Reading a storybook to a child or to children is unlike any other reading activity. The reader is challenged to fill the reading with anticipation, drama, participation, excitement and animation. Reading a storybook to children calls on the reader's emotions, movement, inflection and sounds. The purpose of this lesson is to fully engage my teen-age students in the craft of storytelling when they read to children.
I have found the most effective way to teach teen-age students how to read/tell stories to children is to model reading stories to them. Repeating the varied model of reading to children is a very effective tool. Therefore, at the opening of class, a minimum of three times a week, read to your students. However, the modeling must be full of emotion, movement, inflection, and sounds. I have found it is necessary for me to practice before I "jump in" and model the craft of story reading for my students. Just because I am a good reader, this does not automatically make me a riveting reader of storybooks. Teachers must approach this as a craft, and crafts must be practiced. I push myself to be outrageous, to even act a little bit crazy, when I model story reading for my students.
Choose a story such as
The Sneetches
that has a range of emotions or feelings and movement or gesturing. Read the story out loud to yourself and identify these emotions and where the use of movement or body language will be effective. Consciously decide where and how to alter the pitch of the voice, its volume and pace; in other words, use inflections. As you read out loud, consider what sounds might be effective in particular moments in the story. The sound of silence has a lot of power; use it.
Once you have modeled the craft of story reading several times, invite students to try the process, consciously incorporating each of the qualities you have modeled: emotions, movement, inflection, and sounds. Students may be most comfortable practicing their craft with a partner first, but the idea is to invite students to read their stories to the class. Of course, they will then have these stories ready to take out to read when the class visits an elementary school.
Anyone who reads a story to a child or to children, or frankly, even to adults, will be able to measure his or her success by the response.
Making teen-agers aware of these qualities in story reading will also enhance their own stories when they come to the story writing activity.
