Be Faithful to Reading Aloud

I have two types of read aloud's in my classroom.  The first is a lesson based read aloud where I am teaching a skill or strategy.  While powerful, I struggle to use this type of read aloud to create joy in the reading process.  The second type of read aloud is focused on pleasure in reading.  To teach this way you to create time in your day for more than one read aloud and that is hard.  Try finding a small space of time in your day where you can do this consistently.  

Share Your Story

Sharing the reason you love a book or series of books is very important.  Last year, one of my boys had a teacher who consistently shared her life as a reader with him.  Whenever he read more than expected, she always related how she had a book she couldn't put down either.  This made a huge impact and created a bond as readers.  I love to share how I found the book that I am reading.  Maybe it was recommended by a friend or you found the book at the library or book store.  These back stories make books come alive for students.  It also lets students see how books are important in your life.  They may not have a model of a reader at home.

Read a Series

Reading a series of books that are just slightly too hard for most of your readers is a great strategy. You can then suggest a series that your students could read that is simlilar or it can stretch some of your top readers.  A series of books are critical for new readers.  If they like a series, it lets them move from book to book without having to go through the process of selecting an entirely new topic or characters.  They also love to see past characters or topics sprinkled throughout other books in the series.

Read Unrelated Books by the Same Author

When you read a group of books by the same author, it helps keep interest and lets students look for commonalities and differences among the books.  It also creates a conversation between you and your students as they begin to see patterns in characters or settings.  It also gives you the opportunity to also dive into the author's story and lets them get to know them as a person.  The students then begin to explore reading that author's book too.  

Read Books Related by Topic

Tap into the interests of your students and pick some books that are tied together by topic.  This will help them bridge the gap and see themselves as readers.  It also gives a context to read non-fiction which we need to include in order to satisfy all of the readers in our classroom.  

It takes some time to create a love of reading in our students.  A read aloud is the perfect vehicle to let our students see us as readers and get to know the books we love.  If you share this love with them, it will pay big dividends for them.  Comment with your favorite read aloud strategy.