Read Alouds Are A Must Do For All Teachers And Parents
Posted by Barb on September 7, 2011
Whether you are reading aloud to your own children or the students in your classroom, you are providing them with a wonderful gift that will leave them wanting more. Read alouds should be a daily activity, no matter how old the children. The many benefits of reading aloud, along with the endless instructional purposes for exposing students to quality text, is invaluable. In fact, the Commission on Reading in their 1985 publication, Becoming a Nation of Readers states, “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”
Not convinced that you should read aloud to your students? Think about this…
Benefits for students that you read aloud to include:
Expanding vocabulary
Instilling curiosity, entertainment, and excitement towards text
Strengthening listening skills
Providing motivation for learning to read
Stimulating imagination
Sharpening observation skills
Involving critical thinking
Increasing problem-solving skills
Developing story sense
Improving memory
Allowing for connections to self, world, and text
Learning empathy for others
Seeing situations from different points of view
Some purposes for reading aloud to students maybe for:
Increasing vocabulary
Exposing students to various genres, authors and illustrators
Introducing, reviewing, or reteaching a concept or topic
Modeling a particular comprehension strategy
Connecting ideas, beliefs, events, and people to make them relevant to students
In his book The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease points out that reading aloud to children conditions their brains to associate reading with pleasure and at the same time to model good reading. This book is filled with suggested titles broken down by grade level, gender, and topic.
I suggest that if you are new to reading aloud to your students that you begin with picture books. Ask your school’s media specialist for suggestions. However, you don’t have to stop at reading books. You can read a variety of materials aloud such as articles, letters, journals, or original documents. Happy Reading!
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