INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD –
NOT JUST A QUICK STORY
AFTER RECESS!
Linda Biondi and Carol Hotchkiss
PROTOCOL REMINDER
WHAT IS A READ ALOUD?
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Teacher read alouds are a way to get kids to quiet
down after recess.
It is better to play a CD of an actor reading a
book than to read aloud myself, because the
actor will do it better than a teacher can.
Teacher read-alouds are planned oral readings of a
range of texts.
They are a vital part of daily literacy instruction in all
classrooms.
WHY READ ALOUD?
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Teachers can use read-alouds to:
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develop their student's background knowledge,
free students from decoding to become active listeners,
create meaning from spoken text through visualization
enrich student vocabulary,
stimulate their interest in high-quality literature,
increase their comprehension skills,
foster critical thinking,
model strategies that children can use during their own
independent reading,
initiate critical conversations through the questions they
pose,
prompt children to think and talk about social issues that
impact their daily lives.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT?
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Choose appropriate texts for students based on
their interests and social/emotional level.
Preview and practice the text before reading.
Establish a clear purpose or focus for the read
aloud.
Model fluent, expressive reading.
Stop periodically to thoughtfully wonder and pose
questions.
Link to independent reading and writing.
“In
the teaching of reading there are
only a handful of things that
everyone agrees are essential.
Perhaps the most important of
these is the fact that children need
to listen to the best of children’s
literature read aloud to them.”
What are some of your “best read
alouds”?
LUCY CALKINS:
BEST EVER ADVICE ON READING ALOUD
VIDEOS
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Common Core Aligned Read Aloud to Support
High-Level Comprehension and Interpretation
What are the teachers doing to engage and
support student understanding?
READ ALOUD PLANNER
INFERRING READ ALOUD
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In this whole-group minilesson, sixth grade
teacher Katie Doherty uses the book Wilfred
Gordon McDonald Partridge to have the students
listen and chart their clues, schema and resulting
inference.
POWER OF READING ALOUD TO YOUR
STUDENTS: GUIDELINES AND TOP 5 READ
ALOUD STRATEGIES
LET’S NOT FORGET NONFICTION
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Sean Moore engages his readers in a read aloud
of the book, Plants That Eat Animals. Sean
varies the ways the students respond to the read
aloud. He also chooses to read the text without
showing any visual supports when he wants the
students to create mental images, focus on
vocabulary, or make connections between the text
and their experiences.
CHOOSE A PAPERBACK BOOK THAT YOU WOULD
WANT TO KEEP AND USE. PLEASE USE THE
TIME TO CREATE A READ ALOUD PLANNER THAT
YOU CAN USE IN YOUR TEACHING.
"I am sure you have never done this, but I used to grab my read aloud
selections on my way past the bookshelf as I walked to the read aloud
area. I was convinced that any read aloud was good… and I still think it
is. However, why would we settle for just "good" when we can have
great? Once I paused to give my read aloud selections more conscious
thought, I realized that I must take the work of selecting read-aloud
very seriously. With the amazing array of quality children's literature
available, we are selling ourselves, and our children, short if we settle
for just any read aloud. If we give it just a bit more thought and choose
carefully, read alouds can become a foundation for expansion of oral
language, a challenging opportunity to stimulate deeper thinking, a
rich moment when we can expose learners to beautiful art, and most
certainly, a time when we can broaden world knowledge or focus on
the craft of writing."
—Linda Hoyt
What are you going to do differently tomorrow?
THE HEART OF A TEACHER