Fun with Reading

We live in a culture where story telling is a big part of our conversations, whether we discuss our own life experiences or we are sharing our thoughts about a movie we just saw or book we just read.  During my experiences in the classroom this semester I have come to really value the opportunity to do read-alouds with the students and really getting them involved with stories.  I have had several opportunities to do read-alouds with my first graders.  While their enthusiasm can sometimes be overwhelming with every student wanting to comment, I find it a valuable tool when it comes to building their comprehension of a book or story.

Some may have the misconception that a read aloud simply implies reading a book out loud to children; they sit and listen while the teacher reads through the story non-stop.  If this were the case, I would not consider read-alouds quite as valuable as I do.  A good read aloud gets the children interacting with the story, asking questions and making connections.  In their book, Catching Readers, Johnson and Keier refer to a scenario where after reading the book the teacher asked the students to take some time to share their thoughts with a partner.  This gives the students a chance to construct meaning, make connections and support one another (p.99).  Not only does this help the students work on literacy skills, but it usually makes the story more enjoyable!  So often we expect students to only talk about what we are learning in school.  Read-alouds can give them a chance to bring in their life experiences and to just have a purposeful conversation that is not based on right or wrong answers.

Shared reading can also bring a lot to the table.  We can use some of the same tips from read-alouds in letting students talk and build meaning while allowing each student to have the book in front of him or her.  At my current school they use something called the Fab Four when doing shared or guided reading.  The Fab Four are four different characters: Quincy the Questioner who asks who, what, when, where, why questions about the story, Paula the Predictor who predicts what is going to happen next in the story, Clara the Clarifier who stops to examine words we are not familiar with, and Sammy the Summarizer who gives a brief summary of the main points in the story.  I have found these to be very effective in helping students build their comprehension.

There are many benefits in reading aloud to children AND allowing them to participate in the story.  Finding a way that makes reading more enjoyable and more productive is a definite win.