Reading Aloud to Students

When teachers love to read, students reap benefits. They experience literature they would never otherwise have read and hear books read with the kind of intonation that makes the story come alive. Students learn to listen carefully, and they can learn how to think about literature when teachers ask carefully crafted questions. The following suggestions will help to create positive read-alouds in Phase I of the SEM-R:

Find a book you enjoy in some way. (You may love the illustrations, or the topic, the style of writing, or maybe read your childhood favorite.)

Match the book to your audience. If you know that a number of students in your class are interested in mummies, find a book on the topic to create additional incentive for them to read.

Make sure every child is comfortable and can see the illustrations. Introduce each book by explaining the author, the illustrator, the title, and the topic. If possible, relate the book to the children's experience (prior knowledge of the author/illustrator, the topic, etc.).

Use a range of intonations, speeds, and volumes to explore the range of characters in the book. Use pauses and facial expressions to add drama to the reading.

Read part of the book. Do not feel as if you have to finish every book you begin. Read-alouds are a great way to offer students the opportunity to become involved in a book before they make the decision to read it—or not. Once the read-aloud is finished, make the book available for your students to read.

Begin the read-aloud with a book chat. Tell students what you like about the book. Modeling book selection criteria is an excellent way to coach student to seek out books that interest them and provide appropriate challenge levels. Explain what the publication information tells the reader (If you have a copy of Squids Will Be Squids , this is an excellent book to use for publication information, since it is written with humor).
When an author is popular with children, read other books by the same author. This not only offers students a series of books that they will enjoy, but they will also learn an understanding of the author's voice.

Don't beat a dead horse. Sometimes students aren't interested in a read-aloud. Don't make it a personal issue. If the book isn't working, don't push it. The focus of the read-aloud should be pleasure for the majority of your students.

Consider finding a great book on tape occasionally and having students hear a part of the book read on tape by an outstanding reader.

Invite a special guest reader to come: consider the principal, another teacher, the librarian, a parent, or a graduate student from a nearby university. Make it fun!