circle The Right ChoiceSlide11
KWL Chart
Prior to the read alouds about dental health, we began a KWL chart with students.
The students shared what they already know and what they want to learn about
dental health.
The KWL charts were posted and referred to as the learning continued. At the end, students shared what they learned.Slide12
Dental Health Non-fiction
Read-Alouds.We chose the following non-fiction books to guide instruction and introduce our featured vocabulary words.
The books we chose are engaging in their rich vocabulary and eye-catching illustrations .
These books have labeled diagrams, captions, bubbling and charts. We added a re-read element to enhance student learning.
Read-Aloud BooksI Know Why I Brush My Teeth. By Kate Rowan.Staying Healthy: Dental Care. By Alice B. McGintySlide13
“Choose the Right Answer”
This activity was introduced by Mrs. Amie Snow, an Instructor with ASU.
Do
incisors cut into food or grind food?Are there four or eight canine teeth in your mouth?What do we use our molars for: bite into an apple or chew
steak?
Where do we
find
fluoride
: In toothpaste or bubble gum?What is a cavity: a hole in a tooth or sugar?Slide14
Assessments
Writings: Shared Writing Journaling Individual Student BooksThese writings should include detailed illustrations, labeling, bubbling and the vocabulary learned.
Circle the Right Choice!
Student responses during discussions.
KWL ChartSlide15
“Dental Health” Shared Writing
labeling
information
detailSlide16
“Presidents”
After our Dental Health unit, we began our focus on “Presidents.” These are the vocabulary words we chose to feature:President
Barak Obama
White House
George WashingtonWashington D.C.Abraham LincolnSlide17
“Presidents” AssessmentSlide18
Bubble Map: George Washington
George WashingtonSlide19
Bubble
Map:
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham LincolnSlide20
Bubble Map
: Barak Obama
Barak ObamaSlide21
Choose the Right Answer: “President”
We directed our students to “choose the right answer” when asked the following questions:
Does the
President:
make laws or rule a school?Is Washington D.C.: where laws are made or where milk is made?Who lives in the White House: The Principal or President?Was
George Washington:
the 16th or 1st President?
Was
Abraham Lincoln:
the 1st or 16th President?Who is our current President: George Bush or Barak Obama?Slide22
Individual Student Writings Slide23
Series Pink=Lynn
Series
Blue=Tiffany
Dental Health Pre-Test DataSlide24
Dental Health Post Test Data
Pink
=Lynn
Black
=TiffanySlide25
Presidents Pre-Test Data
Blue=Lynn Red=TiffanySlide26
Presidents Post-Test Data
Blue=Lynn Red=TiffanySlide27
Further Findings
We contrasted the means between the pre and post tests and found that the means of the post tests were significantly higher(.000 in order for us to get the results we got, were 1 in 10,000.) Post test scores were much
higher than pre-test scores.
We concluded through our non-fiction read alouds that are students learned the focused vocabulary.Slide28
Works Cited
Annotated Bibliography
Hoffman, Jessica.
Constructing Meaning.
The Reading Teacher. pp. 183-193. November 2011.
Kindle, Karen J.
Vovabulary
Development During Read-
Alouds
: Primary Practices. The Reading Teacher. 63(3.) pp. 202-211.Koralek, Derry. Reading Aloud with Children of All Ages. Reading is Fundamental, Inc.Laminack, Lester L. and Reba M. Wadsworth. Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum. Portsmouth, NH. 2006.McGee, Lea M. and Schickedanz, Judith A. Repeated interactive read-alouds
in Preschool and Kindergarten
. The Reading Teacher. 60(8), 742-751. 2007.
Santoro, Lana Edwards, David J. Chard, Lisa Howard and Scott K. Baker.
Making the Very Most of Classroom Read-
Alouds
to Promote Comprehension and Vocabulary.
The Reading Teacher Vol. 61, No. 5 February 2008