How to Do a Math Story Read Aloud

The other day, I did something super fun. I did a demonstration read-aloud of a neat little story I found on Archive.org called, The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story by Neil Waldmen.

You can read the story with your kiddos too.

CLICK HERE, sign up for free on Archive.org and read The Snowflake: A Watercycle Story or go to: https://archive.org/details/snowflakewatercy00neil/page/n13/mode/2up?view=theater

While I read the story aloud, I gently guide the reader to think about the science and the math in the story. I try not to overdo it with too many questions because if you do, you can turn the listener off and distract from the story, which is the whole key. You really want kids to get into the flow of the story. That’s where the learning truly and deeply takes place.

I had such a blast reading this short story aloud. Feel free to have your kids jump in and watch the video with you too.

Here are a few charming illustrations from the book, The Snowflake, A Water Cycle Story by Neil Waldmen below.

How To Do A Science And Math Story Read-aloud

The story goes into the journey snowflakes make through the water cycle. Quite charming!

In the read-aloud, I demonstrate how a short story read-aloud can do the following all without a dreaded curriculum:

1. Learn scientific principles of the water cycle.

2. Explore nature’s numbers, patterns, and geometries.

3. Experiment with estimating.

4. See beautiful art and math connections in the illustrations.

5. Experience rich vocabulary and language patterns.

6. Exercise imagination.

And much more you can discover through reading this book and others aloud to your kids. Reading math and science stories aloud to kids affords you way better learning tools for them rather than trying to get them to slog through curriculum they hate. 

Can read-alouds replace curriculum? 

Well, it depends on you, but, I believe it can, and at the very least, stories can be the sugar that makes the medicine of curriculum go down.

You can find a story for every math and science concept. Just search for them on YouTube according to your child’s interests and you’ll find an absolute FLOOD of story read-alouds worldwide! That’s the beauty of the worldwide web.

Yes, it can take a while to gather such profound physical book resources, if you don’t have many yet, but, don’t sweat it. Start with one story at a time according to your child’s specific interests and take advantage of all the free stuff available online right now!

Sincerely,

Gloria Brooks