Hey
ya! I am excited that so many of you have made a fantastic effort to read aloud
to your children every day. Moving on with our endeavor, I am putting down few
tips and tricks to make reading aloud interesting and interactive.
Be a storyteller!
When you read, add life to the characters by creating great character voices.
Doing this is simple. Focus on the main characters and see what makes these characters
special. Look for personalities like loving, thoughtful, witty, happy, sad, funny,
sarcastic, brave, cowardly, nervous, confident, demanding, rude, calm,
dangerous, proud, humble, naughty, curious etc. etc.
Now,
use the basic tools of pitch, volume, pacing and attitude to create character
voice. For example, a higher pitch for a brave boy, a lower pitch for a humble
boy. Louder voice for a demanding character and a softer voice for sad or
nervous character
Speed
up a bit to show excitement or slow down to show calm character. Another great tool is attitude. You can tell
if somebody is happy or sad or angry or curious when you read with the right attitude.
More importantly, read with
expression. Read at a pace that is not too fast or too slow. Stop at
appropriate intervals to allow the child to look at the illustrations and
reflect upon the story.
