Fall 2004 Contents

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Between the Lions: Get Wild About Reading

The ability to understand language, follow directions and express one’s thoughts is critical for young children. Their knowledge of word meanings by the time they arrive in kindergarten closely predicts their success in later years.

The curriculum that underlies each entertaining episode of Between the Lions is devoted to fostering the reading skills of young children. While the series is targeted at K-3 students, preschoolers have much to gain from watching, too.

Experts recommend that parents and caregivers of preschoolers work on language and vocabulary development to help get children ready to learn. Here are four recommendations* for fostering language and vocabulary development and how Between the Lions can help.

1. Create a language-rich environment where adults engage in give-and-take conversations with children. Encourage children to talk to one another at length and to engage in dramatic play.

How Between the Lions models this:
The lions respond to one another with interest, respect and humor. They frequently pause to discuss a word or explain a concept. The young cubs converse with each other and readily express their thoughts. They frequently engage in dramatic play. For example:

• After reading Mississippi Skip, the cubs dress up as pirates.
• The lions act out new versions of the stories they read (The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Imogene’s Antlers).
• The lions role-play a tea party in the library on “Alice in Wonderland Day.”
• Theo and Cleo become chefs in “What’s Cooking?” segments.

2. Read books aloud on a regular basis and encourage discussion about them. Ask questions, point out new words and talk about connections to real life.

How Between the Lions models this:
• Leona asks the meaning of “successor to the throne” and discusses flowers in the book The Empty Pot.
• The cubs see what happens when a twister from the book Pecos Bill Cleans Up the West comes into the library. (You can watch this episode on Oct. 28 and Nov. 2.)
• Cleo goes “Between the Covers” to ask the lion some questions in the fable The Lion and the Mouse.

3. Encourage children to join in as you read a familiar story. Gradually, they can take over the “reading” by recounting the details they remember.

How Between the Lions models this:
• Theo begins to read The Three Little Pigs, but Leona takes over the task and “reads” it herself.
• The cubs chime in on the repeated refrain when listening to the book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.

4. Present new words in conversation and explain their meanings.

How Between the Lions models this:
• Heath the Thesaurus introduces or explains new words along with more familiar synonyms for them.
• Fred, Dr. Ruth and Gawain’s knights demonstrate the meanings of the words they present.

 

* Curriculum recommendations derived from:
Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children S. Neuman, C. Copple & S. Bredekamp, National Association for the Education of Young Children (2000)

Teaching Our Youngest: A Guide for Preschool Teachers and Child-Care and Family Providers U.S. Department of Education (2002)

(Source: http://pbskids.org/lions)