Be Proud to Read Aloud!
Reading to children before they can read to themselves is a necessary tool to develop young readers. When we read to our students, we should involve them by talking about the illustrations/photographs and asking them questions. The most effective read-alouds are those where students are actively participating in making predictions and asking and answering questions, rather than passively listening. An interactive read aloud not only benefits young children but children of all ages. Read-alouds are essential because they serve so many academic functions. They motivate, encourage, excite, build background, develop comprehension, assist children in making connections, and serve as a model of what a fluent reader sounds like. Reading aloud to students opens their minds and helps them understand the world. It helps them develop listening and language skills and prepares them to understand the written word. Even after children learn to read on their own, it's still important for them to be read to aloud.
What should an interactive read-aloud look like?
Why should teachers make reading aloud to their students a priority?
"Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read."
-Marilyn Jager Adams
-Marilyn Jager Adams
An interactive read aloud is a planned and purposeful read-aloud that you can incorporate into your weekly lessons. This interactive read aloud should be planned to build fluency and comprehension while teaching a specific skill. Students are engaged in the read-aloud process instead of passive. An interactive read-aloud should provide students with:
- a model of fluent reading
- motivate students to want to read on their own
- provide and enhance background knowledge
- boost vocabulary knowledge
- improve recall and advanced comprehension skills
- promote critical thinking skills
- develop oral language and listening skills
- create a sense of classroom community through class discussion.
Where do I start? How do I create a weekly interactive read-aloud routine that will be successful in my classroom?
First, CHOOSE...
Choosing the right read aloud is the easiest task of all since we are provided some great read-alouds in the McGraw Hill ELA program. In first grade, we are offered a Big Book read-aloud, Interactive read-aloud cards, Reading Writing Workshop Big Book, and supplemental read-alouds as a choice. These are excellent choices because they align with the theme, vocabulary and comprehension skill for that week of instruction. These selections are good matches for our student's oral language skills, written in a way that can engage critical thinking and are entertaining, high-quality literature that students enjoy interacting with.
Next, PLAN...
Look at your students. Look at your standards. What do they need to learn? What are they struggling with? Where can you dive deeper? This is when I pull out my trusty T.E. Our teacher editions provide us with the comprehension skill and strategy focus for that week. For example- the skill is Key Details, and the strategy is Visualizing. This will help me plan my questioning and think-alouds for students. I use the Modeling Think-Aloud poster to plan sentence stems I will use during my teacher think-alouds. I also look at the vocabulary, phonics, high-frequency words, grammar, and structural analysis concepts to emphasize or notice as I read aloud. You have to open the book and decide where and when you'll ask a question or insert a think aloud for the most productive lesson. Does a specific page really exemplify the skill you are trying to teach perfectly? Are their some text-dependent questions you can ask? See any great discussion points? Write them down! I write down all my questions and think-alouds on sticky notes and stick them on the page that I will use them on.
Choosing the right read aloud is the easiest task of all since we are provided some great read-alouds in the McGraw Hill ELA program. In first grade, we are offered a Big Book read-aloud, Interactive read-aloud cards, Reading Writing Workshop Big Book, and supplemental read-alouds as a choice. These are excellent choices because they align with the theme, vocabulary and comprehension skill for that week of instruction. These selections are good matches for our student's oral language skills, written in a way that can engage critical thinking and are entertaining, high-quality literature that students enjoy interacting with.
Next, PLAN...
Look at your students. Look at your standards. What do they need to learn? What are they struggling with? Where can you dive deeper? This is when I pull out my trusty T.E. Our teacher editions provide us with the comprehension skill and strategy focus for that week. For example- the skill is Key Details, and the strategy is Visualizing. This will help me plan my questioning and think-alouds for students. I use the Modeling Think-Aloud poster to plan sentence stems I will use during my teacher think-alouds. I also look at the vocabulary, phonics, high-frequency words, grammar, and structural analysis concepts to emphasize or notice as I read aloud. You have to open the book and decide where and when you'll ask a question or insert a think aloud for the most productive lesson. Does a specific page really exemplify the skill you are trying to teach perfectly? Are their some text-dependent questions you can ask? See any great discussion points? Write them down! I write down all my questions and think-alouds on sticky notes and stick them on the page that I will use them on.
Then, READ....
Bring your students to the rug. It is important to have them sit next to their shoulder partner. My students know that they always travel to the carpet with their shoulder partner. Then start your read-aloud. Read with enthusiasm using gestures and voices. Be sure to stop and briefly review vocabulary. I always make sure to have taught the vocabulary before the read aloud, this way it is a review when reintroduced in the read-aloud. Make sure to stop and have students summarize, paraphrase, and act out scenes during and after reading. Remember to use your sticky notes and ask your questions. Ask some more in-depth questions that pose no "right or wrong" answers and build off your student's responses. Have students think, pair and share solutions with their shoulder partners before calling on students for their responses. This is a great way to start a meaningful discussion in your classroom. Model appropriate think-aloud strategies both during and after reading. For example, help students visualize parts of the text that are full of descriptive words. Incorporate student think-alouds and comprehension skills and strategies (rereading, predicting, etc..)when appropriate to aid in comprehension. Always encourage partner sharing instead of independent response. When we are discussing our read aloud, I provide my students with accountable talk sentence frames. I like the use of sentence stems as a friendly reminder of how we interact with one another academically in the classroom. I have included a photo below:
Last, PRODUCE
After reading, provide a closure activity-reviewing and analyzing vocabulary, finding the main idea and details and recording results onto a graphic organizer, having a class discussion or debate, or providing personal responses, a one-sentence prediction or summary in a writing. Example:
So are you ready to set the stage for interactive read-alouds in your classroom? I hope you are feeling inspired to take action. I think you are going to be amazed at the improvements and gains your students will make with practicing these oral comprehension skills and strategies consistently in your classroom. Good Luck! Please email me with any questions or if you'd like to see this in action.
Bring your students to the rug. It is important to have them sit next to their shoulder partner. My students know that they always travel to the carpet with their shoulder partner. Then start your read-aloud. Read with enthusiasm using gestures and voices. Be sure to stop and briefly review vocabulary. I always make sure to have taught the vocabulary before the read aloud, this way it is a review when reintroduced in the read-aloud. Make sure to stop and have students summarize, paraphrase, and act out scenes during and after reading. Remember to use your sticky notes and ask your questions. Ask some more in-depth questions that pose no "right or wrong" answers and build off your student's responses. Have students think, pair and share solutions with their shoulder partners before calling on students for their responses. This is a great way to start a meaningful discussion in your classroom. Model appropriate think-aloud strategies both during and after reading. For example, help students visualize parts of the text that are full of descriptive words. Incorporate student think-alouds and comprehension skills and strategies (rereading, predicting, etc..)when appropriate to aid in comprehension. Always encourage partner sharing instead of independent response. When we are discussing our read aloud, I provide my students with accountable talk sentence frames. I like the use of sentence stems as a friendly reminder of how we interact with one another academically in the classroom. I have included a photo below:
Last, PRODUCE
After reading, provide a closure activity-reviewing and analyzing vocabulary, finding the main idea and details and recording results onto a graphic organizer, having a class discussion or debate, or providing personal responses, a one-sentence prediction or summary in a writing. Example:
So are you ready to set the stage for interactive read-alouds in your classroom? I hope you are feeling inspired to take action. I think you are going to be amazed at the improvements and gains your students will make with practicing these oral comprehension skills and strategies consistently in your classroom. Good Luck! Please email me with any questions or if you'd like to see this in action.
Positively Teaching,
Randi Muehlen
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