Introduction In this paper, I will discuss the benefits of interactive read alouds by teachers for upper elementary aged students, and why it may help build comprehension. I will also examine what makes interactive read alouds effective such as book selection, thinking aloud, and developing vocabulary. Benefits of Read Alouds It was often thought that children in upper elementary can benefit from interactive read alouds. An interactive read aloud is a selected developmentally appropriate book that is read to students by a teacher for engaging all learners. According to Hilden & Jones (2013), “Instead of having students stumble and mumble through a Round Robin style reading, teachers should provide fluent models of reading for the students …show more content…
The teacher should take into consideration the age of the students, their interests, culture, and standards. Students should be introduced to a wide selection of books. Johnston (2016) states: “Long before a teacher walks into a class to deliver a read-aloud, he or she must understand the necessary strategies of a research-based read aloud” (p. 41). Teachers often uses a Lexile score to determine if a book is an age appropriate read aloud. Harvey (2011) explains: MetaMetrics created The Lexile Framework for Reading to provide a common scale and metric for measuring reading ability. The Lexile Framework allows for students to be matched with "targeted" texts at the right level of complexity to encourage reading growth, and to compare reading achievement levels across the content areas, grade levels, and states (p. …show more content…
In upper grades the books are starting to become more in-depth. A think aloud according to Block & Israel (2004) is a, "Metacognitive technique or strategy in which a teacher verbalizes thoughts aloud while reading a selection orally, thus modeling the process of comprehension" (p. 154). This strategy also allows for students to practice listening. According to Johnston (2016), “The teacher must be a metacognitive reader or must think out loud about his or her own thinking while reading the book aloud,” and further
Fountas, I., C., & Pinnel, G. S., (2009). When readers struggle: Teaching that works. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
During a test, these students were taken to another classroom area so that the inclusion teacher was able to read the test to them. Self-reading in the inclusion classroom is sometimes avoided as much as possible. The inclusion teacher also stated that there have been tests where the amount of information was lessened to avoid additional frustration being added as they are already struggling with reading the test information. According to the general education teacher, students on occasion are encouraged to read out loud. However, there is more of a push for them to participate in classroom or group discussion. Students that are asked to read aloud are based on their ability. This type of interaction makes for a comfortable learning environment and participation with their peers. She stated that she tries to pre-teach information that they will be covering on that day in the form of a warm up when the kids first enter the classroom. Then when they are exposed to the information later on in the class, it is not a total shock of information to
Pikulski, J., & Chard, D. (2005). Fluency: Bridge between decoding and reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 58(6), 510-520.
Serafini, Frank, and Cyndi Giorgis. Reading Aloud and Beyond: Fostering the Intellectual Life with Older Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003. Print.
The teacher engaged the students by asking questions or making comments about what she read. She also asked the children to make prediction about what they think will happen next. The children were actively engaged in the read-aloud and were not passively listening to the teacher. According to Smith and Roe (2012), “reading aloud is most effective in the development of language and vocabulary when children are actively involved rather than passively listening” (p. 131). During reading, the teacher also modeled thinking aloud strategy as she engaged students in the reading. She would often stop and make comments such as “I see that the baby bird cannot find his mother, I wonder how he is feeling,” “where do you think the baby bird will find his mother.” After thinking aloud, she directed a question to the students asking them how they would feel if they could not find their mother. What the teacher was doing was to have the students make text-to-self-connection which is also very important in comprehension.
This is good because students sometimes just want to read things that interest them and not something that the teacher has left for them to read. The teacher had something that she called browsing books where students read books on their level, however, they are books that are interesting to the students. Students are encouraged to read books that are in bins that have been picked out by the teacher. The teacher also uses the strategy of a literature circle. Where in this strategy the teacher works with the students and they do comprehension work together.
Reading goals must be realistic. Students will not engage if the reading is not authentic. I want to encourage my students in reading and give them the tools they need to succeed while allowing them to choose what they read. I also want to implement different reading assessments that are creative rather than just textbook responses. Genuine reading experiences will help my students find their own passion for reading. These experiences may come from allowing students to pick their own books, having parent involvement, giving specific feedback, or alternative ways of assessment. I believe the more options I give my readers the more realistic my chances of connecting with them are.
As a teacher, you need to encourage all attempts at reading, writing, speaking, and allowing children to experience the different functions and use of literacy activity (The Access Center, n.d.). Moreover, it is crucial for educators to understand phonological awareness and phonics; know what constitutes good children’s literature and how to use it; know children who need additional assistance with beginning reading and writing (Cunningham et al, 2004 as cited in McLachlan et al, 2013, p. 112). Educators also need to plan effective activities to assist children experience reading aloud, listening to other children read aloud, listening to tape recordings, and videotapes so children have opportunities to integrate and extend their literacy knowledge (The Access Center, n.d.). Morrow (1990 as cited in The Access Center, n.d.) notes that classroom with greater teacher facilitation promote literacy behaviours, so it is educators’ role to provide literacy rich
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
In the content area in Language Arts, students will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, and evaluation of print and non-print text activating prior knowledge, processing and acquiring new vocabulary, organizing information, understanding visual representations, self-monitoring, and reflecting. This can be accomplished by implementing pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies into the lesson plan. Fifth grade students will read and write a variety of texts with greater scope and depth. In addition, they will analyze and evaluate information and ideas by revisiting and refining concepts about the language arts benchmark and will become more refined and independent learners.
There are two types of Lexile measures that use this scale: the Lexile reader and the Lexile text. When used together, Lexile measures help a reader find reading materials at a level they should be able to read independently with approximately 75% comprehension. The Lexile Framework is a tool that makes it possible to place readers and text on the same scale. The difference between a reader's Lexile measure and a text's Lexile measure is used to forecast the comprehension the reader will have with the text. The Lexile Framework was built on the common knowledge that text can be ordered as too difficult, and readers can be ordered as to their reading ability.
“The single most important activity for building knowledge for their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children,” a report from 1985 by the commission
In this information–driven age, preparing students to read a variety of texts with complete understanding should likely be one of our educational system’s highest priorities. Understanding is more than just the ability to produce information on demand (knowledge) or the ability to perform learned routines (skills). “Understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows.” (Active Learning Practice for Schools, n. d.) A review of the literature in the area of reading comprehension of elementary-age students shows two principle areas of focus. There is a body of literature that examines the development of proficient vs. struggling comprehenders and another body of literature that compares methodologies for teaching reading comprehension.
The authenticity of Interactive Reading is clear and therefore leads us to explore HOW we, as teachers, incorporate this strategy in our teaching most effectively. Fisher, Flood, Lapp, and Frey's study on "read-aloud practices" provides an excellent, research based framework for the implementation of Interactive Reading based on their observations of teachers in classrooms. Their 7 "essential components of an interactive read-aloud" is a practical guide of using this strategy and can be implimented with all children. These components provide a structure that allows us to teach ALL children (inherently allowing differentiation) while attending to common core state standards. Use of this strategy attends to the understanding of language and literacy development while providing for specific skill instruction in reading and writing.
It is important that when selecting complex text educators look for specific factors that would meet each reader’s needs. These factors include language proficiency, background knowledge and experiences, and level of motivation. Depending on the factors mentioned, the educators can differentiate the instruction to meet the needs of the students where they could read a text and apply strategies learned. It is important to understand the text complexity because we do want readers to read text which are not challenging enough or that are extremely challenge that would make their self-efficacy low. Therefore, when Fisher & Frey (2012) stated the factors to take into consideration when selecting a text are established, readers would interact with the text. Moreover, the use of comprehension strategies like question and answer relationships (Reutzel & Cooter, 2016) would help the readers comprehend the text as they read