I also wanted to talk about read alouds. I love doing read alouds!! This is something I feel like I have really grown in over the past year. When we read a book to students, we need to do it in a way that allows deeper thought. We should stop and ask questions, allow students to predict and answer questions, read fluently and with animation, and make connections between reading and writing. When a teacher does a good read aloud, I've seen students so engaged you would think they are watching cartoons!
How comfortable do you guys feel with read alouds?
I do love a good story! When I did classroom observations last fall, a 3rd grade teacher played the Youtube video of Enemy Pie read by Camryn Manheim. I really enjoyed her reading of the book. Being an actress, she was very expressive with her face and hands. She also does and excellent job of changing her voice when reading different characters in the story. Here's the link if you want to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_I9NgXKtC8. When subbing for the librarian, I had the opportunity to also play the video, "Don't let the pigeons drive the bus!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esa5WVybEsA The kids really like this video. Every time the pigeon asks to drive the bus, the kids were suppose to say "No" however most of them said "yes". It was funny! I like the Big Books. When I subbed for the kindergarten teacher, two of the students hold the book and turn the pages, then I am free to read and be expressive with my hands. Their Big Books tie in with their sight words. When we come to them, we stop and discuss how they are used in the story. We also stop and talk about unfamiliar words. Depending on the story, we may guess what is going to happen next or ask them what they would do if what happened in the story happened to them?
ReplyDeleteI never felt comfortable with read alouds. I have anxiety trouble and it manifests in the weirdest ways. I have no trouble standing and talking in front of a group of children but reading aloud is a big no no! I have gotten more comfortable with them. My last field experience teacher had me doing read alouds fairly regularly so it helped ease the tension a little bit. You're so right about the students just being enthralled in the story!
ReplyDeleteLinda Bradley really is pounding in withitness. I made a binder with different sections for all the different topics we are covering in 400 because I know it will be helpful for the MoPTA! Anything to help with that :)
I love read alouds and do them every chance I get!! I sub quite a bit at our local school district and I always take some of my favorite picture books in my "teacher bag" to read; regardless of the grade I sub in. They are great time fillers during down time, which can be frequent depending on the responsibility given for the day. I do this at home too, I read books to my kids almost every night! I love this special time with them.
ReplyDeleteFor all 25 years of my teaching, I loved read alouds the most.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy read alouds with any grade, as long as I have read through the book already. I have been surprised a couple of times at some content. Thankfully it was with my own youngest and we were able to laugh and "huh?" at the story together.
ReplyDeleteAs far as withitness, I'm definitely practicing that because I don't want to miss anything important and I want to stay intuned with my students needs and with what's actually happening in the class. It's sad when I hear about bullying, for example, that's happening in the classroom and the teacher has no clue. I don't like that at all because then kids don't feel safe though they should.