1st grader and read aloud 'attitude'

[Joyofsixreboot]

My first grade (otherwise happy student who is willing to work) detests read alouds. She says she only likes funny books. That translates to Junie B. Jones.:glare: I read them My Father's Dragon yesterday and today. My 9yo loved it. He laughed out loud. I had to be firm to keep her in the room. Do I just keep on. I allow her to do puzzles, etc but she just hates it. I tried books in the car. Again, ds loves it, she groans when I start the car.:banghead::banghead: Do I just keep on keeping on? Maybe she just doesn't like to be read to? She reads pretty much on level and reads and re-reads Dr. Seuss to herself even though she could read more. She even slowly works through Junie B if I won't read it to her.

[Sherry in OH]

I think there are some books that are meant to be read aloud and some that are not. For me, Junie B. falls into the read it yourself after lessons category.

 

Whether she likes to be read to or not, I can't imagine not reading to a first grader. Perhaps she is not quite ready for chapter books. Try a few picture books.

[tjlcc]

Would she enjoy reading the Amelia Bedelia, Frog and Toad or George and Martha series to herself? Maybe some humorous books that are a bit better quality than Junie B. Jones would satisfy her.

Rabbit Hill, Homer Price, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Mr. Popper's Penguins, McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm are several humorous read-aloud suggestions.

Good luck!

[Guest CarolineUK]

I have been pondering this very question about my DS6 today. Like you I find DS9 loves read alouds, but DS6 completely sabotages reading time (and encourages DS3 to do likewise). At the moment my feeling is to keep dragging him back to sit quietly and listen - I did let him do puzzles, legos, etc at one time, but I felt that all his attention was on these activities and none at all on what I was reading, especially when he would then start fighting with DS3 over pieces of whatever he was playing with :glare:. It's very hard work dragging him back every few minutes, and I feel very frustrated at 'losing the flow' of what we're reading, but I reason that if he were in school his teacher would require him to sit quietly and listen when she was reading to him. I'm hoping that with a bit of 'training' he'll learn to sit still and listen.

 

Interestingly I read to DS11, DS9 and DS6 in my bed every night for half an hour to an hour at a time, and, cuddled into me in bed, DS6 has no problem listening quietly, although he does fall asleep sometimes :tongue_smilie:.

 

I'll be very interested to hear other people's perspectives on this, thank you for asking the question :001_smile:.

[redsquirrel]

I would keep reading. But, I would allow her to read the Junie B jones to herself because she wants to. Or, take turns, she reads one sentence or paragraph or page outloud and you read the other.

 

If she only likes 'funny' books then I would find some and read those outloud to her. Ask for her help. Once she trusts you to pick things she likes, you can pick one you would like to read. Remember, her idea of 'funny' will change as she gets older.

 

I always allow my kids to play with legos etc if they want. Even though they argue about bits, lol. I stop reading and glare until they stop.

 

I was convinced they weren't listening, but after years of this, I know they are. Heck, sometimes my almost 11 year old will page through another book while I read, but he seems to be able to follow the narrative.

[Farrar]

Reading should be fun and reading aloud is supposed to be a pleasure. If my kids were balking at it, I would really hesitate there. However, I do think Junie B is not something I would ever read aloud in a million years. Ugh. It's fine (maybe even *good*) for independent reading though. Would she rather read independently? Can she be given a choice? I think if it were me, I would say, hey, I'm reading this book, you can join me or you can read to yourself (if she's not a strong reader, that could mean looking at picture books or something). Can you choose more funny books - Roald Dahl, Hank the Cowdog, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Shel Silverstein poems, Ramona books... I can think of more, but those are all funny titles that come to mind that might snag her interest.

[boscopup]

You know, my 6.5 year old is only just recently becoming ready for listening to a long chapter book. He loves it when I read aloud a picture book (where he can see the pictures!), but he gets bored by pictureless chapter books. He is getting much better though. When we checked out The Cricket in Times Square on CD last week, he loved listening to it through the first CD (of 3). We switched to the second CD, and not too long after that, he was getting bored of it, but didn't tell me this until we got home. Later he wasn't in the mood for it, but then the other day (after we finished the book the 2nd day we had it - spent a LOT of time in the van those couple days), he asked if we could listen to disc 1 again. :lol:

 

I started reading Little House in the Big Woods out loud last week, and he was clearly bored, but he did sit there. He'll sometimes sing or make blowing up noises with whatever he's playing with (or his fingers if he has no toys and decides to do "action fingers", as he calls them), so I can hardly hear myself, and I think he couldn't possibly be listening, but then after reading the first chapter, he incorporated something from what we'd read into his play with his brother, so obviously he was at least paying attention *some*.

 

My 4 year old doesn't really listen at all yet. He has no attention span anyway. :tongue_smilie:

[woolybear]

I think it may be a combination of finding the right material for her and her own maturity for listening to chapter books. I suggest you keep searching around for different kinds of books.

 

Funny--we thought The Tarantula in My Purse, Mr. Poppers Penguins, and always Paddington chapter books are all funny.

 

Maybe Little House in the Big Woods.

[blakereese]

I think it may be a combination of finding the right material for her and her own maturity for listening to chapter books. I suggest you keep searching around for different kinds of books.

 

Funny--we thought The Tarantula in My Purse, Mr. Poppers Penguins, and always Paddington chapter books are all funny.

 

Maybe Little House in the Big Woods.

 

:iagree:

 

My second grader just reached that maturity to listen to chapter books in the fall. Before that he still loved to be read to, but it was mostly picture books. Maybe you can find some longer picture books to start with, and then find some shorter chapter books with the occasional picture. That might keep her interested? Are you trying to find books that interest both your 9 yo and your 6 yo?

 

On your next library trip you can have her help you find some read aloud books. She may respond better if she is the one choosing the book.

 

I agree to have her read Junie B on her own. I read one of those to my son in K, and said Never Again! The writing drove me nuts. But, they did spark my son's interest in reading that year, so I guess that is good. I'm sure my daughter will be wanting some Junie B soon. ;)

[Guest]

One thing that may be part of the problem is if you have started reading aloud to her recently. It is good to start reading to children from when they are babies because they get used to it that way. But even if it is new to her I would still continue reading aloud.

 

I save books that my son reads for his pleasure for his own reading time and to read to me. I try to always pre-read a book before he does but if I know the writer then I let him read it during his pleasure reading time and I have him read it to me at a later date.

 

Jim Trelease stresses the importance of reading aloud to our children (even as little as 15 min a day) in his book The Read-Aloud Handbook.

 

One of the reasons why we switched from SL was that while many of the books were books that we liked, since I always add books that I want to read to my son either because I want to share them with him or because I know he will like them, readaloud time was starting to become long and a little tedious and I felt guilty if we did not get to a book. With TOG and SOTW now, since we just have history related reading for the most part I add in my own literature selections. I love doing that for the G levels, picking my own books and doing my own thing. Reading does not become just reading to tick a box on the schedule. It becomes relevant to something that we may be dealing with at the time, or a topic that I know my son will enjoy, or something that will teach him something valuable.

 

So... I would say keep up with the readalouds because they are important but perhaps pick books that you know will keep you child's attention. And no I do not mean Junie B. as a readaloud either. If they are ok with you then let her read them on her own time. Read meaningful books to her that you know she can connect with. One example, Adrian has not been very good at listening to me and his dad lately. We are currently reading Pinocchio (link is to the version we are currently using). It is amazing the connections he has been making and the great discussions we have had :).

 

ETA: I also have him read to me another edition that is closer to his reading level.

 

Pinocchio DK edition

Edited January 7, 2011 by Guest

[nknapp5]

4evercanucks

Jim Trelease stresses the importance of reading aloud to our children (even as little as 15 min a day) in his book The Read-Aloud Handbook.

Wondering does this book have a list of read-alouds according to age? I've been looking for a good list of books to read to my ds who is 6.

[Guest]

4evercanucks

Jim Trelease stresses the importance of reading aloud to our children (even as little as 15 min a day) in his book The Read-Aloud Handbook.

Wondering does this book have a list of read-alouds according to age? I've been looking for a good list of books to read to my ds who is 6.

 

Yes, it definitely does :). I got the 5th edition from the library first and then realized I wanted my own copy so I purchased the 6th edition (the one that I linked). The back of the book from pg 177 to pg 292 is the section titled "Treasury of Read-Alouds". He has them grouped in categories and gives the grade range and the exact editions he is recommending. Check it out at your library and see if it is what you are looking for :).

 

ETA: At the end of each book recommendation he also includes other books from the same writer that he recommends or other books from the series (if it is a series). HTH

[Joyofsixreboot]

Thanks for all the input everyone. We've always read tons but I'm thinking maybe we need to back track to books that have a picture every few pages. She is so mature and willing I think maybe I forgot she is still a little girl. We went to the library with a list of illustrated fairy tales and caldecott winners. She very happily listened to Rapunzel (which wasn't short) this evening. She is just one of those kids who does what she should and isn't any trouble and you forget she's young yet. Thanks for all the help. I'm taking notes on all the suggestions.

[Guest]

Thanks for all the input everyone. We've always read tons but I'm thinking maybe we need to back track to books that have a picture every few pages. She is so mature and willing I think maybe I forgot she is still a little girl. We went to the library with a list of illustrated fairy tales and caldecott winners. She very happily listened to Rapunzel (which wasn't short) this evening. She is just one of those kids who does what she should and isn't any trouble and you forget she's young yet. Thanks for all the help. I'm taking notes on all the suggestions.

 

That is one thing I have noticed with my son also :). He is a tactile/ visual learner and needs at least some visuals to keep his attention. It was one of the main reasons why I did not bother with audiobooks before. Now I just get him to read the book first and then while he listens to the audio he takes the book and follows along. As for the illustrations in the book, since he also likes discussing them, I focus on getting books with illustrations when I buy or select books from the library. Another thing I do when I read aloud to him is have the book in front of him (usually at bedtime) and if he loses where I am he will often ask me to point where I am so that he can follow along. This helps a visual child also. All the best to you and your girl :).

Edited January 8, 2011 by Guest

[woolybear]

Cynthia Rylant has some good transitional type picture/chapter books--Thimbleberry Stories and the Lighthouse Family series. Billy and Blaze books are good too.

[justamouse]

I used to go into Dd16's class and read them Junie B outloud. I did voices and read with great expression and had all of them rolling. It's one of my most favorite memories.

 

She just sounds like she has a different kind of funny bone than your ds, and that's OK.

 

My kids are all different, and I read aloud to them every school day-for at least a half hour. They have to respectfully sit. But I let them read what they want on their own time and if that's Junie B, then so be it. I want them to love reading. Part of that happening is letting them read what they enjoy. If they hate it all the time, they learn to hate reading. I had one that I had to climb heaven and earth to find *anything* she liked to read, but one I did it was like opening the floodgates and by that time I was just so happy she was reading, I didn't care that I considered it twaddle. Later, as she matured, I was able to gently steer her toward deeper works and now she pulls out Shakespeare to read just for enjoyment (I watched her do it today). But if I had been a dictator when she was younger...

[Guest]

Cynthia Rylant has some good transitional type picture/chapter books--Thimbleberry Stories and the Lighthouse Family series. Billy and Blaze books are good too.

 

Big Cynthia Rylant fans here :)! I highly recommend her books, especially for animal loving kids and they do have some very nice B&W illustrations. I read the Lighthouse Family books as RA's first but later had Adrian read them also. We loved them so much we bought them ;) and I will be using them as RA's again this year (especially since we only found the 3 at our library). We did read the Thimbleberry Stories also but I chose to buy Cynthia Rylant's Every Living Thing instead because we could not find it at the library and it has 12 short animal stories. I think I will check the Billy and Blaze books you recommended, for Adrian also :)

[woolybear]

Thinking of more.:) Books are one of my favorite subjects. Cynthia Rylant also wrote the Cobble Street Cousins series which is a good starter chapter book. I think the books are about 50 pages. Brambly Hedge is also a good picture/chapter book series. Love, love, love this. If your dc like those, then Tumtum and Nutmeg might be a good chapter book series. These were recommended on this board by Dawn (our nest of 3) I think.These are definitely long chapter books, but I do think kids who like Brambly Hedge might like these too. My boys (and I) loved these. They literally laughed out loud, cheered, and begged, begged, begged for more of these books. They are a combination of cute animal stories and adventure (think pirates and fighting).

[Guest]

Thinking of more.:) Books are one of my favorite subjects. Cynthia Rylant also wrote the Cobble Street Cousins series which is a good starter chapter book. I think the books are about 50 pages. Brambly Hedge is also a good picture/chapter book series. Love, love, love this. If your dc like those, then Tumtum and Nutmeg might be a good chapter book series. These were recommended on this board by Dawn (our nest of 3) I think.These are definitely long chapter books, but I do think kids who like Brambly Hedge might like these too. My boys (and I) loved these. They literally laughed out loud, cheered, and begged, begged, begged for more of these books. They are a combination of cute animal stories and adventure (think pirates and fighting).

 

Our library has the first Billy and Blaze book on order so I would have to wait for it. I will try to order at least the first one from Amazon when I get the chance (especially if I have to wait too long for the library to bring it). Adrian got all excited when he saw it was about a boy and his horse :).

 

We read one of the Cobble Street Cousins but being all girls in that one, it didn't appeal to Adrian as much. I don't know the others but I will definitely check them out. Thank you :).

 

Ooops am I monopolizing the thread here :leaving:

[Guest]

Billy and Blaze books are good too.

 

Update: I was able to find "Blaze and Thunderbolt" at the library, which I had missed during my original search. Adrian had to read it all at once even though it was late and he was tired. He could not put it down. Then he took it and put it in his private library next to his bed until we have to take it back to the library. He said he will be reading it again ;). Now he wants us to buy him the collection. Too bad his birthday passed. Oh well, I will have to wait for another opportunity :). Thank you so much for recommending these.

 

I need to check out some of your other recommendations at some point. For now he read the Curious Garden by Peter Brown the other day (another he wants us to buy him) and I just put on hold another four books by the same writer. I am also picking up "A Treasury of Children's Literature" from the library for him to read. I have had it in my shopping cart for a while but keep putting it off until I noticed our library has it. This should keep us busy for a while :).

 

:leaving:

[2squared]

Thanks for all the input everyone. We've always read tons but I'm thinking maybe we need to back track to books that have a picture every few pages.

 

My 6yos still enjoy picture books, and they like chapter books with pictures. My current 6yo loves Roald Dahl's chapter books. Even the pictures are funny. Dahl does have a picture/chapter book called The Minpins. I think the writing and full-color pics are amazing.

 

Another idea to add to your toolbox is to read aloud a classic chapter book and follow it with the movie version. We do this often.