#Road2Reading Challenge: The Essentials #2 - Read Alouds

Last week, I found myself writing a reflection post about teaching children to read, and I am continuing with another post this week. It isn't an exaggeration to say that I find myself almost daily in conversations with colleagues and friends about teaching reading and why loving books and reading is just as important as teaching the mechanics of reading. There seems to be increasing times like this week where I found myself at a loss for words while in a conversation with a teacher and realizing that I didn't want to spend more time defending what I knew was right about helping children learn to read. I don't think that some fancy computerized program will magically create readers. I also don't believe that drill work will turn kids into readers. I do think that turning children into readers requires some intentional work, but the work is so very worth it. 

If you are interested in reading the first post, The Essentials, you can find it, here. For the next several weeks, I would like to explore more deeply the following areas:

  • Read Alouds
  • Classroom Libraries
  • Relationships
  • Observation
  • Conferring

Coming April 2018

When I started teaching preschool and kindergarten, many years ago, I made read alouds an essential part of my curriculum. Every week, I would have one key title that I read over and over again. Each time with a different focus. At that time, I could honestly say that I did not think about whether what I was doing was an interactive read aloud or a shared read aloud. I simply read aloud to my students with intent and purpose. It seemed important that I read the same book over and over again in slightly different ways. I encouraged students to act out the story, or retell the events, use hand motions to emphasize the refrain, or join in on the words or phrases that they knew. Often by the end of the week, children could even "read" the book aloud to their friends during free play or during circle time. 

Coming February 2018

In addition to one book as a focus text for the week, I also kept a small bookshelf located near our gathering place where I could display related titles to read aloud or use as a mentor texts over the course of the week or month or unit. To this day, there are still titles that I can almost recite by heart. As a result, students were exposed deeply to a small number of texts each month but also widely exposed to about 20-25 books in that same month. 

Coming February 2018

Over the years, as my understanding of how children acquired language and learned to read developed so did how I used picture books as part of the daily routine. Though I was selective about titles originally, I became much, much more intentional with the books that I selected as I developed a better grasp of what purpose and skill I wanted to teach. I understood more about the power of a picture book and how I could use it to build language skills or build community. Even though, it might take more time to find that just right picture book to read aloud, I knew the time spent finding the perfect read aloud would pay off. 

Finally, I want to share that for all of my planning and working to be intentional about the books I shared, I also found time to read aloud books just simply for no other reason than that they touched me in some way and I wanted to share them with my students. I say this because I want teachers to understand that there is a place for that really funny read aloud or the read aloud that might make you cry just a little even if it doesn't fit into a unit or works as a mentor text. The importance is that you read aloud with students and share your love and passion of books with them. 

Check out some past related posts on read alouds: 
Reading Aloud to Children: What I Have Learned
What Makes the Perfect Read Aloud
Tips for Reading Aloud Expository Nonfiction

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Do you work with readers who are starting their journey on the road to reading?  Join Michele Knott from Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and myself every Thursday as we explore books and ideas to help readers have a successful start to independent picture book and chapter book reading. If you blog or have a Goodreads page, please link up with us!

#Road2Reading Challenge: The Essentials

I have been sitting here staring at my computer screen and trying to figure out how to write this post. The #Road2Reading Challenge is more than recommending good books for young readers in grades Kinder to Third. For me, it is also the place where I try to figure out the best approaches to teaching reading to young, developing readers. Right now, I am feeling reflective. I have been struggling. I see too many students falling through the cracks and not really developing into readers. I see many teachers who don't have confidence in their ability to teach children to read. I see too many well intentioned school administrators purchasing programs to try to fix the problem without realizing that they are heading down the wrong path. 

I think back to my first few years as a teacher. Though I was still trying to balance out what I had learned in college with what was happening in my classroom, my natural instincts were solid. Despite working with a student population that arrived at school faced with a mountain of challenges, they made progress with reading. What I learned then has proven to be the right thing over and over again. 

Here are five essentials in creating a rich reading environment and a community of enthusiastic readers.

Read Alouds
Starting with the first day of school, teachers need to read aloud daily with their students. It doesn't matter if the students are in kindergarten or high school. Reading aloud and sharing books is essential. Honestly, thoughtful selection of books and communicating your own love of reading through read alouds will do more for building enthusiastic readers than any other practice. 

Classroom Libraries
Students need access to a variety of engaging books on all kinds of topics. Whether you take out books from the public library regularly to share with students or purchase books through Scholastic Book Clubs or pick up books at yard sales, investing and curating a classroom library is a must. Provide students time to browse through books and involve them in setting up and organizing the library. The more invested they are in the library the more likely they are to use it and to help maintain it. 

Relationships
As with so much of education, relationships make a huge difference in the life of readers. If you are part of a book club or a community of readers like Nerdy Book Club, you know that relationships have made a personal difference in your own reading life. Listening to others talk about a favorite book or getting to share a book I loved with others who share my passion is energizing. When I have read a book that I thought a student would love and then shared it with them, telling them that I thought they would love the book, the smile on their face is worth so much. However, when they have finished the book, and come back asking what other books you have for them, well, the feeling is priceless. 

Observation
Observing student readers as they read is part of the hard work of teaching children to read. How does a student approach a book or text? Do they listen to themselves read and make corrections? Do they have a sense of rhythm? Do they understand that they are supposed to remember what they read or do they just read in a mechanical manner? The more I observe students read the more I understand how children learn to read. 

Conferring
So often I hear teachers say that they need a test or something formal to know if a student has read a book or comprehended a story. However, I disagree. I have learned more from the times that I have just talked with students about what they are reading or when I asked them to tell me about their book. Yes, it takes time to have those discussions and to also help children to learn to talk about what they read, but it is very worth it. 

Over the next few weeks, I am going to look at each of these five essentials in more depth. I am also interested in hearing from you what you think has made a difference for your students and particularly helped students who struggle to make sense of the reading process. 

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Do you work with readers who are starting their journey on the road to reading?  Join Michele Knott from Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and myself every Thursday as we explore books and ideas to help readers have a successful start to independent picture book and chapter book reading. If you blog or have a Goodreads page, please link up with us!