What is concept of book?
Concept of book is a very important concept to pay attention to when you are trying to decide whether your student is ready to read. Concept of book is a type of concept of print. Several of the questions we ask on our free reading readiness test assesses a student’s concept of book and concept of print. A student that does not understand concept of book will have a hard time reading…Let me explain:
You may have seen a baby pick up a book and begin to flip through the pages and ‘read’ the book. Many times the baby may be holding the book upside down, or turning the pages the wrong way. The baby does not understand concept of book. One of the first signs that a child is beginning to understand concept of book and the written language is seen when the baby picks up, holds and turns the pages of the book correctly and that the baby does this consistently.
There are other concepts of book that you will want to watch for an ask your little reader to determine whether she understands. For instance, does the student…
- Know what the front cover of the book is? (Ask her, “Show me the front cover of the book.’)
- Know the back cover of the book?
- Know the title of the book? (Ask her, “Can you point to the title of the book?”)
If the child knows these concepts, the child understands concept of book (a subcategory of concept of print). If a child doesn’t know how to hold and open the book correctly, the child does not understand concept of book, and will have a hard time learning to read.
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I never thought of asking such questions when reading to our little one. Thanks for the helpful info.
I think this concept just comes to them if you read a lot to them, (and I would just say in a random moment, not really a teaching moment, “you’re holding the book upside down!”) But now with all the e-books, that has to be a little confusing.
Yes, definitely! Great point… it is a very natural step that happens… You don’t really explicitly teach the concept, but -you do want to watch out for it and ask questions to see if they know the answers when you feel they are ready. Definitely a great point…and, with the e-books, you are right -I wonder if down the line this concept will have to make some adjustments!
I never thought of it like that but I realize now you are so right. My oldest still holds the book upside down and baby girl corrects him 🙂