Wednesday 21 October 2015

SHHH! LITTLE MOUSE BY PAMELA ALLEN







When my son was given this book - Shhh! Little Mouse by Pamela Allen - as a gift many years ago neither he nor myself particularly enjoyed it. I couldn't understand how you could engage a child with a series of pages with just images and virtually no text. However, some time later a school teacher friend was talking about how she engages pupils when reading. It's an obvious technique in many ways, but something I didn't think about as a first-time mum seven years ago. 

My friend teaches high school English students and when they read a text in class, she always stops at random points to check in that they are paying attention by asking them questions about the book and storyline. 

So when it came time for my eldest daughter to read this book, I tried out my friend's teaching technique. When we read this book, I would ask her simple questions such as, "What is the mouse eating now?" And for an 18-month-old this was quite a fun exercise. She loved the book, and my youngest does too. And now I enjoy reading it - because it's about our interaction together over the text. 

I also use this technique when reading to my son. I check in to see if he's following the storyline, and his thoughts on what might happen. When we read words that I'm not sure if he knows the meaning, I'll ask him about those too. 

If you have any reading techniques that you'd like to share, please do.

images the indigo crew

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