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You Don’t Say—And That’s a Good Thing

Mike Artell

Haptics deals with touch. Do you recall seeing the old Seinfeld show and the way Elaine Abstract would shove someone away when that Drawing on ideas from his book Rook person said something that shocked her? Your Read Alouds, the author shares ways That’s an example of haptics in action! to use vebal variations and nonverbal Chronemics is the elements of time that we strategies to liven up classroom read use as we speak (the speed at which we alouds. As with most of the children’s speak, our pauses, etc.) and includes books he has written, he furnished the the ways we use our eyes as we glance towards or away from a speaker or vary the illustrations as well as the text. rate at which we blink as we converse. Parents of pre-teens are likely familiar with

the variation of oculesics which manifests itself as their child’s exasperated “eye roll.” Recently I was chatting with some friends As a children’s book author and illustrator, and, as so often happens when people have I’m invited to visit many schools each year. had a couple glasses of wine, the conversation Typically I speak to groups of 150 or 200 soon turned to , proxemics, elementary school children at a time. Usually , haptics, chronemics, and when I take the microphone and stand in oculesics. O.K., so maybe those words didn’t front of the children, actually come up in the conversation, but all everyone becomes quiet. my friends and I employed those elements of But on those occasions non-verbal as we chatted. A when I do not feel that I few definitions might be helpful. have everyone’s attention, I’ll simply say, Kinesics is better known as body “Let me see everyone’s languagesuch as folding our arms when eyes.” The children’s someone says something with which we response is usually disagree. Proxemics deals with the distance immediate. That’s between people as they communicate, as well another example of as the environment in which the conversation oculesics. is taking place. In addition to the tone of voice we use when we speak (e.g. harsh, sarcastic, Many people have heard that most etc.), paralanguage also deals with sounds we communication is nonverbal. Some may even use to communicate without necessarily be familiar with the research done by Albert using complete words, like a deep sigh when Mehrabian in the area of nonverbal we’re skeptical of something that’s been said.

Vol 20 No 2 Fall 2017 The Utah Journal of Literacy 50 communication (Mehrabian & Wiener, 1967; in a high falsetto voice when reciting the Mehrabian & Ferris, 1967). But most people words of a tiny little mouse. That’s important are not aware of the contribution of those and helpful, but there’s so much more a nonverbal elements to their normal teacher can do. To make the read-aloud conversation. This is especially true of experience memorable and meaningful to a teachers when they read aloud to children. child, the teacher also needs to tap into all the tools available to For convenience, I’ll use the term teacher in her. A teacher assuming the role of a grumpy this article to refer to any adult who is giant may be grumpy without speaking right reading aloud to children in a classroom or away. She may library, although that adult might be a teacher, a library media specialist, a school . frown and look around the room, administrator, or even a guest reader from the community. And rather than use the . squint her eyes or cock an ear as if listening clumsy his/her or he/she each time, I’ll for distant sounds, alternate the masculine and feminine pronouns. If you’re a person with pronoun . puff up her chest, sensibilities, there’s no need to write to me about my failure to write his/her or he/she . rub her chin as if thinking, or each time. Alternating pronouns is the approach that Writer’s Digest magazine takes, . some combination of the above. and that’s good enough for me. The story will suggest which actions are One of the first and appropriate. most important points I stress in Using non-verbal communication effectively my book Rock Your will likely require practice, preparation, and Read Alouds is that patience and patience. The practice part is the teachers must keep easiest. We have all had lots of practice using in mind that every nonverbal communication skills. When we read aloud is a tell someone (child or adult) that something performance. A they did or said was “awesome,” we often add teacher should not merely “remember” that depth to our comments by reinforcing what ideahe should keep it in mind. Every read we’ve said with a high-five or a fist bump aloud is a performance. During a typical read followed by a simulated explosion. If you’re aloud, the children are (mostly) quiet and having a quiet conversation with someone in seated, and the teacher is at the front of the an unfamiliar place and you hear a strange group with all eyes on him and on the book sound, you may that is being read aloud. This is much like the interrupt the way people watch a movie, a concert, or a conversation by play. And as with those other forms of raising your hand entertainment it’s important for the teacher palm forward to to keep the audience’s attention and interest indicate that you by using as many performance elements as want the other are appropriate. person to stop talking. Then you may turn your ear towards During a read aloud, teachers commonly rely the general location of the sound while on a change of voice to add interest to the staring at some undefined point in the room. story. A teacher will lower her voice when All that nonverbal communication adds a assuming the role of a grumpy giant or speak greater depth of meaning than simply saying,

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“Please be silent for a moment. I heard an References unusual sound.” These things come easily to us because we’ve practiced them so much. Artell, M. (2017). Rock your read alouds. Makato, MN: Capstone Publishers. The preparation part is more difficult because it Mehrabian, A., & Wiener, M. (1967). Decoding requires a teacher to of inconsistent . Journal of invest that most valuable Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 109-114. resourcetime. For maximum effect, the Mehrabian, A., & Ferris, S. R. (1967). Inference teacher should always be of attitudes from nonverbal communication familiar with the in two channels. Journal of Consulting book/story in advance. Psychology, 31(3), 48-258. That seems obvious, but it’s not always possible due to the demands on a teacher’s time and the vagaries of the school day. Nevertheless, being familiar with a story in advance of the read-aloud will make it much easier for the teacher to plan when and where to apply the non-verbal performance elements most effectively. Without being familiar with the story in advance, a teacher will have to rely on improvisational skills to apply the non- verbal elements at the most effective time. If the teacher is an experienced improvisational speaker, that won’t be a problem. But most teachers are forced to do enough improvising during a normal school day without creating more of those situations for themselves.

It’s natural for us to employ nonverbal skills in our normal conversations, but teachers often fail to keep in mind that a read aloud is a conversation. It’s a conversation between the author of the book and the listeners, with the teacher acting as the author’s proxy. Let me encourage you to give the author some help. Remember to use all your communication skills when reading aloud to children. You’ll discover that you can communicate a lot without saying anything at all.

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. Mike Artell is a former class clown who, through no fault of his own, became a multi-award-winning children’s book author and illustrator. Mike has written more than 40 books, most of which he also illustrated.

His book Petite RougeA Cajun Red Riding Hood was named 2009 Read Aloud Book of the Year by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. In addition to speaking at major literacy conferences each year, Mike visits more than 50 schools across the U.S., Europe, and Asia where he shares his innovative techniques for thinking, writing and drawing more effectively. Mike’s newest book is titled Rock Your Read Alouds (2017, Capstone Publishing). Complete information about Mike, his books, and his personal appearances is available at www.mikeartell.com

Vol 20 No 2 Fall 2017 The Utah Journal of Literacy