Do you think it is appropriate to do a read aloud with a 9th grade (regular) English class? A lot of my students do not like reading, and I thought I'd try to get them interested by reading a book TO them for the first 10 minutes or so of every class. What do you think about this? What suggestions do you have? What guidelines do you set up for the students? Does anyone have any books to suggest? Sorry for all the questions!
I think reading aloud is a GREAT thing to do for kids of all ages. It gives them a chance to hear the proper voice, tone, and style. I teach 8th grade English, but I read The Westing Game to my class. (I just like that book.) I wanted them to hear the way an author focuses on characters. The reading teacher 2 years ago read Tuesdays With Morrie to those 8th graders. They LOVED that. There was one other she read, but it escapes me. I use a writing workshop, but every lesson begins with a short read aloud. After a while, I had a few kids ask to read the selected novel to the class. Give it a try. Some good guidelines might be: quiet during reading focus on listening to the way it is read close eyes (it can help them put the pictures in their head) nothing in hand while teacher reads dim lights (maybe) If nothing else, it is a good way to focus the class on just being in class. Good luck. Kim
Yes, READ!!! The Chicken Soup for the Soul books are great. They have several for the "Teens" which have stories, quotes and poems geared just for teens. Current Events are always good especially if it's interesting (look for "weird" news). Another thing my almost teens (6th graders) love is ghost or scary stories. I read them scary stories in October and they still beg for them in March. "Why don't you read us scary stories anymore?" too funny!!! Anyway, if you don't want to read, buy audiobooks of novels or short stories. Kids of ALL ages enjoy being read to.
You might also consider using a book on CD. I know that I love listening to the voices of the readers... usually they're so velvety and animated that I can't help but get into the story.
I should add that I'm planning on doing read-alouds in my Latin class. I did them sporadically last year, and next year I'm planning to do them on a weekly basis. I read in the target language for 5 or 10 minutes. I think it helps the students get used to the proper flow, syllabication, framing, phrasing, vowel sounds, consonant sounds, and diphthongs. It also helps them just get a sort of sense of the language. Like, even if we don't know French, we can usually tell if a person is speaking it. Well, a lot of people don't know what Latin sounds like, and I think that Latin students should! Latin sounds a lot like Italian, by the way. Only better.
Sounds great. I read poems a 7th grade class every now and again for a change of pace and they loved it! I have heard other teachers recommend that you have them silently read from books like Chicken Soup for the soul and have them bookmark favorite stories. Then after a few days you read aloud some of their favorite stories.
I think reading aloud to students is a great way to start a class. Ask the librarian for some new books that the kids might enjoy. This way it might be something they haven't already read.
I teach 7th grade, but I do a year long read aloud w/ all of my classes. Last year I read the novel "Flipped" by Van Draanen. If we ever had ANY time left over at the end of the period, I reviewed where we left off in the book and then kept reading. The kids LOVE this novel (it's very funny and deals w/ crushes and stuff) and LOVED the read aloud. They'd ASK if we could read! I usually read about 3 times a week. I had little sticky tabs numbered for each class period and kept it in the book! Easy as pie and helped me have instruction from bell to bell. GO FOR IT!
