A couple weeks ago I went to my local public library
to observe story time with parents and children. The title of the story time
was "Mommy and me". The seats were very bright and colorful and the
event took place in the children's reading section of the library. Though the title of story time was called
mommy and me, I saw children with their grandmothers, Grandfathers and fathers.
A large group of children came to the story time and seemed to be enjoying
reading with their relatives. The space
that was available for the event was very large and open. About twenty children showed up for story time
with their parents. The Librarian did an excellent job in engaging the children
in the reading. The cognitive view of reading stresses that “reading is a
process in which the reader actively searches for meaning in what she reads.
The reader makes connections with ideas in the book to prior knowledge (Graves,
2010, p.2). “At the beginning of story time, the Librarian read to the children
and parents. After this, children and parents were allowed to grab their own
books and read together. I think that the Liberian was fostering the cognitive –constructivist
view of reading because the children were now in charge of what they were going
to read. Meaning that they might pick a book that they can better relate to
than the book the Librarian chose. In
class we talk about how important it is for children to see themselves in
literature and I believe by letting the children pick their own books the
librarian somehow gave them control of the session. We also talked about in
class how to make our class rooms reading friendly. The Librarian had posters
of different books hanging around and stickers on books that said “read me”. Chapter
two of the graves text stated how modeling can be very effective during
literacy education. One of the activities that the Librarian had the children
do is a partner reading with their parents. Before the children started doing
so, the Librarian modeled how it was supposed to go. Graves’s text chapter two
states after explanation, modeling is the next step in the gradual release of
responsibility (Graves, 2010, p.34)” Chapter three of the Graves text is mostly
about Motivation and engagement. The Librarian definitely incorporated this
into her session. After the reading session
children were able to take a gift bag home. Parents were also motivated to read
with their children because they got half of the fines on their library cards
removed. Chapter three also stresses that students need to have a choice about
what they read (Graves, 2010, p.56)”. When children are reading books that they
personally picked, they will be more motivated to read the book. In chapter six
of the Graves text, it states that “teachers need to make many important
decisions about the text that students read. One size not fit all (Graves,
2010, p.130)”. I can honestly say that I saw a variety of books in this story
time. When it was time for the children to pick their own books to do partner
reading with their parents, I saw children books written in Spanish, about different
countries and history.
I
think that the Librarian used many different techniques to get the children and
parents into the reading. I really like the fact that this story time involved
parents because this is very important for emergent readers. Parent involvement
is very important in reading. I think that the librarian successfully engaged
everyone in the readings. The only thing that I think that she should change is
the titled of the story time. The titled of story time was “mommy and me”,
targeting only mothers. Many children who came with their fathers asked if it
was okay to stay for story time. The Librarian’s story time could have had more
people attend if the title were different. The Librarian should have done a
better job staying on schedule with her event. When parents and children showed
up to read, she was not there. The beginning of story time was a little
difficult because she had a hard time getting the children quiet on task.
This sounds like an enjoyable time for kids and their guardians! I love the cute little name, Mommy and Me, as well as the bright colors that draw the students in. I like the fact that children were given a choice for what books they wanted to read, I think the freedom of choice with reading can really encourage a child to want to read. The idea that this involved parents was also a great way to get children to want to read and this also shows that reading is being encouraged by their family outside of school or the library. I'm glad you got to experience this and examine these children as well as their parents.
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