Read Alouds: Modeling a Love and Care for Books
Read Alouds are an opportunity for teachers to model a love for books and storytelling.
While a teacher is reading an engaging story, they should also be demonstrating how to:
- Carefully hold books
- Gently turn pages
- Treat books respectfully
In the beginning of the year, use specific language that highlights how to care for books.
Explicit Presentation of Book Handling
- The presentation can be done in either a small or whole group.
- “I have something special to show you today. I have a book. Tell me what you notice about how I am holding the book.” (Prompt: Careful holding, protecting it.)
- “All books are special. Books tell stories, some teach us new information, some make us laugh, some help us when we feel sad or scared. Books are precious, and it is our job to protect them.”
- “I’m going to show you how to hold the book, look through the pages and how to put it back on the shelf or in the book box. Pretend that I’m a student. I’m going to hold the book in my hands, keeping it safe from falling. I’m going to hold the page at the corner and gently turn the page so that the paper does not rip. When I get to the end of the book, I carefully close the book, making sure that none of the pages are folded. Then I carefully place it on an open space on the bookshelf or a spot in the book box.” (Model process)
Give opportunities for children to practice safe and careful book handling skills (quiet reading, collecting books from the class, sitting in the book area at choice time, etc.) share with the entire class when children are seen demonstrating careful book handling skills.
Make a book care agreement book
Agreement books are an excellent tool for empowering children to care for the classroom materials and build classroom community. In the example above, children experienced an explicit presentation of book handling skills. Then a small group of children was invited to answer the question, “How do we take care of books?” and then modeled the desired behaviors. This agreement book was placed on the bookshelf throughout the year as a reminder to be revisited as needed.