Eve Johannesen

Dr. Kindig
READ 366
5 October 2014
Why Are Read Alouds Important?
I strongly believe that read alouds are an important necessity for developing
children for four reasons: read alouds improve language development, build basic
literacy skills, provide new knowledge, and create a connection between the teacher
and students.
Recently, I had the exceptional opportunity to perform my own read aloud to a
kindergarten class. I had some concerns going into it (i.e. will the students
understand the story line, will the students be able know certain words, etc.). I read
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert and I chose this childrens book because my
cooperating teacher just started a unit on the season fall. So, the story is about a
narrator who saved a single leaf from his/her maple tree and goes into detail about
how the tree was originally planed. I then followed up on the story with a brief
discussion about seasons and asked each student which season they enjoyed most.
I noticed while reading through the story, several hands were raised. After I had
the chance to finish reading the page I was on, some students asked what certain
words meant. A boy in the class asked what the word transplant meant and to the
best of my ability I tried to explain the definition to a kindergarten child who was
developmentally lower than the rest of his class. Through this story about the
seasons and nature, the children were exposed to numerous new vocabulary words,
but still understood the meaning behind the story.
Read alouds in the classroom develop a childs comprehension. How will we, as
teachers, know if our students fully understand books that we share with them?
There are a number of methods to test a childs comprehension. But isnt it so simple
and beneficial to forwardly ask students what are you thinking? Discussing books
allows the class to think out loud and learn from each other. For example, if Tim
says, I like the ending we should expand on his observation and ask additional
questions like Why did you like the ending?
The story structure is also a major component of a successful read aloud. A story
structure such as Read Leaf, Yellow Leaf allows for extension activities including
science lessons and math lessons. Also, story structure is important because it
keeps the students actively engaged in the book. Theres nothing worse than reading
a story to a class and seeing them all squirming around on the rug not paying
attention.
I found very little prosody to Read Leaf, Yellow Leaf. It didnt read like an
interesting rhythm, but rather a factual, uninteresting story. Prosody in childrens
books holds students attentions as they notice patterns and rhythms in the way the
book is read to them.
Finally, read alouds instill an early love of reading and literature. We should
encourage children to explore and experience literature in a positive way before
they become discouraged by outside influences.