CASD 1717 – Fall 2024
Sunday Morning. Required Reading. Columbia Broadcasting System, 2012. Via Alexander Street
Optional outside article : Read about the benefits of reading aloud to seniors
Reading Magic by Mem Fox (Excerpts)
I recommend listening to the accompanying audio for each of the short sections on this external link.
What is one specific tip that she gives for reading aloud that you hadn’t thought of before?
A specific tip that Mem Fox gave for reading aloud that I have never thought about before is making sure that the last line of the story is powerful and leaves an impression for the child. She stated that ruining the ending of a read aloud can be a tragic ruin for an excellent story. To avoid ruining the last line the reader should go over the ending beforehand and make sure that they do not “stumble” over any words.
Yes! This is such an important thing to pick up. It’s often hard to do, but its true of any presentation you make as well. That last impression matters. There are many things that we can do with our voice and body in order to make it clear that we have reached the end of what we have to share. Too often people want to rush away or are halfway out the door when they finish speaking!
A specific tip that Mem Fox gave for reading aloud that I had not thought of before is the importance of the last line of a story. She stated that reading the last line should be with feelings and emphasis so it makes the endings memorable. She also said that badly read endings can ruin a great story. Now I see how important it is to read aloud and how important it is to use our high and low voices in reading stories.
One specific tip that Mem Fox gave me for Reading Aloud that I hadn’t thought of before was the beginning of how you tell a story. You want the first word or sentence that you say to automatically intrigue the listener. You want it to be spectacular and sensational so that they feel hooked. You want your body language, eye contact, expressions, and vocals to come out so easily that the listener becomes so enhanced in the story and doesn’t want to miss a single word. You want the way you tell the story to be as important as the story itself. The way you tell the story just makes it even better.
One specific tip that Mem Fox gave for reading aloud that I hadn’t thought of before is to use pauses in order to create a great effect before a dramatic mood change in a story. I realized that using pauses within a story can initially work to create a “greater effect” that will catch the viewers attention, and in this particular case, a child who is following along to the reader. This initially will help the child to further listen in on the story with a greater focus into the mood and tone of the overall story.
One specific tip that she gave was the pauses. I use to remember my teachers doing that and it will catch my attention quickly or it will leave me with curiosity, scared etc. Pauses really do set the tone of what may be going on in a story.
Silence is one of the most useful tools we have in communication. You’re right about how it grabs attention. I know many a teacher (myself included) who will sometimes just go completely silent in order to get attention when a class is out of control.
One specific tip that she gave for reading aloud was using your eyes. By using our eyes while reading, it can show more emotional value to the story by widening or narrowing your eyes. It’s basically like story telling with your eyes which can give more emotion to the story that you’re reading. This is a great tip to engage with the story more as well.
One specific tip I had not thought about was to read a bit faster for the exciting part of the book. I usually read it with more excitement but with an average speed. So that is a helpful tip and I will make sure to keep that in mind
Yes! Tempo can add a lot to the way in which parts of a story land. It’s always a balance to maintain faster pacing with clear diction or not go so fast that your listeners can’t process the words. Generally I recommend going slightly slower than you feel is natural as a baseline so that you have more room to play with that tempo.
one specific tip, was that not just reading to a child is important but how you read to them. what tones you set asking questions etc.
One specific tip that she gives about reading aloud that I haven’t thought about is how important eye contact is to children when you read the story to them. I didn’t think about how you should try to convey the story with not only your voice but with your eyes too.
Changing not only your voice, but the pace of your speaking stood out to me because these are things we naturally do when telling our own stories to friends, so doing that while telling a story to a child is a natural way to be more engaging.
One specific tip that Mem Fox gave was using your voice as a tool when you are reading. Having various different tones to highlight a scene in the story allows children to pick up on cues in the book. Reading in a lower tone for a scary scene or reading faster when something exciting happens allows the students to feel as if they are part of the book and overall creates a better understanding.
Every time I read to little ones I always like to keep in mind to use the small and high tones in my voice. This allows them to be engaged and make predictions. For instance in reading The 3 Little Pigs, using a different voice when the wolf comes around, this allows children to make predictions about what’s to come and also not only does this allow them to listen to the story but also be able to envision it.
One tip I hadn’t thought about before is the importance of apparently minor words. The example of the word jump really demonstrates how each word conveys a different kind of feeling and energy. I had never really thought about that before, but it makes perfect sense!
One tip I hadn’t thought about is making the last line of the story as memorable as you can. I always was told the the beginning sentences are important to catch a readers attention but I never thought of making the last line as interesting or intriguing in order for the reader to keep remembering the story or to have some sort of influence.
One tip that I didn’t think of before is changing the pace of your tone. I developed a deeper understanding on how to change the voice and pace of speaking when storytelling. By doing this it can help to keep children more engaged with the story.
One specific tip i remember even as a child when stories were told to me was the pause after a suspenseful moment. This pause made me feel many emotions as a child and always gave me the curiosity to know what happening next.
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