Read Alouds
and
Readers Theater
Grades K-5 Teachers
Professional Development
January 6, 2009
Friendly Reminders
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•
•
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Be considerate
Listen!
Allow your neighbor to listen.
Turn off cell phones!
Description of Session
This session will explore the use
of Read Alouds
and Readers Theater within the
frameworks of
SDPCs Literacy Model
and the curriculum.
Techniques and selection of
resources will be presented.
SDPC Literacy Model
Reading Workshop
Purposeful Read Alouds
•
Description: The teacher purposefully reads aloud multiple
times daily from a variety of genres to model fluency and a
love of literature.
•
Materials:
a. Teacher selections based upon theme, author’s craft,
author’s bias, genre, cross-curricular focus, and
b. Leveled library
•
Frequency: 10 minutes at one reading, multiple times daily
Read Alouds
What they are:
• purposeful
• instructional
• planned
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–
–
–
Can be content-related
Can be for pure enjoyment
Can be part of author study
Can be part of a text set
What they are NOT:
• time-fillers when there’s
nothing else that’s fun
• last-minute, grab-and-run
activity
SDPC Literacy Model
Reading Workshop
Book Clubs/Literature Circles
•
Description: Student-led discussion usually of the same
book/text with different assignments and specific roles.
•
Materials: …Text from Read Alouds…
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Frequency: During the Work Period of Reading Workshop,
meet for 10-15 minutes a week, as scheduled periodically for
each group
ELA Standards
…comprehend a variety of literary texts
Performance Indicator
1.1 …main idea
1.2 …make, revise, and confirm predictions and draw
conclusions
1.4 … figurative language (simile, metaphor, etc.) and sound
devices (alliteration and onomatopoeia)
1.5 …relationship among characters, setting, plot
1.6 …author’s craft (word choice, sentence structure)
1.8 …classify works of fiction
1.10 …analyze cause/effect relationships
ELA Standards
…use word analysis and vocabulary strategies…
Performance Indicator
3.1 Use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar
words
3.2 Construct meaning through a knowledge of base words,
prefixes and suffixes in context.
3.4 Identify idioms in context.
3.5 Recognize synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms in context.
3.6 Use knowledge of individual words to determine the
meaning of compound words.
Selection of Resources
Media Center’s catalog
gather a collection of books or text set based
on a content-related topic, like Underground
Railroad
Techniques - seating
• Be sure all students can see and hear
– In picture books, the pictures are equally if not
more important than the text
– Position students as close to the reader as is
practical
Techniques - voices
Current thinking:
• Reader adapts voices to
characterizations
– In The Three Bears, the little
bear would have a weaker,
high pitched voice and the
papa bear would have a
strong, low voice
Previous thinking
• Reader reads in normal
reading voice
– If reader “forgets”, this causes
confusion for the listener
– I prefer to ask students at the
end of the story to retell the
story using voices of
characters
Techniques - length
Current thinking
• Stop the story periodically
for discussion, clarification
– Easy to overdo
– Stopping too frequently
causes the story to lose
instructional importance
Previous thinking
• Read the story from start to
finish without stopping
– I prefer because listeners’
thinking isn’t constantly
interrupted
– When I do interrupt the flow
of the story, I announce that I
am stopping the story and
give the reason
Laminack, Lester L. and Reba M. Wadsworth,
Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum.
ISBN 978-0-325-00982-7
Techniques
Planning
• Preview titles and order from simple to complex
• Identify concepts to be developed or extended
• Identify essential vocabulary
• Identify core understandings needed to connect
to new information
• Notice how author develops concepts
Techniques
Implementation
• Read title and names of author and illustrator
• Tell connection you hope to establish
• Speak to your insights that you are leading students
toward, comment on what you’ve noticed and wonder
about and the connections you’ve made
• Don’t overdo! Don’t overpower the language of the text
nor the interplay between the mind of the writer and the
mind of the reader or listener
• Goal is to move students toward independence.
Remember: this is an instructional activity!
• Demonstrate the thinking! Don’t think for the students.
Techniques
After reading, guide discussion.
• What difference did the main character in the book make?
• Think about something in the book we could practice in our
own lives.
• Allow students to discuss in groups. Circulate, listening to
student-led discussion.
• When discussing the book, be brief. When conversation is
cut short, energy is built. When there’s energy and focus
about the topic, there is eagerness to share and continue the
dialogue and learning is promoted.
Techniques
After reading, guide discussion (cont.)
• Students talk and share.
• Teacher guides the discussion and redirects depending on
goal, time restraints, student’s understanding
• Ask: What did you realize….When (in the story) did you
realize…Identify the place in the book that led you to
notice….How did the author (or illustrator) lead you to think….
• As discussion progresses, the teacher charts
– Vocabulary
– Concept that’s being developed
– Author’s craft
Techniques
After reading, guide discussion (cont.)
• Students use the book’s language to express ideas and
connections
• Students articulate confusions, wonderings, and possible
longings
• As you read more involved texts, refer to previous charts to
make connections
Anderson, Nancy A., What Should I Read Aloud?
A Guide to 200 Best-Selling Picture Books
Author’s note indicates that all books were still in
print at time of writing of text (2007).
ISBN 978-0-87207-679-2
Benefits of Read Alouds
• Single most important activity for building
knowledge required for learning to read
• Students acquire concepts, ideas, story and text
structures, syntax, vocabulary, and pleasure
• Stimulates student imaginations
• Stretches student attention spans
• Nourishes emotional development
• Strengthens adult-child relationships
• connects speech to print
Techniques
• Begin by reading the title and showing the book
cover, end paper, first illustration
• Ask students to predict the books’ contents
– What do you think might happen in this book?
• Begin reading, stopping occasionally
– What do you think this character might be thinking? What clues
helped you?
– How do you think this character feels?
– Why did ____ finally decide to ____?
– What was the reason for ___?
– What do you think might happen next? Why do you think so?
Techniques
• “After finishing a book, discussing it with
children will help them focus on the story
(instead of primarily the illustrations), thus
aiding their comprehension and enjoyment.”
Techniques
• Examples of questions:
– Which of your predictions were true?
– What caused the problem of the main character?
– What words would you use to describe the way ___
acted?
– What did the main character find out at the end?
– What did the other characters learn?
– What do you think is the most important thing the
author might want you to remember about this story?
– Why did the author choose the title for the story?
Quotes
• Most authors of excellent literature intend for
their books to be pleasurable.
• You should not expect children to express the
same interpretation of a book that you have.
• Responses to literature are personal, and they
will vary according to the individual’s
background experiences.
Serafini, Frank and Cyndi Giorgis, Reading Aloud and Beyond:
Fostering the Intellectual Life with Older Readers
ISBN 0 325 00522 2
Quotes
• And, of course, the best way to cultivate their
(children’s) taste is to read to them, starting at
birth and keeping on and on. “Let me hear you
read it” is a test. “Let me read it to you” is a gift.
by KATHERINE PATERSON in The Spying Heart
• Reading aloud is just as important for older
readers as it is for younger ones and should occur
every day, into the intermediate-grade
classrooms and beyond.
Quotes
• Reading aloud quality literature with children develops
listening and reading skills, increases students’
vocabulary, develops an appreciation of stories and
written language, and expands students’ ability to
respond to literature.
• There is no substitute for real books. They are rarely
boring or sanitized or squeezed into a “reading system”
that children can smell a mile off. So logic says if we
want real readers we must give them real books; give
our young people good literature, good art, and
surprisingly, these young people may do the rest.
By TOMIE DEPAOLA in Children’s Literature in the Reading Program
Selecting good Read Alouds
• Network with other teachers, librarians and
ask for suggestions
• Consult professional resources in print
journals
• Search Internet for the best books to read to
children
• Spend time in bookstores and libraries,
browsing the shelves
• Search Media Center catalog
13 Good, Scientifically Based, Reasons
to Read Aloud with Older Readers
1. Reading aloud increases test scores.
2. Reading aloud introduces readers to new
titles, authors, illustrators, genres, and text
structures.
3. Reading aloud builds a sense of community.
4. Reading aloud provides opportunities for
extended discussions.
5. Reading aloud with older readers is
pleasurable.
13 Good, Scientifically Based, Reasons to
Read Aloud with Older Readers (cont.)
6. Reading aloud connects readers with content
area subjects.
7. Reading aloud demonstrates response
strategies.
8. Reading aloud increases readers’ interest in
independent reading.
9. Reading aloud provides access to books that
readers may not be able to experience on
their own.
13 Good, Scientifically Based, Reasons to
Read Aloud with Older Readers (cont.)
10. Reading aloud provides demonstrations of
oral reading and fluency.
11. Reading aloud helps readers understand the
connection between reading in school and
reading in life.
12. Reading aloud provides demonstrations of
quality writing.
13. Reading aloud supports readers’
development.
Important Considerations
• Read the book before sharing it with your class!
• If you enjoy the story, chances are your students
will too!
• Does the book tell a good story? We want
students to make strong connections to the
characters and events that take place in the
literature we select.
• A newly published, pretty book isn’t necessarily
good literature. Look for depth and layers of
meaning.
Important Considerations (cont.)
• Consider the level of the text
– Independent Reading Level
– about a year lower than instructional level
-- 100 points below and 50 points above Lexile
(for instance, if Lexile level is 300L, independent
level is 200-350)
– Instructional
– Listening level – much higher than instructional
level --- choose Read Alouds at students’ listening
level
10 Characteristics of Effective Read
Aloud Performances
Effective read alouds
1. Have established rituals associated with
them, designated times and places for the
rituals to occur, established expectations for
students, and consistent actions that take
place;
2. Occur numerous times during the day;
3. Include high-quality literature;
10 Characteristics of Effective Read
Aloud Performances (cont.)
Effective read alouds
4. Establish connections with other pieces of
literature and aspects of the curriculum;
5. Promote discussions before, during, and after
reading;
6. Support a variety of student responses;
7. Are facilitated by knowledgeable teachers;
10 Characteristics of Effective Read
Aloud Performances (cont.)
Effective read alouds
8. Introduce new titles, authors, genres, and
illustrators to students;
9. Revisit past favorites and classic literature;
and
10. Take advantage of the teachable moment.
What is Reader’s Theater?
• Reader's Theater is minimal
theater in support of literature and
reading.
• Reader’s Theater is a dramatic
enactment of text.
Reader's Theater in Five Easy Steps
1. Choose a script. Choose a prepared script, or have kids
choose a book from which to develop an RT script.
2. Adapt the script. If adapting, kids identify speaking parts
(including narrators) and break down the story into dialogue.
3. Assign Parts. Kids might try out different parts to get a feel for
them, then choose their roles themselves.
4. Highlight parts and rehearse. Kids highlight their dialogue,
then practice their lines at home and in groups during school.
5. Perform. The cast reads the play aloud for an audience, often
made up of parents or younger students.
Contents
Spiderella
The Emperor’s New Hair
The Brementown Rappers
The Three Little Elephants
The Popsicle Boy
The Little Red Robin
Rafunzel
The Cheetah and the Sloth
Little Late Riding Hood
The Ugly Woodpecker
Goldilocks and the Three Bullfrogs
Slurping Beauty
ISBN 978-0-439-15389-8
Includes
Amazing Animals
Fly High, Butterfly!
All About Me
Clean and Healthy Kids!
Plants and Seeds
A Seed Surprise
Earth and Sky
My Shadow, My Friend
ISBN 978-0-545-07268-7
Includes
School Situations
The New Kid
Mysteries
Who Took the Cake?
Tall Tales
Paul Bunyan
Just for Laughs
Welcome to Oddville
ISBN 978-0-439-87028-3
Contents
Book! Book! Book
Chicken Soup by Heart
Dinosnores
Jingle Dancer
Mudball
Old Cricket
Rain Romp
The Recess Queen
School Picture Day
Violet’s Music
ISBN 978-1-932146-59-2
Contents
Three Nice Mice
Who Needs a Fan?
Bear Cub Comes Home
The Last Apple
The Sun Will Come
I’m First!
Live at the Number Games
Polly Learns to Swim
Babe Ruth
Bella and Jade
Betsy Ross
Chicken Tricks
Cats Care for Their Kittens
Hide and Go Seek!
Little Puppy
ISBN 978-0-439-55419-0
Contents
Coyote and the Rock
The Missing Trophy
The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids
Meeting Thomas Edison
Midnight at Old Truman’s
Railroad to Freedom
Go West with the Best!
The Bremen Town Musicians
Heroine on the Titanic
Lucky Hans
Remembering Uncle Fremont
About Ten Bowls of Porridge
The Selfish Girl
Earthquake!
ISBN 978-0-439-55420-6
Includes
Cliffhangers
Will Isabella’s Time Machine Work?
Spooky Stuff
A Ghost at the Gifford School
Mysteries
The Case of the Kickball King
Just for Laughs
Rabbits for Sale
ISBN 978-0-439-87027-6
www.lakeshorelearning.com
•Color-coded
•Scripts are durable!
•I’ve seen Grades 3-4 in these genres:
Fantasy
Mystery
Historical Fiction
Adventure
Think and Do!
•Allow yourself the enjoyment of sharing
Read Alouds, and promoting literature
and literacy.
•Let your hair down and enjoy Readers
Theater with your students!
•Model enjoyment!