Interactive Story Time Improves Reading and Writing

Reading aloud on a regular basis is one building block in helping a child acquire reading and writing skills. By making a few small changes to your story time routine, you can grow these skills. Making story time interactive is one of the most impactful ways to improve reading and writing.

How to Make Story Time Interactive

• Prediction – Instead of diving right into reading, use clues from the book to predict what the story is about. Use the title, book cover illustration, chapter title(s) and what your child knows about the world to guess what the story might be about. Then as you read along, guess what might happen next. This keeps your child engaged, maintains interest and improves comprehension.
• Vocabulary – Another strategy is to identify new words. When reading, children will be exposed to novel words and concepts. Identify words that your child may not understand and guide them to use story illustrations or sentences in the text to determine the meaning of the word.
• Retell – Encourage your child to retell the story. This can be at the end of the book or the end of a chapter if the story is lengthy. This teaches your child to identify characters in a story, the main idea, key details, setting and plot. It improves their memory by requiring recall of details and sequences. It also improves speech and language skills because they need to articulate their thoughts clearly. Such skills are a prerequisite to writing a story summary, a report or an original story.
• Modify – To further develop your child’s narrative skills, retell the story with different characters, a different setting, a different sequence of events or a different outcome. You might want to create a ‘new book’ to reread at another time. Add a title that represents the story and even draw a book cover. Retelling a story differently requires memory of the story. It also teaches story structure (including sequencing, plot, characters, outcome), improves vocabulary, fosters critical thinking, and facilitates understanding of different perspectives.

Interactive story time is an opportunity to build language, literacy, and critical thinking skills while creating meaningful moments with your child. The simple strategies above turn everyday reading into an engaging learning experience. They will help nurture a lifelong love of books while supporting the early literacy skills your child needs for success in reading, writing, and communication.