When I teach toddlers, one thing I want them to go away with is a positive feeling towards English. But I also want them to go away with a positive feeling towards books and reading too. I use Eric Carle’s books for this. They come as board books (they have hard cardboard pages) so they are sturdy with the younger learners. They are colorful and simple so they are age appropriate.
ONe of my favorite Eric Carle books is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? It has a lot of repetition, and the vocabulary focuses on colours and animals. I also found a musical version of the book sung by Greg and Steve (from their album ‘Playing Favorites’).
The song is slow and soothing and adds a nice break when we are getting a bit restless or unfocussed in class. Sometimes I use it twice, even. All children like the song once the song has started and you have the book out, and start turning the pages. I don’t let them turn the pages before the proper time; I just gently and firmly hold the pages down … it is a board book so they won’t rip).
Repetition is worth its weight in gold so we play this book every class; it is a favorite.
Les. Nice.
Got links for those books? Where can we get them? I usually stick to more tradional favourites, i.e. head, shoulders, knees and toes; ABC’s, and so on. But i like your ideas on these books and teaching kids in general. I look forward to seeing more of your posts. Very helpful- thanks.
Edward, SSE Ohtsu