Reading can be an amazing experience but how do we take reading to the next level?

I have always loved reading to my kids and to my students.  When I was a student teacher, I was so excited to learn all the different ways to take just one book and pull out so many lessons.  This made the whole experience much more fun for the students and created a theme for my other lessons either for the day or in some cases, for the week!

When working with kids on the spectrum, a theme may be very easy to find.  Look at what their special interests are. What are they the most infatuated with and start from there. 

Tip #9  Reading 2.0 

My son was a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan.  When he was learning how to form his letters, I would read him a book about one of the trains.  He would pick whichever was his preferred character at the moment and we would read the story. While reading, we would talk about the pictures.  What was in them. Aside from the train itself, what were some clues in the pictures that related to the story. Sometimes, you can do a “picture walk” before you read the story.  Sort of like a preview. Then go back and read the story. From there he would trace the letters of the character’s name. We did pencil and paper with the big lines like we all remember.  BUT, if you want to add some sensory experience to it, you can use sand or shaving cream and have your child trace into that. Maybe use finger paints to have them write the letters. Then as a reward, once he finished the name of the character, I would then draw a picture of that train. He enjoyed this very much.  However, you could have the child draw their own picture or find a picture online, maybe print it, cut it out and paste in a notebook or journal. You can build on this with additional books or poems that you read. 

If you have an older child, perhaps it's a Harry Potter book. Maybe the additional lessons include making a craft project or model, making potions, trying to make butterbeer or writing your own spells. My kids had a great teacher in high school where one of their summer assignments was to read “The Catcher in the Rye” then make something to demonstrate their understanding of the book. There were several options - create a diorama, write a report, write a poem OR choose an idea and pitch it to the teacher.  My kids chose that latter. My daughter created a pop-up book and my son created a soundtrack as if the book were a movie where he listed the lyrics and described why those lyrics were relevant to the story.

Next time you are choosing a book to read, think about what else you can do with that.  Can you pull out a recipe? Make a collage? Make a play or puppet show from it? Maybe there are songs that you can create to go with the story. This is definitely a time to get creative and extract as much as you can.  Who knows, it could be a bit of fun. When was the last time you wrote your name in shaving cream?