Strategies for Sharing Literature with Young Children

Sharing literature with children at a young age is very important to their childhood development. “Sharing books with very young children not only helps them learn to listen but also to be more attentive and relate various stories to their own life” (Children’s Literature, 2009). After doing Jumpstart for a year I noticed that children would be more engage based on the strategies you used when reading with them. Something as simple as putting more excitement in your tone and changing your voice with different characters can mean a world of difference for the child. Finding out what you are doing wrong and trying to perfect your craft can make a change in a child’s engagement level when you begin to share literature with them. Being passionate and dedicated about sharing literature with a child can lead them growing up and loving reading as an adult. In this paper I will discuss the importance of finding the right book, creating a positive environment, and helping children construct meaning through narrative structure and visual literacy.
It is very important to find the right book for the students in the classroom. Making sure a teacher not only picks an age appropriate book but also a quality book to read to the students. There is a big difference in the way you have to conduct yourself when reading to toddles than kindergarten. I would also make sure to pick books that are not very popular or have various rewrites to avoid losing students interest based off the fact they’ve read it before. Everyone has read the traditional story The Three Little Pigs but there are various version and illustrations. By mixing things up you allow children to read the same book but not get bored due to finding new things each time. The first book I would use would be Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert published on April 1, 1996 for reading levels ages four to eight. This mouth-watering alphabet book shows fruits and vegetables illustrations so luscious and lively, you’ll wish