RM Winter 2017

Bringing Read-Alouds Back Alive

By Tricia M. Huff, Lake Murray Elementary School

implementation of new initiatives, many teachers have casually forgotten about the best practices that are foundational to the teaching of language arts. Teachers are busy doing important work preparing their students for the next level. However, is there a way that teachers can work smarter instead of harder? Bringing reading aloud back alive in our classrooms is a logical answer. So, how can we bring reading aloud back alive? We can do it by reading aloud multiple times a day and with intentional purposes in mind (Laminack, 2006). Reading Aloud to Build Community Books are the perfect pathways to building community in your classroom. The books you choose can begin your day and be part of your morning meeting or settling in time. This is the perfect way to set the tone and plan for a day of great learning. I can’t think of a better way to help students prepare their minds and hearts for the learning they will do. Titles can be chosen with specific purposes in mind. Perhaps you need picture books to read during the first weeks of school to build relationships among your students (Laminack, 2006). Or maybe after a few weeks, you are looking for a book to help two students work through a conflict. You may want to celebrate diversity by reading a book from a culture represented in your class. Books can be read to jumpstart conversations about difficult topics. I love to read aloud books like Don’t Need Friends by Carolyn Crimi and The Brand New Kid by Katie Couric during the first days of school to have discussions about the importance of friendship. Most students can relate to Dog and Rat or Lazlo since they have all been either the new kid or the kid that is looking for a new friend. The first part of the day is also a great time to read books like The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson and The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia McKissack to think about how we should treat others. These great titles offer so much to the young readers, writers, leaders, and friends in our classrooms. Many of the titles listed above bring characters to life and create a place for the characters in our classroom. My students often refer to the characters by first name as if they are people that we know. Sometimes we even say things like, “Do you want to be remembered like Libby?” or “Let’s be more like Rat and Dog at the end of the book.” My class is even known to take on the language from a read aloud and make it their own “inside” language. Sometimes my students can be caught joking around with each other by saying, “Don’t need friends, don’t need them at all!” When I hear students referring to our read-alouds throughout the day, I know they are truly living in our books and the books are impacting their thoughts, decisions, and lives. That’s a gift!

ABSTRACT —Despite what professional educators know about best practice and reading aloud, many teachers do not use the strategy of reading aloud to the level at which they could. Reading aloud is a tool that can serve many purposes beyond teaching standards. It can be used to build community in classrooms, to provide enjoyment for students, and to teach content area standards. Through professional reading and experience, I have discovered that teachers, including myself, need to bring reading aloud back alive in classrooms. This article reminds teachers why reading aloud is such a powerful teaching tool and strategy. Teachers can make a difference in their classrooms and the lives of their learners through read-alouds. What would your students think if you brought in a wrapped gift each morning? What if you unwrapped a book every day together to celebrate the greatness in stories, poetry, and words? Imagine the excitement this would create in your classroom. I vividly remember when one of my elementary school teachers read Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle to our class each day after lunch. I can still see Mrs. Moe sitting behind her desk and turning the crisp yellow pages. I can still hear Mrs. Moe’s voice as she read each character’s words. And I can still feel the disappointment I had when Mrs. Moe slowly put the bookmark in between the pages at the end of that day’s chapter. Unfortunately, this is the only book that I clearly remember a teacher reading aloud to me during my years of elementary school. I can only wish that more teachers had read aloud the words of E.B. White or Eric Carle. I often wonder if my life as a reader and a writer would be different if I had been read to and taught how to listen to the picture an author paints with words using figurative language and vivid verbs. I can only dream what kind of magic that could have created in me as a kid. According to research in best practice, reading aloud is one of the most important strategies we can use in the classroom to affect a child’s attitude toward reading and writing. “It is said that we make time for what we value, and if we value reading, we must make time for it.” (Miller, 2009). Reading aloud is a strategy that teachers can have in their back pocket to meet the numerous needs of their students and the demands of teaching. It can be used to build community or to help students solve a problem (Laminack, 2006). It can be used for pure enjoyment, for listening to language, or for hearing a great story. Teachers can also use read-alouds to get to know an author, teach about sentence structure, or to experience how an author builds action before the climax (Ray, 1999). It is a teaching tool that proficient teachers have been using for many years and for many invaluable purposes.

Reading Matters Teaching Matters

With the ever-changing demands of standardized tests and the

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