Step 6
Adult read aloud
Reading aloud is your opportunity to help children fall in love with reading, build comprehension, and enrich vocabulary by sharing excellent books. Use all that you learned in the wee read training and tips in the Lit Kit Magazine.
Choosing books
- Visit your library and choose high quality literature. Start by considering the Caldecott award winners list or “50 books to read before you are 8” list in the Lit Kits.
- Find those “high interest” books that are sure to engage your student.
- Try to choose fiction and nonfiction books.
- Read books from diverse cultures.
- Read multiple books by a favourite author.
- Be sure to choose a book that you love so that you can read it with enthusiasm.
Conversation and comprehension during and after reading aloud
Engage in conversation before, during and after reading to foster comprehension. Consider some of these comprehension strategies and related questions and prompts.
Background knowledge
“What do you already know about this?”
“Does this remind you of something in your life?”
Predicting
“What do you think will happen next?”
Questioning
Think aloud and model rereading when something is unclear.
“Hmm, I wonder what that means? Let’s read that again.”
Inferencing
Read between the lines.
“Why do you think the character said that?”
Visualizing
“What do you imagine or see when you read this part?”
Self-monitoring
“Does that make sense to you? Which character does she refer to?”
Summarizing
“What was most important in this book? ”
You can also consider creating a concept map or a story map together.
Vocabulary
Discuss 2-3 important words from the book. “What do you think this word means? How does the context of the sentence give you clues about what the word means?”
Tips!
Pre-read your book so that you can practice modeling expressive and fluent reading and identify key questions to pose.
While these recommended comprehension and vocabulary questions are important for building understanding, too much conversation may interrupt the flow of the story. Follow your student’s lead and watch for opportunities to build on their comments and questions.
