Dealing with difficult behaviors during read alouds

Preschoolers are smart! They know that when you are sitting in front of the group reading a story, you are less likely to stop what you’re doing to address their ridiculous behavior.  Every group usually has at least one who will take advantage of this, and that can make any teacher dread read alouds.

I’ve been there.  You desperately want to ignore the behavior, you try, but it gets worse and then the other children are beginning to notice, and all of a sudden no one is paying attention to the story anymore.  So I thought I’d share some behavior management ideas that have worked for me, hopefully these will save your story times.

Before you start reading:

• Make sure each child has a designated place to sit; rugs, wiggle seats, a tape square on the floor, or even a colored sheet of paper.  These all serve as visual reminders of where each child’s body should stay. 
• Give the children something to do with their hands.  Fidgets, stress balls, small stuffed animals, and bean bags are all things that children can play with quietly as they listen.  I make sure to review my two rules every time I pass these out;
• They are for the children to squeeze, rub, or hold onto in their laps. 
• If it leaves the child’s lap at any time, it goes back in the basket