RM Winter 2017 FINAL

40 / 72

Reading Matters
Teaching Matters
| 40| Reading Matters | Volume 17 • Winter 2017 |
that have a message and teach a lesson. Read books that will
cause the kids to belly laugh and maybe even cry a little.
Access suggested titles from our distant co-teachers such
as Lester Laminack, Katie Wood Ray, Jim Trelease, and Donalyn
Miller. Their books contain list after list after list of books that can
be read aloud for many purposes. In Learning Under the Influence
of Language and Literature, Laminack has built shelves of titles to
provide teachers with stories for all times of the school day. Katie
Wood Ray, in Wondrous Words, focuses on books that contain rich
author’s craft and writerly moves. The Book Whisperer’s author,
Donalyn Miller, publishes a list that she calls the ultimate library list.
Resources such as the The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease,
the American Library Association, and The Horn Book are great
places to find new titles for reading aloud. Make good friends
with your school media specialist and your fellow colleagues and
borrow books from them. It’s a great idea to be a frequent shopper
at your local bookstore to stay afresh on newly published books.
Reading Aloud is a Gift You Can Give
Every Day
Research shows that reading aloud to children 15 minutes
every day can make a huge impact on their life as a learner
(Read Aloud National Campaign, 2015). In Learning Under
the Influence of Language and Literature, Laminack suggests
that we read aloud much more than that. He suggests that
teachers read aloud as many as six times every day.
So, consider your purpose and plan your read-alouds
intentionally throughout your instructional day. When can you steal
a few minutes to take advantage of these opportunities? When
can you replace a strategy you currently use with a text instead?
If reading aloud hasn’t been in your teaching toolbox or has
been dead for a while, you can bring it back to life. Make reading
aloud part of your day by setting the tone in the morning, hearing
beautiful prose during transitions, connecting to content in science
and social studies, looking for author’s craft in writing workshop,
and getting to know characters after recess. You will have fun and
your students will thank you for contributing to their literate lives.
Ideally, language arts teachers all share a common
goal. We want our students to develop a love for reading
and writing. We work to build and foster that love through
reading aloud, talking about books, and writing our
own stories. We work our magic everyday so that our
students will share the same passions as we do.
Take advantage of the gifts that have been given to
us by our distant teachers, the authors. Unwrap these
gifts with your students each day so that they may hear
rich stories and learn to love words like you do. You will
be glad that reading aloud is alive in your classroom.
References
Hahn, Mary Lee (2002). Reconsidering Read-Aloud. Portland, ME: Stenhouse
Publishers.
Laminack, Lester (2006).Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Miller, Donalyn (2009).The Book Whisperer. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Books.
Ray, KatieWood (1999). Wondrous Words. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers
of English.
Read Aloud National Campaign (2015). The Importance of Reading Aloud.
Retrieved from
Routman, Regie (2003). Reading Essentials . Portsmouth, ME: Heinemann.
Trelease, Jim (1979). The Read-Aloud Handbook. New York, NY: Penguin Books. 
Tricia Huff is a fourth grade teacher at Lake Murray Elementary School
in Lexington, SC. She is pursuing her Master’s in Teaching through
the University of South Carolina. She has been teaching students
to love reading for twenty years. She has had the opportunity to be
involved in the South Carolina Writing Project as a participant and
as a co-director. She can be reached at .