Cozy Up with a Great Book

"Young children who heard the same book multiple times retained a new word better than children who were read different books containing the same word."

Numerous studies have shown that storybook reading promotes later academic performance, reading fluency and print knowledge. A study in 2011 by Horst et. al. was the first of its kind to explore how being read to influences young children's ability to learn new words from storybooks. The lack of research in this area is particularly surprising given how frequently young children are read to during their everyday preschool experiences. The study found that repetition of storybooks is important for learning new vocabulary from books. Young children who heard the same book multiple times retained a new word better than children who were read different books containing the same word. 

Reference: Horst, J.S., Parsons, K.L. & Bryan N.M. (2011). Get the story straight: Contextual repetition promotes word learning from storybooks. 

KUDOS to @midtownspeechnyc for this special instagram post, if you're not following along click this link to check her out!

Here are the books I read on repeat for my students during Winter. 

Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner

Read the story of what Snowmen do at Christmas.

-Compare/contrast our Christmas traditions to the Snowmen's

-Search for hidden items on every page; mouse, T-Rex, cat, bunny and a Santa face.

*Tip: Searching for hidden pictures is great for visual skills needed for attention, reading and writing!*

Sneezy the Snowman Maureen Wright

Sneezy the snowman enjoys winter fun with his friends, but keeps sneezing!? His friends make attempts to help him warm up, but keep melting him.

Pair the story with the amazing melting snowman, build the snowman and read the story. Watch what happens!

-Sequence

-Cause/Effect

-Categories (things that are hot)

*Tip: I have students discuss items that are hot, and then illustrate a sentence as to why Sneezy may have melted*

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Nikki goes on a winter adventure and loses a snow-white mitten from Baba. Forest animals find the cozy mitten and all squeeze in.

-WH questions

-Sequencing/recall

-Following directions

-Oral motor (put it on, ball, bam/smash, put it in)

*Check out @simply_speech and her FREEBIE smash mat companion*

Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox

Add this fun story to your Valentine's Day sessions. Rapunzel is too far away to quite make out what the Prince is trying to say. This is a hilarious hit in my speech sessions as we read the story of miscommunication.

-Sequencing/recall

-WH questions

-Rhyming

-Yes/No questions

-Vocabulary

-Create your own story

*Book companion can be found on TPT by SteamPunk Speech*

*Tip: pair this story with card game Sleeping Queens and Lover's Leap found on www.thelisteningroom.com*

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tommie DePaola

National Pancake Day is typically in early March. We celebrate every year in speech with this story and flippin' fun activities. This wordless story is great for any age. Early one morning the lady wakes up and decides to make pancakes, but keeps running into problems. 

-Problem solving

-Create grammatically correct sentences

-Sequencing/retell

-Vocabulary

-Oral motor (she can make it, she needs..., go out)