Reading with expression
“TO – om! Come HOME Tom!” I can hear the opening lines today, more than eighty years after my mama read the book Tom Sawyer to us when we were kids. I loved to hear her read and wished she would read to us more often.
Jump forward several years to when I began reading picture books to my second grade class. What joy I found in not only reading to them, but in putting the excitement of the story into my expressions as I read to them – much like my mother had done when I was a child. In fact, I loved it so much that I became an elementary school librarian so I could read an almost unlimited number of stories to class after class. What fun! I get Facebook messages from my former students today telling me how much they loved to hear the stories, and not only that, but how it instilled in them a love of reading.
It is no secret that children who have been read to find learning to read much easier than those who don’t have these experiences as children. Conscientious parents will look for opportunities to read to their children starting when they are very small – even as infants. By starting young with simple nursery rhymes and stories and carefully choosing age-appropriate material as they get older, you will not only give them a head start on reading, but you will also improve their attention span. Furthermore, there is no age limit on how long you can read to your children. If you love reading and they love listening, the family time may continue into the teen years. Perhaps you and your teen could take turns reading a chapter at a time. And if you have developed the art of reading with expression, don’t be surprised when you hear the expression in their voices as well as they read.
Don’t underestimate the importance of reading with expression and reading well. Practice makes perfect, so don’t give up before you start. Author Mem Fox has devoted a section of her web page to teaching the art of reading aloud that is far better than I could hope to write here. So rather than attempt to spell out what is important, I urge you to click on this link and find yourself fascinated. She has not only written out the information, she reads it aloud to you so you have a beautiful model to help develop your reading as well.