As an upper elementary school teacher, you are always looking for ways to improve your students’ reading skills and foster a love of reading. One way to do this is to implement a read-aloud time in your classroom. Read-aloud time is an opportunity for students to listen to their teacher read a book out loud, improving their vocabulary, comprehension, and reading fluency. Read-aloud time can be a powerful tool for building literacy skills.
How to implement read-aloud time in an upper elementary classroom.
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Choose the Right Book:
Choosing the right book is essential for a successful read-aloud time. You want to choose a book that is appropriate for your students’ reading level, interests, and age group. Consider using books that are relevant to the curriculum or books that are part of a series as a hook so that students may choose to continue with the series on their own.
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Create a Routine:
Set a schedule for your read-aloud time, and make sure your students know when it is. This can be a daily or weekly activity, and it should be consistent. This will help your students develop a routine and get excited about read-aloud time. For my classroom, we’d read a chapter every day after lunch recess to help transition from the chaos of lunch and recess to the classroom. -
Create a Reading Environment:
Creating a reading environment can help your students get into the right mindset for read-aloud time. This can include dimming the lights and/or using a special reading area. This doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy. In my classroom, I had a living room chair I found for $20 at a garage sale, a square of carpet that I bought fairly cheap at Lowes, and a couple of cheap bean bag chairs. The kids were allowed to stay at their desks or lounge in the carpeted area. We had a revolving schedule for bean bag privileges.
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Engage Your Students:
Engaging your students during read-aloud time is crucial for building literacy skills and comprehension. You can do this by asking open-ended questions, encouraging discussion, and having students predict what will happen next in the story. Don’t forget to laugh with them during the humourous parts too! Students LOVE to laugh with you! -
Follow-Up Activities:
This part is optional based on your objectives for this time. For me, I just wanted a time of freedom to just love reading, so other than the discussion we had as we read, I didn’t follow up with any activities or assessments. You might feel like you need more so you can follow up with activities after read-aloud time that can reinforce the concepts and vocabulary introduced during the reading. This can include writing prompts, vocabulary quizzes, or even arts and crafts activities related to the story.
Read-aloud time is an important part of an upper elementary classroom’s literacy program to improve your students’ reading skills. By choosing the right book, establishing a routine, creating a comfortable reading environment, engaging your students, and providing follow-up activities, you can make read-aloud time an effective and enjoyable experience for your students.
Are you interested in reading about and sharing ideas with other educators on using children’s literature in your classroom? My goal is to bring together teachers and homeschoolers who teach grades 3-8 and use novels with their students. I’d love for you to join me to learn, share, and grow together!
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