I give my students a copy of what I'm reading aloud whenever I can. Hearing and seeing are two different types of learning. My slow readers have to work a bit harder to keep up - and it has helped their fluency. Seeing the punctuation marks helps them understand what I do at each one. Seeing unfamiliar words while I pronounce them helps vocabulary. In our school, we have two required class novels each year - I read these aloud to the entire class. The lit circle novels and independent reading books are a different story.
For me, the key to reading aloud to is model how I read. It's modeling those skills I don't think about anymore, but that I still do. I have notes written in the margins of my read-aloud books of where to stop and ask questions that I'd subconsciously do when I read. We stop and make connections, predictions and discuss flashback and foreshadowing often. We also stop at unfamiliar words and discuss context clues. It doesn't happen each time - I hate to interrupt the flow of reading every single time. But we'll often go back and discuss as well when the chapter is finished. For this reason, I will not use books on tape in my classroom. I want to be the reader. Carrie LaRue Royster Middle School Chanute, KS -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Ivey Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 8:06 AM To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. Subject: Re: [LIT] book read aloud question Hi! I think whether or not you give students books to follow along as you read aloud depends on the students. Some teachers feel their students benefit from having the printed word in front of them. My students don't have their own copies; I think it increases the drama and feeling of community if each new word reaches them absolutely simultaneously. I do try to create a culture where they feel free to interrupt and clarify (question, discuss...) if they want. Take care, Bill Ivey Stoneleigh-Burnham School On Aug 10, 2010, at 9:15 PM, "Kezele, Carolyn" <[email protected]> wrote: > I will be teaching this same population in the fall for the first > time - when you read these books as a "read alouds" do each of your > students have a copy of the book, or do they just listen? (...) _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
