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I've been reading aloud to my students for years; however I'd gotten out of the habit as the reality of high-stakes testing sent me whirling off into that void know as the "Plan of Assistance". I knew I needed to pick up the habit again, but needed some solid reasons as to why this is beneficial to my students.
In today's blog, I will be summarizing chapter one "Reading Aloud to Children: Reasons and Resources." Storytelling is the basis of our literature tradition~before there were books, there were stories told around the camp fires. Stories were used to warn children away from dangers or pass down family traditions and beliefs. Oral storytelling was a "lively drama, a dynamic and immediate experience that communicated ideas, emotions, and images on cognitive, imaginative, and emotional levels". Polette says that schools must do two things: read aloud to children every day and teach children how to read aloud expressively.
There are six important cuing systems that successful readers use when they read aloud:
Graphophonic cues are what we know as phonics; readers must know how to sound out and decode words.
Lexical cues are basic word recognition cues, but not necessarily word meaning cues.
Syntactic cues help to make sure that what readers are saying actually "sounds right".
Semantic cues are used to help students make sense of and draw conclusions from what they are reading.
Pragmatic cues help students establish purposes for reading, methods of constructing meaning and interact with others in a social environment.
The last two cues are most important to me as they are directly correlated to two tested State Performance Indicators.
Why should we read aloud to children? Well, because they like it. Audio books are big sellers. Even I subscribe to an audio book service, and I'm an avid reader of the written word. Children become interested in literature when it is presented in a nonthreatening, enjoyable format. In the new Common Core State Standards, students are to read a variety of complex texts. What better way to introduce students to some of those complex texts that they wouldn't otherwise read?
Most children do not have much exposure to good literature being read aloud in an effective, expressive way. I'm darn good at reading aloud...I'm articulate and skilled at the task. By listening to me read, my students will understand that there is an art and skill to expressing yourself. They will notice the nuances of pleasant language.
Reading aloud to students shows them that there is a connection between the written word and the spoken word. When students hear literature read aloud they make the important link between their speaking ability and their reading ability.
Reading aloud strengthens a student's vocabulary and introduces them to to more sophisticated sentence structures. Distinguishing between simple, compound, and complex sentences is a tested item on our state achievement test according to the State Performance Indicators. Having the linguistic awareness of more sophisticated language will manifest itself in a student's ability to write and read.
According to the Common Core State Standards, students are to be exposed to different genres and different authors' styles of writing. By limiting a student's exposure to different styles of writing, you are limiting his own writing style. Students are not going to choose to read on their own the books that I'm choosing to read aloud to them.
Let's face it, in this age of video games and reality television shows, students do not take the initiative on their own to increase their attention span. By having students clear their desks, put their pencils in their pencil holders, and sit up straight, I'm giving the kids the antidote they need from the visual world that they live in on a daily basis.
Students need to develop their ability to reason clearly and to think critically; the means to develop this ability are found in the pages of quality literature. Through regular exposure to complex literature and sophisticated language, students will assimilate the tools that they need for critical thought and effective cognition.
When students listen to a story, they have to create their own images of setting and characters. This visualization is a key strategy for understanding complex texts. Students not only create their own images, but they in turn react to these images with their own emotions.
If you teach English Language Learners, then you already know how important reading aloud is to your students. Reading aloud helps students become accustomed to the sound of the the English language and how our words symbolize and communicate meaning.
And as if I need another reason to read aloud to my students, the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English encourage students to develop a wide range of literacy capabilities and skills.
Before you just blindly go out there and start reading the first book that you pick up, you need to consider three ideas before reading aloud:
Know what you like to read~kids know if you're not interested in the book that you're trying to convince them is worth listening to.
Know the text~kids like stories that create suspense, evoke laughter, or arouses curiosity. Make it a habit to actively look for those stories that you know your students will enjoy.
Know your audience~what works one year may not work the next; always be open to new possibilities.
So what am I reading aloud to my students? I'm reading So You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz to one group and Call of the Wild by Jack London to another.
Happy Reading,
Mrs. Etheridge
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