This unit will include a research component in which students will research, using the Internet, articles that support and explain the critical role of reading to young children.
This research ultimately will lead to an art project in which students collaborate to make posters promoting reading to children, featuring the salient points students found in the articles they researched. Each group of students will present its poster to the rest of the class. The class will keep a list of the most important points from each presentation, and this list of notes will be the basis for a five-paragraph essay. (See a lesson plan on how to implement this section of the unit.)
The Internet is a rich source of information on the vital need to read to young children from the time they are born; actually some research makes a case for reading to the developing fetus. The bibliography contains several suggestions for Websites where students can find articles on the topic of the value of reading to children. However, students may wish to expand their search beyond the limits of the list. This research activity gives students hands-on experience using the Internet while at the same time provides them with valuable content on the topic.
Once students have gathered a reasonable number of articles on the importance of reading to children, they will separate into groups of three and they will choose one of the articles they found or I will assign an article. The point is that each group has a different article. It is important that the class researches various aspects of reading to children such as: when to start reading to young children, how to go about reading to young children, why read to young children, how to choose books, how to teach your child to choose books, and strategies to help children become readers.
Each group will hi-light the salient points in the article it is researching. Then, they will brainstorm ways to advertise these points visually, including the use of catch phrases on a poster to promote reading to young children. Each group will create its own poster. Once they have completed these posters, each group will present its poster to the class, identifying the salient points of the article. The class will take notes on these points to be used in a five-paragraph essay on the importance of reading to young children.
