Read Aloud

1. I chose to read “Hello Goodbye Dog” by Maria Gianferrari. I chose this book for few reasons. One of the reasons was that it did not have any tokenism in it. The story took place in an elementary school that had students and teachers of many ethnicities. One reason I like this book is because it’s about a girl in a wheelchair who’s not hindered by her disability or upset about it. It shows how capable she is, which provides a good example to the students. In this story, the young girl was the “doer”. Because of this, it didn’t give off the idea that people in wheelchairs should be pitied, but instead that they are capable humans.

2. One thing that impacted my choosing of this book was that it gave the opportunity to teach about therapy dogs. (In the story, the girl takes her dog to therapy dog school to get him certified so he can go to school with her). Another reason I chose it was because it gave the opportunity for the students to hear a story about a girl who is in a wheelchair. I was hoping a story like this would help them develop some empathy and an understanding of how people in wheelchairs are just like people without wheelchairs.

3. I read the book to myself to prepare for the read aloud, that way I didn’t get surprised by anything and I could read it more smoothly. This also helped me take note of any words or ideas that might stump them. I put sticky notes on the parts of the book that I wanted to talk about more, explain more, or ask the kids a question about.

4. I used a few strategies while reading the book aloud. Before starting to read, I asked a question about what they thought the book was going to be about. This helped them to become interested and engaged. The book used the phrase “Moose put on his breaks” a lot. I wasn’t sure if the kids would know this was a creative way of saying that he quickly halted to a stop. Because of this, while reading, I asked the students what they thought that meant. Then, one of the students explained it for everyone. I also brought their attention to a rhyme in the story. I read all the rhyming words together and asked what they noticed about the words. They answered excitedly, “They rhyme!” At the end of the story, I explained how a therapy dog can provide a comfortable companion for children learning to read. This (hopefully!) helped explain why the dog in the story was allowed be at the girl’s school.

5. I learned that I really like reading stories to children! I also learned that the sticky notes on pages are a helpful tool to remember where you wanted to add something to the story. I also learned about how asking a question before reading the story can help get them engaged. I learned a lot about how to build a balanced library as well, making sure that all students and lifestyles are represented.