I just have to say it…I am obsessed with kids literature, but Read Alouds are my focus right now. Truthfully, I am always infatuated with the benefits of Read Alouds and always looking for new ones!
Last week, I organized a read aloud with a client school as part of World Read Aloud Day 2020 (https://www.litworld.org and Scholastic). This is the first time I actively registered a school I am working with on their World Read Aloud map. It was wonderful! Another teacher and I each read a book to the Kindergarten-5th grades. In between the two readings, the 5th grade introduced their classroom book collection drive. This grade thinks each classroom should have more books in it! I agree! In my opinion, no classroom ever has enough books for kids to choose. The preschool had their own Read Aloud time. The Middle School was read, Across the Alley, which dovetailed with their Black History lessons. This was read in each of the English classes that day.
I am also reading the 8th edition of the Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook. I found the previous editions so helpful in validating why I found reading aloud to my own children and my classroom children. From the listening skills and listening comprehension development, to the fabulous conversations started with read aloud stories, there is so much to love about the benefits of Read Alouds! The Read Aloud Handbooks also have wonderful suggestions for Read Alouds.
Each week, I volunteer at an after school program doing Read Alouds and accompanying activities. The kids each take the Read Aloud book home after 2-3 weeks of activities. The most recent was The Library Dragon. It was so amazing to watch them listen to the story as they read along the first week. They were just as enthralled the second week and noticed some interesting items in the pictures. They asked great questions about the vocabulary that was new to them. They even sat engaged during the reading of the sequal, Return of the Library Dragon. The power of a Read Aloud is so exciting to witness and participate in!
In fact, I believe in the power of Read Alouds so much, I talk about them in a workshop called, Literature Lassos. This workshop led to a Padlet, check it out here: https://padlet.com/swladis3/xh6aytbp3ht. Pictured are just two of the groups of Lassos. This is an ever growing list because I read a lot of book blogs and I love adding new (and sometimes “old”) finds to my collection.
So, do you have favorite Read Alouds? Would you like me to come to your school to discuss Literature Lassos? Reach out via Twitter (@edtechease) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/edtechease/) or email me, swladis@edtechease.com.