GET READING: Let’s Get Active
Welcome to Learning with Joy! Thanks for being here and I hope we can find joy in learning together!
We are going to GET READING this month! Stay tuned in April for ideas to help make reading a consistent joy in your home by getting motivated, getting curious, getting active, and getting specific.
LET’S GET ACTIVE
I am grateful and proud that I began my education journey in the arts. First, as a student and then as a teaching artist. Theatre and dance taught me a lot as a child and as an educator. Bringing stories to life and expressing oneself is a great way to encourage reading, critical thinking, and social skills. This week we are going to add some joy to our reading habit by getting active!
First and foremost, remember to have fun. This may be something that comes naturally or it may feel different and new. Modeling and participating with your learner is an important way to get them invested and engaged. Being brave and using your voice helps your littles do the same. It’s ok to be silly and take up some space. After all, we want to add the joy factor. Below are 4 ways to get active with reading this week and add a little magic to storytime!
BE IT
When reading a story, have your learner become the character.
They can create a statue or frozen picture of the character. Encourage them to make big choices and use their body to show what the character would look like. Maybe it’s a big bear in the middle of a growl, or an adventurer climbing a mountain.
You can also explore feelings and facial expressions. Last week we explored questions to ask to build comprehension skills. We can boost the fun by acting it out. After asking how a character feels, you can ask your learner to show you what their face would look like. Discussing and displaying feelings not only builds understanding of the story, it can also help them identify and build an understanding of their own feelings and others.
Lastly, get moving by trying out a character walk. Ask your learner how the character would move or walk. Are they slow or fast? Is it an animal that crawls or an airplane that flies (we can use objects too) or a kid that skips? If you want to take it up a notch, you can create a runway or a path and explore different characters from your favorite books.
Say It
When reading a story, have your learner create character voices or add sound effects.
Readers can add joy and understanding to a story by being expressive with their voice. You can model this while reading yourself and you can ask your learner- what do you think the character sounds like? How would you say ___ as the character?
If your learner is an independent reader, having them use expressions and voices as they read can increase their fluency and comprehension. Plus, it's much more fun and interesting!
You can also add and play with sound effects throughout a story.
Dance It
When reading a story, add some music and movement.
Maybe you set the tone of a story with background music or maybe the story itself has some dancing moments. Once you are comfortable making statues or walking like a character you can add in dancing. How would the character dance? What music would they listen to? This gets your learner talking about the kind of character or the tone of the story, to find music and movements to match.
There are also some fun stories that have the opportunity for dance parties such as Giraffes Can't Dance or Where the Wild Things Are (Affiliate Links).
Where the Wild Things Are is a favorite of mine for getting active and making a story come to life. You can create your own Wild Thing characters with your learner:
-Make a Statue of your Wild Thing
-How does it walk and move?
-Show me the face of your Wild Thing when they are happy, sad, excited, nervous…
-In the story, there is a “Wild Rumpus” and several pages where the characters are playing/marching/dancing. I like to play different music for each page and have a Wild Rumpus dance party!
Play It
If you are having a blast and want to put it all together, you can create your own play or movie of the story. Older/Independent Readers can also make their own script and work together with family or friends to reenact their favorite stories. The sky is the limit when we let imagination take the lead!
Have fun, be silly, and engage with your learner this week.
You may be surprised by what you learn and you will certainly be amazed by their creativity and understanding!
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LOOKING FOR MORE?
Printable Expansion
Check out the shop for various printables for specific topics or activities.
Get Reading Series
If you are joining us for the first time with this post, I encourage you to check out Get Motivated and Get Curious for more ideas and FREE printables to help make reading a consistent joy in your home.
Miss B’s Picks
Below are a few of my favorite books to bring to life!
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases*
Giraffes Can't Dance - Dance Party and Animal Characters
Where the Wild Things Are - Create Wild Thing Characters and have a dance party
Nat Geo Little Kids First Big Book of Animals -Move and sounds as different animals
