Tips on how to use Print Referencing with The Monkey Balloon

Do you want to help your child learn print?  Use print referencing strategies when reading The Monkey Balloon!

I recently wrote an article about print referencing and the effect it has on your child when reading aloud. According to research, young children spend less than 6% of read aloud time looking at print unless an adult deliberately highlights print for them (Williams & Pursoo, 2008). According to Justice et al., 2008, “When preschool age children are read with a print referencing style every day for 10 minutes they may fixate on print 20,000 times more often than children who are read to in a way that does not draw attention to print.”  I found this fact amazing! 20,000 is very significant!

What is a print referencing style? The technique in which the adult uses verbal and nonverbal references to print when reading aloud to a child (Justice & Ezell, 2000, 2002; Lovelace & Stewart, 2007). The goal of using this style is to orient and improve print awareness. This can mean showing your child directionality (showing them the words read left to right), pointing out the title, etc. To read more about print referencing, check out my post here. 

Here are some tips on how to use print referencing with The Monkey Balloon:

1. Show your child the title “The Monkey Balloon”. Ask them to point to the title and have them point to each word as you say it aloud. Ask your child “What word is the longest?”

2. Ask your child where the authors names are. Have them find the names on the balloons. Point out what letter each of our names start with.

3. Show your child the illustrator’s name. Define the word illustrator and use the word the next time your child creates a picture. Ask your child to find the name beginning with Y (for “Yuki”).

4. On the dedication page, ask your child to point out the names on the balloons. For extra language tips, point out the colors and ask your child to find “the yellow balloon”. Play a game! Ask your child, “Can you find the name, “Gracie?”. Take turns and have fun with it!

5. Ask your child to count how many names that you can find on the balloons.

6. Show your child the cover, spine and back of the book. Ask your child to show you the “back cover”, “front cover”, etc.

7. When reading the book, ask your child to find the name “Mimi”. Write the words “Mimi” and “Papi” on a piece of paper. Talk about the differences between the names and why they sound different. How are they the same?

8. When reading the story to your child, point out specific words related to the book such as “balloon”, “monkey”, “Mimi”, “Papi” and some core words such as “is”, “was”, etc. These words are wonderful to practice because your child will learn them in school as part of the core curriculum.

9. As you are reading, point out how the words read left to right (directionality).

10. Point out the upper case and the lower case letters in the sentences as you read them.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Please comment and send some tips of your own!