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I've recently read Read and Write It Out Loud by Keith Polette. As Polette says in the introduction of his book, it is "designed to help both adults and children rediscover the power, potency, and pleasure of oral reading." 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 tha...