by Disinvestment Supporter

Created on: March 13, 2011   Last Updated: January 09, 2012

Reading aloud is the most fundamental activity for building language fluency. While it should begin in the home at an early age, teachers can effectively use the read-aloud to build student motivation, teach comprehension strategies, and model skills for older students, such as summarizing and adopting different perspectives. The tips suggested for carrying out this activity will depend somewhat on the goal an educator is seeking to accomplish. First, consider the general strategies for emerging readers (which can be adopted by parents for children unable to decode any written language).

* Reading aloud for younger students is best performed as an audio-visual learning experience. The smaller format books are fine for parents with a child sitting in their lap, but large, illustrated books are necessary for a class. Since this activity should be a regular one for emerging readers, choose several books with similar themes to help build background knowledge. Students will get the opportunity to practice activating previous knowledge with each one, and discussions will become more insightful.

* Model examining the book for the class. Cover art and the title should be used to move students into a vital phase of comprehension called prediction. Take time to let students respond to questions such as “Why do you think I chose this book?” and “What do you think this book will be about?” Development of critical thinking skills begins early, so try to stay away from easy questions that invite only one response.  "What color is the ball?" should be reserved for younger children just learning to speak and build vocabulary.

* Reading aloud is a performance and should be prepared for as such. Much of the time, you'll want to be holding the book up for everyone to see, so it helps to have read it several times and be familiar with the text. Perform it a couple of times for yourself or an audience to practice the voices of different characters, facial gestures, and the voice inflections suggested by the grammar. Remember, the point is to model reading fluency so the students can focus on comprehension. Fluency here means flow, and accuracy counts as students will be passively absorbing this aspect of the experience while they actively digest the story.

* Repetition is extremely important to language arts skills. At the early stages, this means using the same text several times and including some texts that incorporate rhyming and rhythm schemes

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