Have you found that when you are reading books to your students or your children that they are often getting up or moving around or talking to each other about halfway through the book? I've been there. It's not fun and it also makes me a little sad because when choosing a great book, you just want your kids to love it as much as you do!

There are many ways to alter or enhance your experiences with storytime and storytelling with kids, so this is going to be a fun overview of several ideas and ways I have been able to increase participation and attention from toddlers through upper elementary kids.
Book Choice & Delivery Simply, making the right choice for your little learners can set you up for success. If these are students you have every day or your own children, you learn fairly quickly what kind of story crowd they are - some classes love a complex, detail oriented story and some need high energy excitement to stay engaged. If you are choosing books for a storytime with children at a one time event, it's good to go with a good mix of books. I like to have a silly, interactive option, a low word count option and one with a little more complexity at minimum. Also, I like to choose more books than I plan to read - this gives me flexibility to adjust in the moment if the kids aren't responding well to one type of book. Also, choose books largely according to who the youngest kids will be in attendance. By focusing on the littlest or at least the majority, you should be able to choose an appropriate level of entertainment and learning. ( Note: If you have some older kids - find ways for them to become helpers. Can they grab something or help with something? Can they demonstrate anything? Give them that enrichment if the books are low level for them.) I have delivery on here, but I won't spend much time reminding you that emotive reading draws everyone in - kids to adults - if you have silly voices, noises and sound excited, your audience will be too!
Shake up your location! Go outside! Changing your location where you do your typical storytime is something I believe in so strongly that I did an entire hour long presentation in 2023 to childcare workers and teachers about taking literacy outside at a conference. If you think you kids won't join you for a read aloud (or several!) during recess, I urge you to try it. I enjoy taking my students outside as much as possible and sometimes I will just grab a few books and bring them with me to recess. Usually, I don't even need to say anything, a couple kids will notice I brought books and start asking me about them. Then, I just shout that I'm going to read if anyone wants to join, allow kids to come and go from our little reading circle, and usually end up with most of the kids at recess. When I'm done with the books I brought out, I usually have to urge the kids to go play because they want me to go get more books! Remember - your goal should often be to just make reading FUN and reading outside feels fun naturally to these little minds.

3. Pick an interactive book! Interactive books are great additions to your regular rotation. Sometimes you might find that they read like a one-on-one experience, but I have always found that if the book says something like "tap the purple flower", when you invite all of the kids to "tap" they are really content tapping the air in front of them. Sometimes just adding an interactive book into the mix of books about your lesson topic can really help break it up and get them re-engaged. Another extra add-on tip is to pepper in their favorite books that you always have success with - this past year, my students were absolutely in love with Piggie and Gerald books by Mo Willems. If I added one of those to the mix of a larger lesson, I knew it would bring them back into focus and engagement. Some of my very favorite interactive books are:
Don't Push the Button by Bill Cotter
The Wrong Book by Drew Daywalt
Press Here by Herve Tullet
Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson
Mix it up! by Herve Tullet
Don't Wake up the Tiger! by Britta Teckentrup
4. Make it a whole event! Sometimes there are books that are perfect for creating a whole event out of. For example, my co-teacher brilliantly had a morning line (or circle) time with Luli and the Language of Tea (see below) and paired it with different kinds of tea that were passed around and smelled. At the time, we were studying Asia and trying to explore different cultural foods and celebrations. I used this book and plan in my own classroom and the kids absolutely loved it. This simple storytime add-in evoked multiple senses and interest. Then, to really up the ante, we had a tea party with pretty tea pots, tablecloths and encouraged a community feel at each table. We were able to expand on the importance and uses of tea in Asia and in various cultures, enjoy the tea with our senses and have a community feel event for our classroom. It was a hugely engaging, wonderful experience with all of the kids.

5. Utilize multimedia to change it up! Lesson resources and materials come in many forms these days - books, ebooks, audiobooks, games, songs, videos and so much more. Do not be afraid to mix up your delivery. Technology is not your enemy - you just need to utilize it with a purpose and a goal/plan in mind. By bringing a huge variety to the way you are teaching, you can find that you'll increase children's love of reading by showing them how stories are shared in so many ways. This can also be helpful so that kids who learn in different ways have different exposure to similar information and also increases engagement overall. For example, if I'm teaching about hibernation of bears, I am going to bring a variety of materials to my lesson that includes books (but also includes other ways to explore!) Some of those ideas might be: - Read Hibernation Station by Michelle Meadows - Watch short clips of Fat Bear Week where the National Park Service tracks a handful of bears as they prepare and plump up for hibernation. - Have a variety of shelf activities where students can build shelters for small bear figurines, match types of bears to their fur in photos, or explore the bear life cycle - Read Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson - Read a non-fiction book about bears or hibernation using Epic Books (Teachers get free accounts!)
-Have a book listening station with headphones and various audiobooks on topic available during free time
BONUS tip: Okay, so my brain does not want to put this list at 6 tips, when 5 sounds so good, but I have one more suggestion I have to pass along - you will get more engagement from your students in general, when you give them some autonomy and ask THEM questions! Before diving into a book, ask them what they think it's about, let them share what they know about the topic you are reading about already, let them ask you what questions they have about the topic at hand - let them feel like they aren't just spectators, but they are important members of the learning community (because they are!). Kids will find all learning more exciting and fun and will impact them more if they are given the opportunity to not just listen to you talk the whole time.
Okay, so none of this is especially complex, but I do hope that you came into this with an open heart and are leaving with some ideas flowing on how to up the ante on your lesson and storytelling times during your day with your students. I promise you that tips like this will not only help them enjoy it more, but you too! If you still have questions, don't hesitate to email me or send a contact us form - I'm here to help!
Keep learning, keep exploring and keep asking questions!
Veronica, Director
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