RM Winter 2017 FINAL

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Reading Matters
Teaching Matters
Reading Matters | Volume 17 • Winter 2017 | | |39|
Reading Aloud for Enjoyment
I can’t think of anything better than listening to a great story
read aloud and hearing the reader slow down during a somber
and serious conflict or speed up with a loud voice during the
exciting climax. Readers have the power to create a performance
through their read-aloud by adding voice and suspense.
All students deserve the opportunity to hear stories read aloud
by us for pure enjoyment. Whether it is after recess or at the end of
the day, this is a fun time to gather your students close together on
the carpet and share a favorite book, poem, or short story. You can
put on your “acting” hat and play the part of India Opal in Because of
Winn-Dixie or the part of Jeremy in Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher .
Before I begin to read, I like to call my students to the rug and
share a personal story, connection, or book talk. My students
become engaged and are able to transition into a time to listen
and enjoy. I want to give my students a preview of what is to
come in the read aloud and to captivate their attention before
the read aloud begins. I select my words carefully to give them
something to look forward to in the book, and at the same time
I try not to say too much. I want the book to speak for itself.
One of my favorite times of the day is when I get to read our
“just for fun” chapter book. As soon as my students see me pick
up our current book and head towards the rocking chair they
begin to move eagerly to the rug and start to chatter about what
they think will happen with the main character or the conflict.
I love to hear their excitement and eagerness to unlock the
reading magic in our carefully chosen book. I have a few favorite
authors that I typically read with hopes that students will rush
to the library for other titles under the same name. Some of my
“go to” authors include Bruce Coville, Peg Kehret, and Cynthia
deFelice. They have the power to engage the reader and create a
desire to read other titles. I feel successful when I have introduced
students to new authors or hooked them in to a series.
Picture books that are seasonal, relate to subject area content,
and ones that may be new to the school and classroom library
are also on my shelf of read-alouds for pure enjoyment. Books
like Silver Packages and Jackalope are among my favorites. These
books may be used again throughout the year to teach content,
author’s craft, or for the rich language found in them (Ray, 1999).
It is a good thing for students to hear books read aloud multiple
times and to get to know them so when the text is used for
instructional purposes, students have familiarity with them.
Use your read aloud time to have fun with your students.
Laugh with them when it’s funny and cry with them when
it’s sad. Those are the moments they will remember.
Reading Aloud for Teaching
Reading aloud can meet many of the standards in
English Language Arts if planning is intentional and
purposeful. This one teaching tool can serve teachers well
throughout reading and writing workshop. The list of what
you can teach with a book in your hand is unlimited.
Perhaps you want to teach students about strong characters,
man versus man conflict, or build background for a genre
(Miller, 2009). You can also use your read aloud books to teach
about author’s craft and the use of punctuation. Read aloud
books are the perfect tool for all of these skills and concepts. It
is important for teachers to take read-alouds seriously and plan
ahead. Lester Laminack also suggests practicing your read aloud
in order to make the words sound just right (Laminack, 2006).
If your purpose for reading aloud is for teaching a specific skill
or strategy, you will want to pre-plan your think aloud, questions,
and teaching points in advance. Take the time to pre-read and
consider where you want to stop and think aloud. These moments
should be planned and written down so your read-aloud provides
the desired outcome. Keep your notes in front of you or stick them
inside the book. Explain to your students that you jotted them
down since you didn’t want to forget to share your thinking.
As readers, we want our students to be able to make
predictions, analyze character actions, and ask questions while
they read. Normally, these do not come naturally to young
readers. We must explicitly model for our students the silent
conversation that happens in our minds as we read a text. This
can include think alouds and written responses to a book. Our
students need to hear us stop occasionally and consider or
question why a character treated another character badly or
what affect one character may have on another. Be careful not to
overdo the teaching during one read-aloud. Choose one or two
teaching points for a focus and use the text again at another time
if there are multiple opportunities for teaching and learning.
Read alouds are the most perfect way to teach students
how to use writerly moves in their work and develop their own
author’s craft. Great authors such as Lester Laminack, Cynthia
Rylant, and Jane Yolen can teach us how to use repetition
and circular endings in our stories intentionally (Ray, 1999).
Students can begin to listen to read-alouds like writers.
The read-alouds you choose to share with your writers
during writing workshop will be very different than the read-
alouds chosen for readers. Writers need to hear texts full of
craft and words that come alive through description and
sound. These texts should invite students to try some of the
writerly moves in their own writing. Readers need to hear
books full of rich character, conflict, and resolution. The strong
plot will captivate readers and keep them coming back for
more. Choose your read-alouds for your specific purpose
and audience and use them to do powerful teaching.
Resources for Read Aloud
Making sure you are reading the right kinds of things to
your students is just as important as your purpose. Carefully
choose books, poems, and articles you will read aloud. Be
picky about what you are sharing with students. If it isn’t full
of rich language, theme, and plot, don’t read it. Look for books