The Importance Of A Successful Read Aloud In The Pre-K Classroom

It is one of the most important strategy teachers can do with a child. Interactively reading aloud to children has them actively involved in the process. A teacher has the children asking questions and making a prediction. Shared reading helps the students build a framework to draw attention to vocabulary. This read aloud strategy should have carefully thought-out questions. For example, a shared reading activity for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: First, point out the cover of the book. One should point to the words as you read the title, the authors, and the illustrator. According to the Resource in Early Learning, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has a lively musical rhythm. As you read, emphasize the beat and rhythm of the words. Have the children join in the lines that repeat. It is also important to point to each letter as you read. After reading the book ask questions such as, “What happens when all the letter get to the top of the tree” or “Let’s count the

Phonemic awareness is a vital role in literacy instruction. Many schools and districts adopt a commercially published basal reading program and it becomes the cornerstone of their instruction ( (David Chard, n.d.). We also know that through investigation and research it has shown us that word-recognition instruction and instruction in oral language skills related to word recognition were inadequately represented. (David Chard, n.d.) The same researchers have found that the reading passages that students are reading didn’t relate to the words they were learning. In order for students to read at grade level or above a supplemental program should be implemented. I have found that at my school we are lacking a phonics program that will reach different students abilities and make them successful in reading. My goal for this paper is to show my district that using a supplemental phonics program aside from our basal phonics program will prove beneficial to strategic readers who fall below grade level.

The read-aloud was a much different experience than what I was expecting and it did not go as smoothly as I anticipated. One issue of the read-aloud was that my student was very withdrawn during the entire read-aloud because he didn’t recognize me. So whenever I asked him questions about the book he only answered by shaking his head yes or no. Moreover, he had a flat affect and this caused difficulty whenever I was gauging whether or not he was enjoying the book. While I don’t think the student enjoyed the book as much as I thought he would, he did try to peek at the next page during an exciting part. I think that I would have had better outcomes if I changed the book and increased the amount of rapport between me and the student.

We entered the room towards the middle of story time, but throughout the remanding reading I noticed a few things. During the reading, the teacher spoke in a monotone voice and had little facial changes. As a child, I remember getting read to and how exciting it was to hear the different voice octaves in the speaker’s voice as they told the story. When the character was saying something exciting her voice, tone, and facial expressions should have changed to represent that excitement. This animation would grab the child’s attention and further build the student’s interest in reading. Additionally, I noticed how half the students seemed to be into the book, eyes focused on the teacher and/or making comments about the book when they felt necessary. On the other hand the rest of the students seemed less focused with wondering eyes that seemed to frequently find us in the back of the room. I didn’t fine my observations during story time too telling because the students were still getting use to us being

Overall, the read aloud lesson was a great experience in which I learned many aspects about myself. I believe that conducting more read aloud lessons would help me improve in tone and fluency for reading. Also, in my opinion, an interactive read aloud is a great way to assess students’ knowledge of the central message of a book. I will use the interactive read aloud lesson in my future classroom ever change I get to help my students be

The book itself contained many questions for students to respond to. In addition to these questions found in the book, I asked students questions to activate and assess their prior knowledge. Some of the questions that are found in the book include “are you ready?” “what do you think will happen?” and “can you remember that?” These questions make it easy for the teacher because the text already includes questions that engage the students. Unlike my prior experience with this book being read aloud, I believe that student engagement and interaction is vital during any read aloud with younger students. The students will interact with the text by taking turns and doing what the text prompts them to do. All the students were very eager to respond to the questions and interact with the text.

By putting the third grade guarantee into place this means that all teachers must be highly qualified to teach the students that fall under the guarantee. According to the Ohio Department of Education each teacher must have at least one year of teaching experience in addition to holding a masters degree with a major in reading, or holding a reading endorsement, or passing the praxis. This definitely affects just more than the students. This is a major overhaul of how education was previously taught.

ABCYa is a site that has valuable learning activities for Pre-K literacy children. The site is found on http://abcya.com/ . The website further possesses essential learning activities for children up to grade 5.

Read alouds are very beneficial for young children. They provide opportunities for learning and connectivity. According to research done by Neal Nghia Nguyen, Patrick Leytham, Peggy Schaefer Whitby, and Jeffrey I. Gelfer (2015) “we know that literacy skills taught during the primary grades to students with special needs or without are critical building blocks for subsequent literacy development” (p.71). Children with disabilities such as Autism spectrum disorder or ASD may face many challenges developing literacy skills.because of the nature of the autism spectrum, some children may find it difficult to focus and or connect during a read aloud which in turn will negatively impact their ability to learn. Moreover, Nguyen et al. (2015) argue

On June 5, 2015, from 2:00-4:00pm, I participated in a guided reading walkthrough at Woodley Hills Elementary School. Prior to this, I had already met with 2 of the reading specialist to get insight on what kind of walkthrough I would be seeing. During that initial meeting, they informed me that WHES was currently a target school for improvement in the area of reading. The school had to create a strategic plan for improving reading levels for all students. Their strategy was to provide professional development in the guided reading program as well as conduct walkthroughs to see if teachers were implementing what they learned and create additional professional development on weak areas.

For my research report, I chose to explore research that the Los Angeles Unified School District conducted. In order to find research reports that were of interest to me, I went to their district website and started browsing their research reports that they have done. I found one that struck my interest called, “An Evaluation of Pre-K Reading Programs.” This research was conducted by the Program Evaluation and Research Branch. According to researchers, Hayes, Maddahian and Fernandez (2002), they wanted to know what the nature was on Pre-K literacy instruction in classrooms, what the difference was in implementation between the two pilot reading programs (Building Literacy for Learners (BLL) and the Letter People (LP)), and what were the effects of the programs on student outcomes (p.4). This made me wonder, will adding extra materials to the curriculum boost academic achievement?

Reading is a skill often taken for granted but it is essential in order to progress in life. For a child being able to read well helps them learn new things, give ideas and enables use of imagination. National literacy trust (2015) suggests that children’s early language skills can have a major impact on a child’s development of literacy skills. Five-year olds with poor language and literacy have a higher risk of underachieving at age seven and beyond. Reading skills encourage more opportunities in life and it can affect a child’s wellbeing if they do not achieve this effectively (Finnegan,2015).

Emerging from infancy, there are also many precautions that can be taken to get children to read in their early years. For example, “Parents can convey important positive impressions about reading by making reading an experience their children will remember and cherish” (“What Parents Can Do,” 2015). Changing your tone of voice for different characters is one of the many strategies that leads children to be more engaged. The different tones create a sensation

During my read aloud I was enthusiastic, and I used prosody during the read aloud. This kept the student engaged. They paid close attention to the story. When I asked a question during the read aloud, they were able to answer them correctly. I also used multiple modes of voice levels during my lesson. For example, I whispered when I wanted the class to whisper. I got loud when I wanted them to be excited and engaged. Another area of strength was that I walked around the classroom and answered questions as well was asked questions to make sure the students understood my expectations and instructions. Asking and answering question gave me the opportunity to understand who needed extra help. For example, I had a couple students who are behind grade level on their reading skills. When I realized they were unable to comprehend the passage, I read the passage to them sentence by sentence so they were able to pick out the clues. These are all elements I want to continue to have and express as a teacher.

Samantha, Brock, Liz, Scott, and Emma will write 2-3 questions before reading and 1 during reading. After reading they will answer their questions. While students are working on this I will be going around the room answering questions, making students are on task, and helping as needed. I will then preview the three vocabulary words on p. 176. Next, I will preview the chapter by giving students a brief summary of the chapter and then partner discussion. Once they discuss with their partner we will have whole class discussion. Next, I will do the Visual Literacy section based on the photo on p. 177. Then, I will preview for tomorrows lesson.