Do you ever use read-aloud books in your lessons or as a part of homework? Does it go well with the lesson schedule? How do kids feel about that? I have done my share of research about read-aloud and the findings show a significant rise in the interest and the motivation to read with kids after watching a read-aloud story on YouTube. The thing is you can't find all of the books of one author on YouTube so if your kids like a story they would probably be interested in reading another piece by this author. Or they can make their own read-aloud online. I have also gathered a list of the top 25 YouTube Read-Aloud channels which are very popular with kids. The views and comments show that kids are interested and read-aloud books are entertaining and educating. So, what's your experience with read-alouds?
I love read alouds. They were a huge part of my reading instruction in my last district, and they definitely work to grab kids' attention, teach content and vocabulary, and practice a ton of other skills. I rarely use Youtube read alouds if I can help it though; there are a lot of great videos, but also a lot of really terrible ones that don't model fluent and expressive reading. I'd much rather read the book myself, especially because I can also be more responsive to students in terms of questions, checking for comprehension, and teaching points. Videos make that more tedious to me, and they don't always let me point out the features of the book I want students to focus on.
Well, you're right. When you're preparing for a lesson and look through the book you immediately know what questions you want to discuss with your students and what points to motivate them to debate on. Ready-made read-alouds don't allow that, so I guess it's better to leave them for homework at times or just recommend them for self-education.
Read alouds are great, and I find them to be great as part of a lesson. I only tried one year trying to include them in homework--it simply didn't work. I feel the teacher needs to do the read aloud live and in person. YouTube read alouds aren't nearly as good in my opinion.
I guess you're right. We can occasionally give read-alouds as a part of homework, also, only if you tried once and it worked well with kids. But when you read aloud in class you can see the reaction of kids and can engage them in the discussion.
My middle school kids loved read aloud time. I always read the books because I was reading novels or longer stories. Kids get enough screen time as it is, and they get disinterested. If I’m reading, it’s easier to stop and talk about it as needed. When teaching remotely, I made a lot of my own read-aloud videos. They included instruction. It was easier than looking for what I needed.
I often read aloud to my students in class. Quite often for my students, I read useful literature from my point of view, which can instill in them certain moral qualities. With this hyperlink, I have found quite a few articles and books that cover the problem of racism, talk about the cause of this phenomenon, and how to combat racism. I also read this to my students.
You are correct. When you go through the book to prepare for a session, you immediately know what issues you want to address with your students and what points to urge them to argue on. Because ready-made read-alouds do not allow for this, I believe it's best to leave them for homework at times or just recommend them for self-education.
We use a lot of read-to-me / read-aloud books via the getepic program and our son has a lot of fun watching them; however, it's more of a precursor to reading themselves and is much slower than reading once the skill is picked up more. Our older son doesn't really use them at all but does find them entertaining at times. I'd say they're more akin to listening to a radioplay or audiobook but not quite the same as reading, skill/learningwise.
I too, love to read to my students. I like to use books slightly above their median reading level and often choose books that are part of a series to get students hooked on an author. When suddenly the whole class laughs at something, I stop and ask them how the author created humor. After a brief discussion, I'll add that to our chart How to Creat Humor (or suspense or other literary elements). Sometimes I'll put the book under the document camera, and discuss why the author started a new paragraph, or put a comma or semi-colon in a certain place. Overall, a read-aloud is an amazing instructional activity.
I am only a junior working toward becoming a kinder teacher but I have done a lot of observation hours and have spent alot of time at my sisters class the past couple of years (she is a Pre-K teacher). She uses read alouds frequently and the students always enjoy it and respond well to the lesson. It is a great way to incorporate different lessons about almost anything!
