Interactive Read Aloud time is an important component of Reading Workshop. It is an engaging and enjoyable period of time where all students gather to listen and learn from the same text. There are so many benefits to including Interactive Read Aloud into your already busy Language Arts Schedule. Here are some of the top benefits:
One of my favourite things to do during my reading block is to incorporate Science and Social Studies concepts. There are many amazing books out there that allow all students to reach grade level content in an enjoyable manner. For example, when introducing students to Residential Schools, reading Shi-shi-etko is one of my favourite activities. I love how this book allows students to develop empathy for others and a better understanding of a very complicated concept. In Science, my favourite series to use is from the Innovative Press. “How to Survive as a Shark” and “How to Survive as a Firefly” are both hilarious and very informative books. They are a hybrid between fiction and non fiction texts. Students enjoy the humor of the books and you will enjoy all of the scientific vocabulary and research skills that you can introduce!
Oftentimes English Language Learners are able to understand higher level texts than they can decode to access themselves. Interactive read aloud provides the perfect opportunity for those students to practice their higher level comprehension skills. By including turn and talk opportunities in your interactive read aloud, you provide ELL students with crucial oral language practice. Furthermore, if you read a book that incorporates Science or Social Studies concepts, it is a great way to frontload crucial vocabulary terms.
I love that after reading a text during read aloud time, I am able to reuse it for the rest of the yearduring small group instruction. Using mentor texts during reading strategy small groups is a super powerful teaching practice. However, in a 10 minute reading group, there is NOT time to read an entire mentor text. Therefore, once you have read a book during interactive read aloud time, it becomes the perfect text to incorporate into your strategy lessons. Students have already heard and interacted with the text and are therefore able to use it again, after only rereading one or two pages.
There are so many great reading strategies that students can practice during Interactive Read Aloud Time. You can think aloud to model skills like making connections and predicting. Students can turn and talk to practice inferring and identifying the main idea. The options are truly endless.
Are you interested in incorporating Interactive Read Aloud into your upper elementary classroom?Click on the pictures below to be taken to the interactive read aloud products in my TPT store. These lessons are very thorough and easy to follow. A great way to make your teacher life much easier!
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