RM Winter 2017

References

that have a message and teach a lesson. Read books that will cause the kids to belly laugh and maybe even cry a little.

Hahn, Mary Lee (2002). Reconsidering Read-Aloud . Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

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

Laminack, Lester (2006). Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature .

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Reading Matters Teaching Matters

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 http://www2.readaloud.org/importance 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 thuff@lexington1.net. Routman, Regie (2003). Reading Essentials . Portsmouth, ME: Heinemann.

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.

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