Teachers As Readers

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Article Share: The Power of Reading Aloud

I recently came across this article through a weekly Marshal Memo that I subscribe to that talked about The Power of the Read Aloud:

'In this article in The Reading Teacher, Illinois teacher JeanaLe Ann Marshall describes how her fourth graders react when she wraps up her daily 10-minute readaloud: “Nooooo! Read more! Don’t stop! Why do you always do this to us?” Among their favorite books:
-   Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis (2013)
-   The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (2012)
-   A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park (2011)
“I’m confident that my students know the power of a story,” says Marshall. “They’ve listened all year long. They know the feeling of getting hooked, and they realize that within the pages of each book lies a lesson – one that someday just might change them or, even better, cause them to create change in the world.”
            Reading well-chosen books aloud has also spurred independent reading. “Little by little, they search for books without my guidance,” says Marshall. “They become ready to orchestrate their own journeys. They take the helm. Now it’s up to them whether or not to read one more chapter or softly let the pages fall closed.”'

“When Whining Is Wanted” by JeanaLe Ann Marshall in The Reading Teacher, February 2015 (Vol. 68, # 5, p. 393), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/trtr.1306/epdf
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I'm always delighted when I walk into classrooms and observe teachers reading aloud to students. For me, it has been my favorite part of the day the teaching day. Students in my classroom have fallen in love with some of the same characters that I have fallen in love with. We've laughed together and cried together through the read aloud. I see it as an integral piece of building and fostering community. Donalyn Miller recently said on the #ReadAloud chat on Twitter, "Great read alouds feel like a special secret between the reader and the listeners. A magic circl around the book and us." Another built in, academic benefit is that it is a natural way to model the "flow of language" for our students with limited English proficient students - whether English is the second language or children have limited access to books or being read to. 

One professional book that will likely be part of my summer reading stack is Steven L. Layne's, In Defense of Read-Aloud - Sustaining Best Practice. The book has had a lot of buzz on Twitter, has been the focus of the a blog book tour, and was the topic of the #ReadAloud Twitter chat. Of course, I would love to have others join me...maybe this is something that we can turn into a summer professional book club. 
What is your classroom read aloud?

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You may use your participation in the PLC as evidence of professional practice as defined by Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching. This week's participation is evidence of 
Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities -
  • 4a: Reflecting on Teaching - Use in future teaching
  • 4d: Participating in a Professional Community - Relationships with colleagues & Involvement in culture of professional inquiry
  • 4e: Growing and Developing Professionally - Enhancement of content knowledge and pedagogical skill








6 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Thanks, Kristin!

    I just wanted to share that the tools and techniques utilized in these two programs can add to the fun during Read-Alouds. Mellie

    References

    Language is the Key - Washington Learning System
    http://www.walearning.com/products/language-is-the-key/

    Every Child Ready to Read
    http://everychildreadytoread.org/
    Oregon State Library Ready to Read Grant
    http://osl-lis.blogspot.com/2011/10/every-child-ready-to-read-2nd-edition.html

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  3. Today I read "My New Friend Is So Fun!" by Mo Willems to my kindergarten groups. I love the way the author leads the listeners through the expressions on the faces of the characters. The students laughed and giggled through the book. My favorite read aloud books for primary students are Eric Carle books. I love doing author studies with students.

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  4. Currently, I am reading Peter and the Starcatchers to my students. This novel tells the story of Peter Pan before he became Peter Pan. I keep this piece of information from my students because I love to watch them use clues from the text to come to that conclusion on their own by the end. This book is one of my favorites and is entertaining, action packed, and full of mystery! My kids are always bummed when I have to stop, and cheer when I go on for one more chapter! The best part is that it is the first in a series, and I always have kids who are motivated to read the rest of the series!

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  5. We are currently reading Hoot by Carl Hiassen in my classroom. The kids are very engaged and excited to read through it. We are past the half way point and it is picking up rather quick. I wish we could just do a read aloud all day :)

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  6. My students are loving the TAR books we are reading during our Walk to Read time. I am enjoying them too:) The books are very helpful in teaching strategies and in motivating reading- "Can I read, it next?" often follows a read aloud. Thanks for the great gift of these books for our children!

    Both the shorter children's literature selections we read during our literacy block and the chapter book read aloud we share in the afternoon bring a sense of calm and rapt attention to our classroom. There's something about the group hearing and responding to a story together that builds community through a shared experience. The students are eager to hear what happens next. I too love that moment when a chapter comes to an end and the kids exclaim Nooo! Just one more chapter, PLEASE!!! Reading books aloud inspires children to read on their own, to explore more offerings by an author they enjoy, or take on the challenge of reading other books in a series. The impact of reading aloud to my students also clearly shows up in their writing. Similar themes, characters, and story lines inevitably start to creep into what the children write on their own. Reading aloud in the classroom is a powerful way to motivate and provide access to literature for all of our children regardless of their reading ability.

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