The benefits of reading to children, whether aloud or using picture books and folklore storybooks, are limitless. From the enhancement of literacy and reading skills to the promotion of healthy brain development, parents and teachers should constantly encourage their children to form a relationship with books to achieve the unlimited benefits that come along with it. Children who read more books are more disciplined, concentrate better, and have a wider imagination than those who don’t. While reading is important, reading aloud to children is even more important as it introduces the language of books to children while presenting them as a source of pleasant experiences. It also gives children and adults talking points which eventually supports the development of both their writing and reading skills. This paper, therefore, explores Pat Hutchins’s book, The Wind Blew, while emphasizing its importance when read aloud. The book, just like many other children’s books, when read aloud, gives children background knowledge of events taking place around them and helps them make sense of what they see, hear, or read.
Reading to Young Children
Reading of the Text and Rationale
“The wind blew” is a rhyming book that contains colorful illustrations of events that happened during a windy day. Pat Hutchins’ creativity takes the readers on a merry chase that begins with Mr. White’s umbrella, which is turned inside out. While many books are present, “The wind blew” was one of the most effective and favorite that children between 2 and 5 years could relate with. First, its easy vocabulary effectively builds children’s language skills. As kids begin to build sentences and learn to relate to their environment, the book helps them practice and develop phonological awareness. The rhythm allows them to repeat passages with their favorite events during the windy day, allowing them to make up their similar stories or rhymes. Secondly, the book is organized by a sequence of events which enables the kids to practice their ability to comprehend what they can read. From the umbrella to a balloon and even the judge’s wigs on his head, the chronological occurrence of evens together with visual aids present in the book hone the children’s sequencing skills. With a look at a picture, they are reminded of what happened during the windy day, and if prompted to retell the events, they might accurately detail all events. The book, filled with colorful pictures, is important to encourage kids to correct what happened or will happen next. Lastly, The Wind blew was an accurate book choice as it improves comprehension among children between 2 and 5 years. Before one becomes a skilled reader, they have to comprehend written texts along with sequencing and summarizing key events. While some of these skills involve the construction of sentences and solving problems, the book effectively concludes as the wind changed its mind and left everything it took before going to the sea. The dramatic end of the book makes it unpredictable and more fun for children whose love for reading might be increased after effectively engaging with their teachers or caregivers.
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Reading Process
“The wind blew” is a picture book and a rhyming tale of mischiefs of the wind one day as it blew past an untold town. To effectively engage the children, there are several activities that I will conduct before they come into the lesson for the day. First, I will intentionally think of the day’s activities by thinking of where each child is going to sit during the lesson. The classroom will be brightly lit and sufficiently spaced for each child to sit comfortably. Additionally, the room will have a solutions corner which is an area that reminds the children of the rules within the class. Other features present within the classroom might include a family tree, a cabin with neutral color containing the child’s name together with their best photo, and a cloth line that displays the wind blew poem (YouTube, 2017). After the children have signed into the class, answered the day from the previous lessons, and took brunch, I will ask them to get out of class to learn about the wind. Before reading the book, I will prompt them with questions that might include but are not limited to if they can see the wind and how they tell of its presence. During this time, I will ask them the direction the wind is blowing, which is an activity to expand their scientific knowledge of observing the natural world and describing the natural processes. Other activities that I might include before the reading session are holding the book so that they can see both sides, the front, and back and ask them what they think is happening. With all the listening and understanding skills development set under the conversation, the reading process then begins.
During the reading process, I will hold the book to see the illustrations and prints of the book. With the book held up high, I will read the book with high enthusiasm, accuracy, and fluency, clearly describing each expression from the first event when the wind took Mr. White’s umbrella and the sadness in the judge’s head when its wig was added to the wind’s package. As I turn each page, I will ask the children if they can guess the events that might unfold, such as the next thing that the wind might blow. I might give them clues by telling them to look carefully at the pictures in the rhyme book. In the process, the children will walk away with literacy knowledge which will be measured by their ability to retell or dictate the experiences of the book. They might be involved in a dramatic play of the events and question and answer activities to predict what happens after every event in the book.
After reading the story, the next event would be to discuss the connections made with the book and model sharing my thoughts about the reading. In this case, I would explain to the children that the wind was blowing hard, making the umbrella, the twin’s scarf, and other items blow away according to events that unfolded. Even though the children might see the activity as fun, I would warn them of a storm, which might make the tree fall on them and would be safe for them to stay indoors and be safe. I would spend some time discussing with them about tornados and other heavy storms that might be harmful and dangerous. The after-reading activity is critical to the physical health and development of the kid as it helps them build awareness of health risks. Other activities such as traffic and fire safety might also be incorporated during the contemplation activity and educate them on appropriate responses during these events.
Children’s Reaction to Read Aloud
When analyzing the children’s reaction to the session, there are several comments related to the cognitive benefits of the activity. Their reaction analyzes their listening skills, learning patterns, and ability to capture words used within the text in relation to the theme of weather ( Brodin & Renblad, 2020) . For children who did not like the session, their response attitude can either be physical or emotional. From a physical perspective, their concerns could be they pronounced the words too softly to be heard, or they keep interrupting other kids or even lacked expression indicating that the activity could be boring. Even though the choice of book can be a motivator or distractor to the activities of the session, most of the children’s responses should be happy, nice, funny, or anything positive ( Ledger & Merga, 2018) . If the children generally liked the book, their reaction should be relaxed, happy, and even making stories revolving around the events that occurred. In this case, most of the children were happy about the read-aloud session as it was both interactive and educative. Cases of negative reactions were attributed to external interruptions from their peers and emotional responses of not connecting with the experiences.
Strengths and Challenges
Since reading aloud not only introduces vocabulary to children, it provides the foundational skills necessary for expressive reading and is a critical session while reading out Pat Hutchin’s book. As I held the book and read through the events, my strengths were my reading speed, fluency, and expressions. I adjusted my speed accordingly and expressed each character’s reaction as the wind took away their items. With such strengths and fluency, the children felt the book’s enthusiasm, which increased their ability to comprehend and relate the events to the environment. Even though my strengths were visible, the activity revealed some of my weaknesses that might have led to some children being disengaged. My accuracy was not perfect as I substituted flew with blew, which led to many self-correction activities. After such an error had occurred, I became hesitant, whereby I paused insignificantly. Other challenges that I experienced were omission and insertion of words not present within the texts of the book. Though unintentionally and unnoticeable by students, such challenges might revert the intended meaning of the book, thereby perceiving the wrong information, an impact that could affect other areas of the child’s life.
Reflection
Even though read-aloud sessions have limitless benefits to the child, independent reading should be encouraged. Some benefits of reading aloud sessions to children include enhancing literacy and reading skills, improving school performance, and promoting healthy brain development, among other advantages ( Massaro, 2017) . The sessions let teachers act as role models for reading and introduce different literature types, such as biographies and poetry, that children might not have otherwise discovered. Reading aloud also enables children to use their imaginations to explore activities and events that occur beyond their imagination. While these benefits can also include giving children background knowledge of certain events, few children in the class reported having such sessions regularly with their parents or at school. The majority of them enjoyed the session citing a range of cognitive benefits of the activity. Most children identified the direction of wind blowing during that day and acknowledged that wind could neither be seen nor touched, but its effects can be seen. They had a positive attitude, and most considered it as a reward or luxury from the normal schooling routine.
While the parent’s and teacher’s sessions might be different, the read-aloud session generally enhances the child’s comprehension capabilities. Frequent sessions present books as a source of a pleasant experience, motivating the child to read independently. The higher the number of adults reading aloud to children, the higher the chances of vocabulary growth and the child’s ability to relate to the world events. After the read-aloud session, children were more likely to be introduced to the language of books, which was different from basic conversational languages that they might be used to hearing or watching on television. Therefore, parents, caregivers, teachers, and other adults should be encouraged to have read-aloud sessions with children as it supports their thinking skills and brain development, which is crucial for their growth and prosperity in their academic life.
References
Brodin, J., & Renblad, K. (2020). Improvement of preschool children’s speech and language skills. Early child development and care , 190 (14), 2205-2213.
Ledger, S., & Merga, M. K. (2018). Reading aloud: Children's attitudes toward being read to at home and at school. Australian Journal of Teacher Education , 43 (3), 124-139.
Massaro, D. W. (2017). Reading aloud to children: Benefits and implications for acquiring literacy before schooling begins. American Journal of Psychology , 130 (1), 63-72.
YouTube. (2017). Head Start Teacher's Training Video . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8XfjDrAoaA.
