What is a Read Aloud?
A read aloud is an important part of the reading block where the teacher models good reading to students. Reading Rockets mentions that it "builds many important foundational skills, introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading, and helps children recognize what reading for pleasure is all about." In The Read-Aloud Handbook, Trelease (2013) explains how "the impact of frequent household reading on preschoolers, the analysis showed clear positive gains for phonemic awareness, language growth, and beginning reading skills" (P. 10). He adds that repeated reading of picture books among primary readers also increases the acquisition of vocabulary by 15 to 40 percent. In addition, as explained by Harvey & Goudvis in Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, reading aloud allows teachers to model how to have an inner conversation while reading. Clearly, there is plethora of research that explains why reading aloud to our students is an important part of the day.
The Read Aloud Book
The first engaging read aloud that happened for me was when I read The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl. The students fell in love with the book. Moreover, students from other classrooms who borrowed it also found it a wonderful read. It was such a delightful time that many students wanted to read more books by Roald Dahl, and we started to explore a world of literary magic over the years as we read his work.
I tried this book in my first year of teaching based on a recommendation made by a previous TFI fellow, Pratishtha Joshi. She told me to always find an interesting book for the read aloud session. Admittedly, this is probably the most important advice I have been given about teaching reading, and I share it with anyone who will listen. It makes all the difference when planning and executing a read aloud session, especially when students want to read the book. As a rule, Reading Rockets recommends to maintain "two simple questions in mind: Is it a good story? Is it worth sharing with my student?" This is also useful in selecting a good book for the lesson.
In addition to these two questions, I think of a few other questions when selecting a book based on my own experiences:
I tried this book in my first year of teaching based on a recommendation made by a previous TFI fellow, Pratishtha Joshi. She told me to always find an interesting book for the read aloud session. Admittedly, this is probably the most important advice I have been given about teaching reading, and I share it with anyone who will listen. It makes all the difference when planning and executing a read aloud session, especially when students want to read the book. As a rule, Reading Rockets recommends to maintain "two simple questions in mind: Is it a good story? Is it worth sharing with my student?" This is also useful in selecting a good book for the lesson.
In addition to these two questions, I think of a few other questions when selecting a book based on my own experiences:
Do the characters appeal to the students or connect to them? An all-time favourite of students is Harry Potter (I am a huge fan of Hagrid and Ron Weasley). For younger students, there is also a strong collection of books with wonderful characters who make us feel we are in the books ourselves. |
Does the story provide pertinent information? We want our students to read books that teach them something. The first time I read To Kill A Mockingbird by the brilliant Harper Lee I felt a swirl of emotions at once. I learned something from the book. We want our students to have the same experience. Books, in every way, change lives. |
Does it match the level? I always say, I do not care about the level, but it is important to be mindful of a book and its level in accordance to the ages of students. We are doing an injustice reading a book like The Giver in second grade. I believe in high expectations, but I also believe in learning to unfold books as we grow towards a certain age. |
Does the story interest my students? Unfortunately, I have come to realise that what I enjoy reading does not necessarily mean that my students enjoy the same thing. Our students provide us with insight into their interests all the time. Listen to them and figure out how to tailor books that align with what they enjoy as well. |
The Read Aloud Process
A read aloud lesson plan is divided into three major parts: (1) before reading, (2) during reading, and (3) after reading.
Before Reading: The first part is to do a cover walk of the story. The students look at the cover of the book and think about the main idea of the story. It is also an opportunity for students to make connections to their own lives (i.e. text-to-self) or another text (i.e. text-to-text) that we have already read. Many teachers like to do a book walk, but I find that ruins the element of surprise for students, especially older learners. A cover walk, however, is really helpful for readers who are struggling with reading and perhaps more relevant at younger levels. Then, spend some time making a connection to the story. Have they read something similar before? Have they themselves experienced something like this? Or are they aware of something in the world that relates to this idea?
Before Reading: The first part is to do a cover walk of the story. The students look at the cover of the book and think about the main idea of the story. It is also an opportunity for students to make connections to their own lives (i.e. text-to-self) or another text (i.e. text-to-text) that we have already read. Many teachers like to do a book walk, but I find that ruins the element of surprise for students, especially older learners. A cover walk, however, is really helpful for readers who are struggling with reading and perhaps more relevant at younger levels. Then, spend some time making a connection to the story. Have they read something similar before? Have they themselves experienced something like this? Or are they aware of something in the world that relates to this idea?
During Reading: The majority of the session is the actual reading and modelling of reading strategies that the teacher has to focus on. I actually use the Literacy CAFE book to plan out most of my lessons, particularly focusing on one of the reading strategies (e.g. asking questions, making connections, making inferences, making predictions, summarizing, visualizing). Here is a lesson plan on one of the Berenstein Bears books that we did based on making predictions in the story. The lesson plan also includes several ways in which Bloom's Taxonomy can be incorporated within the lesson to build the rigour. Although the lesson plan has a lot of questions, I actually use fewer questions because students start to lose interest when we bombard them with too many questions. Peggy Semingson has a helpful video on how to conduct an interactive read aloud session. I love her video so much that I have her link mentioned again below.
To ensure that the focus is one the reading and the development of one reading strategy, a graphic organizer is always helpful to use. The graphic organizer is essentially a tool to support students and their thinking. For example, if reading a book and focusing on making predictions as a reading strategy, the graphic organizer can include the following questions:
These questions also serve as a form of assessment, which students can respond to orally during the read aloud and can also complete as a formative assessment after reading. Again, the type of graphic organizer depends on the book, and, more specifically, the reading strategy. If, for example, the focus is on comparing and contrasting then a Venn diagram would be appropriate as a graphic organizer.
As an aside, there are a lot of opinions about teaching vocabulary before or during the read aloud itself. I have always found that explaining words while reading is easier and less time consuming. You can see how one teacher does it during a repeating interactive read aloud.
One of the major questions I get is around how to ask questions to build comprehension. The focus of a read aloud should not lose its essence. The teacher models to students how to read a book. Moreover, the focus is on how to do so in a manner that is conducive to building reading skills. Therefore, it is essential to zoom in on one reading strategy and ask precise questions around that. You can definitely ask other questions, but plan ahead to avoid asking questions that the students do not require practice with. In the book, Strategies That Work (an amazing read for all teacher nerds out there), purposeful talking is encouraged. You can try out turn and talk, pair shares, small informal discussion groups, and compass group four way shares. The last one is one of my favourites. Students sit in a group of four similar to the points of a compass (i.e. North, East, South, and West). The students sitting in the North position begin to share their ideas until the teacher facilitates the shift to the next position. It provides a scope for all students to share while also helping students work within a specific time frame to make their points clear and concise.
Moving forward, here are a few reading frameworks or techniques that can be used to ask questions:
I also recommend reading two helpful brochures on the DOs and DON'Ts when reading aloud as parents and teachers. These lists are really easy and straightforward, reminding us what is essential and what is not essential during a read aloud.
To ensure that the focus is one the reading and the development of one reading strategy, a graphic organizer is always helpful to use. The graphic organizer is essentially a tool to support students and their thinking. For example, if reading a book and focusing on making predictions as a reading strategy, the graphic organizer can include the following questions:
- Who is the character?
- What is happening to the character?
- What do you think will happen next?
These questions also serve as a form of assessment, which students can respond to orally during the read aloud and can also complete as a formative assessment after reading. Again, the type of graphic organizer depends on the book, and, more specifically, the reading strategy. If, for example, the focus is on comparing and contrasting then a Venn diagram would be appropriate as a graphic organizer.
As an aside, there are a lot of opinions about teaching vocabulary before or during the read aloud itself. I have always found that explaining words while reading is easier and less time consuming. You can see how one teacher does it during a repeating interactive read aloud.
One of the major questions I get is around how to ask questions to build comprehension. The focus of a read aloud should not lose its essence. The teacher models to students how to read a book. Moreover, the focus is on how to do so in a manner that is conducive to building reading skills. Therefore, it is essential to zoom in on one reading strategy and ask precise questions around that. You can definitely ask other questions, but plan ahead to avoid asking questions that the students do not require practice with. In the book, Strategies That Work (an amazing read for all teacher nerds out there), purposeful talking is encouraged. You can try out turn and talk, pair shares, small informal discussion groups, and compass group four way shares. The last one is one of my favourites. Students sit in a group of four similar to the points of a compass (i.e. North, East, South, and West). The students sitting in the North position begin to share their ideas until the teacher facilitates the shift to the next position. It provides a scope for all students to share while also helping students work within a specific time frame to make their points clear and concise.
Moving forward, here are a few reading frameworks or techniques that can be used to ask questions:
- Interactive Read Aloud with Peggy Semingson
- The CAFE Menu by The Sisters
- Seven Strategies by Choice Literacy
- Seven Strategies by Reading Rockets
I also recommend reading two helpful brochures on the DOs and DON'Ts when reading aloud as parents and teachers. These lists are really easy and straightforward, reminding us what is essential and what is not essential during a read aloud.
After Reading: At the end of the session, you can get students to summarize the text, share about their favourite parts, or anything else that seems purposeful. Initially, most teachers I knew recommended taking some sort of an assessment at the end of a session. Although I find it is sometimes useful to test students on what we have read, I often give them an exciting and relevant project around the book instead. For example, when we read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of our projects revolved around designing and writing about a new chocolate. You can check at our projects page for more fun ideas.
However, formative assessments are also important to understand what our students are able to understand, which is especially true in reading comprehension since it requires students to identify and explain what they read. Here, a graphic organizer is one tool that can be used as a formative assessment. An exit slip or a quiz could be another example. There are a ton of assessment and evaluation ideas that can be used throughout the unit.
However, formative assessments are also important to understand what our students are able to understand, which is especially true in reading comprehension since it requires students to identify and explain what they read. Here, a graphic organizer is one tool that can be used as a formative assessment. An exit slip or a quiz could be another example. There are a ton of assessment and evaluation ideas that can be used throughout the unit.
References
- Trelease, J. (2013). The Read-Aloud Handbook. Penguin Books. New York, New York.