Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1449741
Reading aloud to middle and high school students encourages them to think critically, fosters a sense of community, and makes learning fun By Carly Van Der Wende " D I D I H A V E Y O U in seventh grade language arts?" As the spark of recognition intensi- fies, the first question is followed by, " D o y ou still read The Glass Castle t o your students?" R e a d - a l o u d s l e av e a n i m p re s s i o n o n s t u d e n t s l o n g a f t e r t h e y l e a v e th e cl a ssro om . T h e re a re d i f f e re n t w ay s y o u c a n include read-alouds within your class- room routines. You can use them as a warm-up for the day's lesson or integrate them as part of a larger unit of study ab out readin g or w ritin g ef fe ctively. Students can even use read-alouds them- selves to go on self-guided reading and writing journeys. e following is a lesson where I used a read-aloud to teach writing and then examples of independent interdisciplin- ary projects that students can do. A read-aloud lesson Vocabular y building (5–10 minutes): When students enter the room, a new vocabular y word from the day 's read- aloud is on display. This immediately engages kids, and they quickly settle in. For one thing, they know they'll soon hear the read-aloud. We study and understand the word in a variety of ways. Through vocabulary immersion games, students learn how to apply the unfamiliar word by writing original sentences, researching synonyms and antonyms, and creating a pictorial representation of it. e culmination of this portion of class is that students share their work with their peers. As an extension of the lesson, when students come across unfamiliar words, they use these same vocabular y tech- niques. It's inspiring to hear one student say to another, "I also learned that word from a book I was reading!" When stu- dents read their own books, I encourage them to make their own word discoveries as part of our vocabulary practice. e read-aloud (5 minutes): After we discuss as a class the key stor y devel- opments from the previous day, I begin th e re a d - a l o u d . L o o k i n g a ro u n d th e room, I can tell the students are com- pletely immersed. At this point, the text for them comes to life. To sustain the buzz in the classroom and encourage discussion, I make sure the read-aloud ends on a cliff hanger. Discussion (5–10 minutes): We tran- sition from the read-aloud to students talking in small groups and then into a whole-class discussion. Instead of my askin g a sin g l e qu e stion , w hich may limit responses, students use discus- sion starters like the ones below, which allow for a more creative f low of ideas and increased participation: • I'm thinking… • What stood out to me was... • A question I have is… • I'm wondering… • A connection I made was… • I feel… • I disagree with… • I can relate to... • I would change... is is a student-led segment of class where students call on one another. It frequently results in passionate, animated debates, with everyone eager to express their viewpoints. "If I were the dad , I would never have done that!" one student might argue. " What he should've done instead was..." en another student will add to the discussion. It's impossible to overstate the importance of selecting an evocative read-aloud text for stimulating productive discussion. Reading and writing mini- lesson and workshop (30 minutes): I use the read-aloud text as a model to Read-Alouds to Boost Students' Creativity 45 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 2 Teaching & Learning