Teaching someone to handle a book

In cultures that have had little or no exposure to books, handling a book properly is a skill that must be learned.

Before learning to read, a person needs to understand

• how to hold a book comfortably and the right way up
• how to move through a book correctly, and
• how to scan and locate the place on a page.

• Help them to sit and hold the book so that
  • they are seated comfortably, and
  • they can see the print comfortably.
• Help them learn to find the cover of the book and hold the book facing the right direction.
• Help them learn to recognize the top, bottom, front, and back of the book.
• Show them how to turn one page at a time.
• Show them
  • where to start reading
  • which page to read first, left or right, and
  • how to locate a particular point on a page, such as the keyword in a primer, or the lesson or page number.

• What are concepts and conventions of print?

• Task module: Teaching someone to handle a book, by Delle P. Matthews
• In task module: Developing reading readiness skills, by Delle P. Matthews
• In task module: Preparing people to read and write, by Delle P. Matthews, Anne Klaassens (contributor), and Leah B. Walter (contributor)
• In task module: Implementing a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In modular book: Implement a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler) and Leah B. Walter (compiler)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 22 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International