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Engaging Students in Read Alouds

It is well known that a key to a successful read aloud is engagement . Engaging read alouds can lead to discussions that encourage students to think critically while thinking about past experiences. It also gives students the opportunity to see and hear teachers model fluency and expression. With this said, in order to get results, the read aloud needs to be engaging.  They key factor to a successful read aloud though, is student engagement. There are many ways to engage students in a read aloud. A couple popular ideas are to give students the option to draw the story while they are listening. Another option as the reader, is to change your voice for each character. Many teachers use techniques like this in their classrooms every day to engage their students.                At a reading conference, I was introduced to a new way to engage students in read alouds. Enrique Feldman , the keynote speaker at the New York State R...

Is there an age limit on Read Alouds?

            While training mentors on how to improve students`   literacy skills, a big strategy we stress is the use Read Alouds. The mentors in our program are required to read at least one book to their group every time they meet with them. We do this for two reasons, one reason is that no matter the age of the mentee (they range from Pre-Kindergarten to 6 th grade) they all are actively engaged and love this time of mentoring. The second reason for this is, for the students in the upper grades (4 th - 6 th ),   this read aloud is the only time all week that they are being read aloud to. I noticed a similar pattern when I was in my student teaching placements. In my Pre- Kindergarten placement, we read five or six books to the students every day. In my 3 rd grade placement, we only read one a week.   Why is this? Why do Read Alouds become less important and stop when the students get older?   ...

Quantity to Quality

            When I went through student teaching, I was required to use some form of technology in ever lesson I taught. It did not matter what technology it was, I just needed to use some type of technology. For most lessons, I would find a video that I could play at the beginning of my lesson or I would make a Smart Notebook file that would summarize my lesson. Very rarely, if ever, did I think to myself “wow this technology really enhances my lesson”. I realized the push needs to go from using technology in every lesson to finding technologies that work to enhance your lesson. The shift needs to go from quantity to quality.             As discussed in chapter 6 of Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in a World of Screens , determining what technology is worth your time is the hardest part (Guernsey, Levine). There are many lists online that discuss the best apps and technologies to use, but they a...