How to Get Preschoolers Talking About the Books You've Read

Reading books with my preschool speech and language students has truly been the highlight of my year.  Each week we have a new book that we read.  Most are big hits with my little friends.  I decided to start keeping track of our books in a very visual way- my bulletin board.

Bulletin Board

This honestly started out as a way to fill up a rather large board in my room, but has turned into so much more.  I have students who come in each week and look up at the board to see if our book of the week is up there.  They get so excited when they find it.  When we first started, we weren't sure that we would be able to fill the whole board.  We probably should have started the books in the middle of the board, but, live and learn!  We'll definitely do that next year.

Read With Me

I started out with the simple words "Read With Me" in the middle of the board.  Then, each week the paraprofessional in my room copied the cover of the book, placed it on a small frame of cardstock and stapled it on the board.  At first we didn't think we would ever fill up the board, but with about 6 weeks left of school, we are almost there!  Next year, we'll have a better idea of where to start our columns so that it's a little more balanced.

Favorite Books!

My students love to look at the board and talk about their favorite books that we have read and who their favorite characters are.  I have several conversations per week about the board that are not initiated by me.  They are initiated by the kids!  I even let them take my long pointer and touch their favorites.  It's like a little walk down memory lane every time we look at it.

I've started posting about some of my favorite books.  Check out this post about one of our favorites so far: Let It Fall!

If you do a book a week like I do, I highly suggest finding a way to post all of your books.  You will truly engage your students in talks about what they have read.  Plus, it is colorful and FUN!!!