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☞ In this post I’m giving you a step by step guide for your first reading activity with your class of preschoolers or first graders.
☞ My advice is geared towards ESL teachers, so here are some tips to both enhance a reading experience and maximize student participation during the activity.
Content
Class Environment
☞ Reading starts with preparation.
☞ Of course, when you reach the point of reading, you will have ideally learned the alphabet and some high frequency words.
☞ Prime them with an environment filled with books. Age appropriate books would have many pictures, large letters, and for the sake of durability, hard covers and maybe also hard pages 😅
☞ If these are new learners or very young lil humans, you’ll want to start a routine of quiet, seated activities. It can be as simple as quiet drawing. This will get their body used to being calm and at rest in one spot.
☞ Last but not least, when reading, you might want to build a mood.
- Do some breathing exercises to calm them down, maybe even yoga.
- Play ambiance music.
- If you have the space, bring them to the reading area, if theres a carpet, make them gather around you on it.
Instructions
☞ Any seasoned teacher will tell you, instructions are the backbone of any activity going well.
☞ Some instructions to keep in mind are:
- “When I talk, you listen.”
- “Eyes on me.”
- “Keep your hands on your knees” (especially important if everyone is gathered around you).
The Reading
☞ I highly suggest you build the reading routine by reading one book a week.
☞ Before you read: when you see stars, the step is optional, but silliness is a way to add a pause for fun and recapture attention.
☞ Remember, first contact should seduce the children into loving the idea of reading rather than formally teach them how to read. By having fun, their sponge-like brains will assimilate seamlessly.
General guide
- Start by showing the book.
- Show you index finger *ceremoniously* and remind them that you read with your finger.
- Point at the words *do so dramatically* and start reading.
- Read the title. First mechanically for the students to follow along easily, then fluently.
- Ask students to read the title with you.
- Ask them what they can see.
- Do the act of opening the book.
- You can take this opportunity to practice the phrase “I open the book” or “I turn the page”.
- * Open it for yourself, look inside. Act out incredulity or awe 👀
- * Let students’ curiosity devour them 😈
- * Gauge their attention, then ask if they want to see. Only show if they all say “Teacher let me see”.
- Show them the inside and ask again, what they can see.
- * If they are advanced enough, ask silly questions about expectations: “Is the story about a banana?” “Do you think they will go to space?” “Do you think they will have a party?” …
- Turn the page.
- Each page you read
- *Repeat steps 8-14.
- Turn the book towards the students.
- Read mechanically, one word at a time with students following after you.
- Read again fluently. Students read after you.
- Ask simple questions: “What colour is…?” “What can you see…?” “How does … feel?”
- *If you see target words from lessons, point to students to read it for you or ask the class to read the word or tell you which word is the one you are saying.
- *If your class is advanced, read with obvious mistakes and have students correct you.
- Repeat until the end.
Switching it up
☞ Once your students get the hang of it, they might get bored by the activity of reading repeatedly. Try these out to change the pace:
- Read in funny voices
- robots
- animals
- pinching your nose
- like you’re underwater
- like a posh english man
- Read in the manner of famous people
- famous actors
- news anchors
- a cartoon character
- Read but replace the punctuation by an onomatopoeia or a sound
- “rawr”
- “glub”
- “bee-beep”
- “caramba”
- the sound that Bugs Bunny makes when he eats a carrot
- the sound Micheal Jackson makes when he dances
- Speed change
- everybody reads at the same time, but whoever finishes the first wins
- everybody reads super slow motion (normally not more than one sentence)
Choice of book
☞ The choice of the first book you read can be crucial. It needs to be appealing to your budding readers, but it also needs to have words, but not be too complicated. And most importantly, it needs to be FUN!
I was suggested the series “Elephant and Piggie” by a teacher that used to work in a bookstore, and they were a resounding success in my classes.
They are written by Mo Willems, who worked on Sesame Street. He’s well versed in child education. The drawings are simple, but cute. The writing is large and clear. It’s very easy to read out for the students when it’s their turn. They are funny. They are FANTASTIC.
☞ Start with the first one titled “We are in a book”. It will give a starting or hesitating reader the PERFECT introduction.
Questions or Comments 😄💬 Let’s Chat
☞ Did you learn something new?
☞ What is a method that works well for your neophyte readers?
☞ What is your biggest challenge while reading?
The ESL Teacher C · Nomad Educator 
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