Reading aloud and Re-reading - Teaching Approach
“We cannot easily read for ourselves what we haven't heard said… Reading aloud to children is essential in helping them become readers… it has such value, and learning to read is such a long-term process, and the bit we call 'learning' is such a small part of it, that reading aloud is necessary all through the school years.” Aidan Chambers, The Reading Environment
Reading Aloud
Reading aloud is one of the most important ways that children are motivated and supported to become readers, It is essential that children experience hearing texts read aloud in the classroom as a regular part of every school day.
Reading aloud slows written language down so that children can hear and absorb the words, tunes and patterns. It enables children to experience and enjoy stories they might otherwise not meet, enlarging their reading interests and providing access to texts beyond their level of independence as readers. Reading aloud helps children to broaden their repertoire as readers, becoming familiar with a wider range of genres and the work and voice of particular authors. By reading well-chosen books aloud, teachers also help classes to become communities of readers, sharing in the rich experience of a growing range of books they enjoy, get to know well and talk about.
Conversations about books help children to explore and reflect on texts in ways that are made meaningful, personal and pleasurable.
Before reading a book to a class, it is always important for teachers to read it themselves. Reading aloud is a kind of performance. It's helpful to think about the best way to read it and 'lift it off the page' in order to engage children and enable them to respond to the tunes and the meaning.
Re-reading
Opportunities for re-reading a book that they have previously listened to, or read for themselves, helps all children to engage more deeply with it. Reading and re-reading known texts is important for all readers, but particularly so for less experienced readers or those for whom English is an additional language. Re-reading helps to make the text more familiar and enables children to read it more confidently, fluently and with greater attention to the meaning.
“Reading aloud to children may be the single most important thing a teacher does.” Anne Thomas