Why Read Aloud?
Reading aloud is more than fun - it's an effective teaching strategy. If you need convincing, consider the following benefits of reading aloud:
- Provides an opportunity to share your favorite stories, novels, and poems with the whole class
- Allows you to teach strategy mini lessons to the whole class since everyone is listening to the same selection
- Models fluent reading for students
- Introduces students to vivid and specific vocabulary
- Provides a chance to address important themes like friendship, courage, prejudice, bullying, etc.
- Offers a chance to use questioning strategies to explore concepts in the selection (making inferences, evaluating, etc.)
- Introduces kids to a variety of literary genres and authors
Tips for Reading Aloud
- Preview books to decide if they are suitable for the lesson and for your students. Some books just aren't appropriate for some students despite the grade level recommendations on the cover or in book reviews.
- As you preview each book, mark passages in the book that may work for “think alouds” or reading strategy lessons.
- If you have a document camera, place your book under it so your students can follow the words while you are reading. It's great for introducing new vocabulary and using context clues to infer meanings of new words.
- Choose books that you enjoy rather than reading something that was recommended to you. If you don’t like a book, you won’t be able to convince your students that you enjoy it.
- Since mini-lessons need to be kept short in length, you may want to read the book over several days or use a short non-fiction article
- If prior knowledge of specific concepts is necessary for understanding, introduce those ideas before reading the book or article. Use Google maps to show locations or historical images to recreate times and places.
- Read aloud with expression and enthusiasm! Don’t be afraid that you will sound silly by reading the story dramatically. Your students will love it!
- Read aloud nonfiction as well as fiction. Kid-friendly newspaper or magazine articles will spark discussion and add another dimension to your read aloud sessions.
For additional information, visit Teaching Resources at www.lauracandler.com