Hints on How to Read Aloud to a Group

Listening to literature being read aloud is one of the most valuable and pleasurable experiences beginning readers and writers can have. Read alouds should be part of every child’s day.

Story time, circle time, and read alouds offer a chance to model good reading and thinking strategies and to expose young learners to a rich variety of literature. When this exposure is accompanied by supportive and engaging discussions, children are able to extend their world view and develop important critical thinking skills.

The following are some helpful hints that will help you make the most of your read aloud time.

Plan enough time for each session (15-20 minutes)

You’ll want to give yourself and the children enough time to read aloud, to enjoy, and to discuss the story, poem, or information text.

Choose stories or texts that respond to children’s interests and experiences

For very young children or emergent readers, choose books with vivid pictures, a strong story line, engaging characters, and evocative language. Humorous and predictable books are particularly successful.

Preview the book before you read it with the group so you can anticipate questions or reactions

Practice reading the book through so you can decide where to pause for emphasis and where to elicit questions, predictions, or reactions.

Introduce the book to the group

Point out the cover illustration, title, and author. Invite the children to predict what the book is about, and talk about how the book might connect to their own experience or to other books they’ve heard or read. You can also give a brief explanation about why you chose to read the book. “This is the story of a boy who goes on an unusual trip. I chose it because you just came back from a trip.” Or “This is the story about a special friendship between a mouse and a whale. I have read this many times. I wonder what you will think about it.”

Read with expression

Let your voice reflect the tone of the story or the personalities of the characters. Don’t read too fast. Vary your pace so you can pause for emphasis. Allow time for children to think about what’s happening or what might come next.

Build in time for listeners to respond along the way

Allow time for children to study the pictures as you read, make comments, and ask questions about the story.

Encourage predictions

Ask children what they think will happen next. Help them confirm or revise these predictions as the story unfolds. Try to honor many ideas and interpretations, not just the “correct” ones. Instead of accepting or rejecting comments or ideas as right or wrong, use comments such as “That’s one possibility, let’s see what the author has in mind.” or “Well that’s an interesting idea. How did you think of that?”

Watch your audience

Watch the children’s expressions and body language and be sensitive to signs of boredom or confusion. You may need to change your reading plan, change the book, or do more preparation next time.

Save time at the end of the story to get reactions

Ask open-ended questions that don’t have right or wrong answers and that can’t be answered with a yes or no reply. For instance, ask what the child liked (or disliked) about the book and why. You may ask what he or she thought about the characters or how the problem was solved. Find out if the book made listeners think of any personal experiences or other books they’ve heard or read.

Point out parts of the story you noticed or especially liked

Show the children special language patterns or phrases or parts of the text that made you feel or visualize something. Ask children if there were other parts of the book they noticed.

Remember that for some children, listening to stories is a new experience

Some children aren’t used to being read to and will need to develop that interest and ability. Start with short, interesting stories with strong pictures. In some cases, allow active children to manipulate play dough or to draw while listening. Be responsive to facial expressions and body language.

Encourage discussion about the story

Ask the children questions about what’s going on and encourage them to predict what will come next. Be sure, though, not to turn the discussion into a quiz!

Most importantly: Have a good time!

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1. Look at the cover. Feel the cover. Imagine the sticker.2. Take the paper jacket off and check out the inside cover. I am sure there is a word for this part of the book, but I only have my non-librarian training to fall back on. Note whether the inside cover is is different from the paper jacket or the same. (I am looking at Frog Song right now, and the enormous frog on the inside cover made me burst out laughing. Such a contrast from the serious red jacket frog.)3. Now, examine the end pages. Those are the pages that are glued onto the hard cover. Sometimes the endpapers are illustrated or decorated, sometimes they are simply solid heavy paper. Note that. Are the back endpapers the same as the front? Do the choices make sense? Is anything important going to be covered when the book is processed in the library? (If so, this book is in Serious Jeopardy. A moment of silence for one of my favorites during MY year.)4. Title page is usually next for me. Decorated? Plain? I am never sure who decides on endpapers and title page design, but these are important decisions. If it's dull, I take note. Since the title page often has a lot of white space, this is when I usually notice if the paper choice works for the book.5. Read the book all the way through without reading the words. I know. But this has to be essentially a visual experience. Does it hold up with no words? (This is NOT to say the words don't matter, it's just important — at least to me — to see how the book works without words.) LOOK AT THE PICTURES VERY SLOWLY. This was the hardest part for me when I started reading and evaluating picture books. You just don't want to miss any detail. Read from left to right, paying very close attention to the page turns. Pay attention to white space and pacing.6. Read the book with the words. Do the pictures play well with the words? Do the illustrations extend the text? How does the illustrator tell her story? (I know, I know, most Caldecott winners are men, but maybe the feminine pronoun will subliminally influence the committee.) How does line, color, texture, white space, etc. tell the story? Is the art consistent from page to page? Always notice the page turns.7. Go back and check every single gutter. The Caldecott committee members take a pinky swear to examine every damn one of them. Does the art match up across the gutter? Is a main character sliced in half by one? If something "gets lost in the gutter," murmurs of disappointment will cause the chair to sigh deeply. The nominator of the book might wipe away a tear.8. Caldecott committee members get seven nominations each. That's all. (Look at our fun and fabulous preliminary list . Only seven could remain for our mythical committee member when December rolls around.) So, for a book to move forward in an individual committee member's mind, it has to "beat out" all the others that have been submitted and suggested. So, things get serious at step 8. It's here that a reader has to look at that part of the criteria that talks about things that detract from the illustrations: "Such other components might include the written text, the overall design of the book, etc." I refer you to my rant last year.9. At this point, the initial reading is over and the real fun begins.