February
05
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Read Alouds: Every Day, Every Student by Lucretia Brattin
The importance of reading aloud to every grade level is imperative. And, it should most definitely be an everyday occurrence. This duty does not have be fulfilled by the Language Arts teachers. How awesome is it for the science teacher to read an article from National Geographic or the history teacher to read an article from The Smithsonian. Better yet, what if they chose popular books from their respective studies and read a section every day. I can just imagine our history teacher, who is also the speech and debate coach, reading excerpts from Ron Chernow’s Grant.
Making reading seem like the most important element of a class, no matter what the class, is the key to creating successful adults. I truly believe that. Even in math, if a student can’t read the directions or understand what the vocabulary is, there is no chance to actually do the math. Vocabulary is built by adults reading to students and stopping to explain and point out words and building that background knowledge so that success can occur. We as teachers learned long ago to model things. We model multiplication problems and science experiments. Why do we think it is only a first grade teacher’s responsibility to model reading?
In today’s classroom the pressure to test and to push as much information at students as possible in any given 50 minutes is the daunting task teachers face each day. But, what if, once a day we just stop and say, “Let’s share a book.” We have had programs in the past that promoted this. Who remembers, or still does D.E.A.R? Drop everything and read is a prescribed set time each day that students and teachers stop and read. What I’m hoping for is something that happens organically, not the last 15 minutes of each day.
Teachers are funny, emotional, sometimes upset creatures. And, we can share those emotions safely when we read to our students. Words, even when fiction, affect us. We can build relationships with our students by expressing emotions in a safe manner while reading a book. The best example of this that I have was the day that I read a sad part of Wonder by RJ Palacio. I don’t want to give away anything but needless to say there was a dog and there was death. As I sat there reading this part to my 5th graders, I could tell the tears were going to come; and not just the slow slide that you can sometimes hide, but the ugly tears. Finally, when I could go no further, I held the book up in front of my face and I stopped. One of my students came over, put his hand on my shoulder and took the book from me and said, “I’ll finish the chapter, Mrs. Brattin.” I will never forget that instance of humanity showed to me by a student. I hope he doesn’t either.
That example of me being a human being and letting my students know that even though I am mostly a happy go lucky person, I can still be affected by words, was powerful. We teach our children that words are powerful. Shouldn’t we be the testament for that?
Lucretia Brattin is a K-12 Librarian in the Missouri Ozarks. Over her 24 year career, she has taught 1st grade, 4th grade, Junior High English and High School English. She brings this experience of multiple grade levels with her to the library. Lucretia blogs about books, teaching and other things at mrsbrattinreadsandwrites.blogspot.com and she can be found on Twitter @LucretiaBrattin.
Nerdy Book Club 
Great post! Your Wonder story happened to me too! Could not get past the Daisy part as we had just put our beloved chocolate lab down earlier that week. The timing was awful. A student named Lia brought me a box of tissues and told me to go into the hallway while she finished the chapter. She’s a HS freshman now, and I ran into her this past summer at our town summer days. I asked her if she remembered, and she did. I properly thanked her for that moment of compassion and empathy she showed me.
Thank you for the post. Very timely for our building as we were just discussing the importance of read aloud in a literacy meeting.
I too had a similar experience with a second grade reader. Our book was Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes. I couldn’t read through the end and a child stepped up to finish. This has happened more than once with books and I agree kids need to experience our humanity and the many opportunities the read aloud lends itself to exploring this further.
Isn’t it wonderful how we catch up with students. My last set of fourth graders are now Freshmen. They come see me occasionally in the library. I treasure those moments when they say, “Mrs. Brattin, I neeeed a book. Help me!” Best wishes!
Thank you for this important message. I’m going to apply it in my classes for adults. I think we all need to show each other that we are living, feeling creatures and that we are moved by stories, by words.
What an important thing to do. Read alouds for all ages are wonderful!
I loved this and loved that little boy who continued reading for you. I use to choke up in front of my fourth graders every single time I read Patricia Polacco’s THANK YOU, MR. FALKER. And I think it’s great that they get to see the power of books and words first hand.
Agreed!
We read to understand the world and our place in it. Read aloud fosters this and builds commmunity.
Agreed!
I had a similar experience to this with my daughter Kennedy. I was reading that very same part, and as you said…ugly cry! Kennedy was in fourth grade, and we were laying in her bed, she gave me a quick hug, and said, “Let me take over now, Mom.” ❤
Awe…how sweet!
I loved your post. It brought back to me the importance of reading to our students. I teach in a self-contained special education classroom and serve students with intellectual disabilities. Many times when we do read as a group, it seems that little attention is paid by a majority of my students. As a result, we may have a tendency to say, “Why do it, no one is listening?” You have truly inspired me. Starting today, I plan to have a time dedicated to reading to my students. I would love to find more ways to involve my students in the books so that they would be more engaged. Would you have any suggestions on how I might accomplish this task?
Additionally, I appreciated your willingness to share the deep emotion that you experienced when reading to your students. It is wonderful that you let your students see how what you were reading affected you. I also that it was so touching that one of your students showed such compassion by taking over the reading of the book. My heart feels lighter today. Thank you so much for sharing this experience and your love of reading.
Thank you so much for your kind words. For me, I had to get students in the habit of expecting me to read. It is just a part of our routine. Also, I begin the hour with the read aloud. I find this calms them and get them ready to work. That’s my strategy. Sometimes I’m tempted to skip it because I have other things that seem more pressing, but then I stop. I’m not sure there is anything more important or pressing than the conversations that these read alouds sometimes spark. Best wishes!
This post was just what I needed today! I have just recently decided to add this component to my 3rd grade classroom and chose my first book today, The One and Only Ivan. I have been toying with this idea, as I have heard other teachers talk about doing it, but I cannot see where I have the time in my schedule. After listening to a spokeswoman, for our recent book fair, share with the teachers in my building some ideas of books for reading in our classroom I decided that I am going to make the time. I will fit it in somewhere because I know that my students are going to love it and grow from it!
I was especially touched by the story you told of having to stop reading because you became emotional. I often become emotional when reading just picture books. I am a very empathetic person and have been embarrassed when I tear up in front of my class. But you made me realize that it is okay for the students to see that and share that experience with them.
I am so excited to get started reading to my class on Monday!
Thank you! I love The One and Only Ivan! Best wishes!
Unfortunately, I have very little memory of my childhood. I don’t remember much about primary school (Pre-K through 3rd grade), but the one thing I do remember is how much I enjoyed my teachers reading to me. This occurred every day, with no exceptions. I still remember sitting on the floor while my third-grade teacher read Because of Winn Dixie to us. As an educator in today’s world, I could probably count on less than one hand the amount of times I have seen a third-grade teacher reading a read aloud to his/her class. How unfortunate! How do we expect our students to learn skills such as fluency and expression if they never hear an example of how it should be done? Similar to Melissa, I am a self-contained grade K-3 special education teacher and all my students have been diagnosed with Autism. Keeping their attention on the carpet can definitely be a task, but it is a task we have worked on all year long because I know the benefits of doing a daily read aloud. In order to support engagement, I will often choose read alouds that incorporate music. I provide my students with hand-held instruments and guide them in playing music while we read and sing. My students start beaming the minute they see the instrument box.
What a wonderful idea, Kelsey. I’m so glad you make this a priority! Best wishes!
Read aloud is my favorite part of the day, and seems to engage every student. Who doesn´t love to hear a story? I enjoyed your point of read alouds being done across content areas. I think of student engagement, and how much it may increase if we pique their interest with a read aloud. This will greatly help with vocabulary knowledge as well! I don´t always have the opportunity to read aloud to a class since I am a Cross Categorical Teacher and I co-teach certain classes. However, on a day when I needed to be a guest teacher I ended up reading the same part of Wonder you mentioned. It was hard to not totally fall apart during that part of the story. It was heartwarming telling students why that part is so hard to read. It made them connect to me more, and share with me some of their ¨animal stories¨ as well. I enjoy read aloud and the sense of community it creates. Thank you for posting!
I agree Kari. I know of no better way to develop relationships with students than finding common ground through stories. Best wishes!