Read-Aloud and its many Benefits (with FREEBIE)

Read aloud is an activity where an adult will read to a child to assist them with their reading development. Many educators know the benefit of read-aloud in the classroom and encourage parents to do the same at home. The best time for read-aloud at home is when your child is relaxed and calm. Traditionally, many parents read-aloud to their kids before going to bed at night. You can also read to your kids in the wee-morning hours of the day, as their attention and knowledge retention is peaked at that time.

What is read-aloud?
Read-aloud is an activity where an adult or child will read aloud a text in a clear and loud voice. The adult lets the child finish reading before making any corrections. It is recommended that a child reads every day for 15 minutes. This can be in the form of read-aloud or quiet reading.

What is the parent's role during read-aloud?
A parent's commitment and involvement are key when it comes to reading aloud with your child. The parent guides their child as he/she reads or reads the complex/struggling parts for them. You are your child's guide and teacher during read-aloud. So tread carefully through each component of the text and read each word clearly, paying close attention to pronunciation. If, as a parent, you are unsure of how things should be done, then you should read the book beforehand. This gives you time to come up with ideas for questions, understand important messages or themes of the story, spot key vocabulary, and/or the personal characteristics of the story's characters.

© Everything Family Guide

What types of books to choose for read-aloud?

• Poetry is the best book choice for read-aloud. Use age appropriate poetry books like Nursery rhymes or "The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury" by Jack Prelutsky. Poetry reading teaches the child to read simple text with rhymes, rich descriptive terms, and multiple meanings. It allows your child to think about something with a different perspective which leads to a great discussion to build their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
• Picture Books are beneficial for readers of all ages. They are especially suitable for little guys aged 3 to 8, as it allows them to depict the meaning or theme of the story by looking at lively illustrations. Picture books are great to use for retelling or summarizing stories. Occasionally, I let my pre-reader to tell me the story of the book just by looking at pictures in his own words. This skill builds on vocabulary and reading comprehension development.
• Audio Books are great to use for a change. It is always refreshing to hear a story from someone else’s voice or point of view. Audio books are related to read aloud as the reader follows along with the author or story reader. You can give your child a pointer like a Popsicle stick with a googley eye stuck to the top (my son loves it!).
• Factual or Non-Fiction Books are also good to teach read-aloud. Kids are naturally very curious and love to learn about things in the world. Choosing a topic that interests them goes a long way. For example, if your child loves dinosaurs, then it's a great opportunity for you explore prehistoric dinosaurs and their characteristics. Factual books are a good opportunity for your child to develop their vocabulary.
• Finally, Cookbooks are also great to build on read-aloud skills. Have your child look at the pictures and read instructions out loud before every step so that you can progress together. For little readers, it is important for the parent to read-aloud the text to make it easier.

What are some activities that you can do before, during, and after read-aloud to make it a more effective learning experience for your child?

• Brainstorming - the best way to start a book is by looking at the picture on the cover page or by reading the title. Title and the picture help your child infer what the book is about.
• Inferring - as you read the story, you can infer or make predictions about what will happen next. It is also good to infer or make a prediction before a problem in the story can be solved or how are some other ways that a story can end.
• Asking Questions - the best way to ask questions is through inferring. The best types of questions are open-ended questions that lead to more questions and opens the channel for discussion.
• Discussion - I love to take a break during reading to discuss about a topic or theme that is related to what we are reading. This is an opportunity to scaffold/activate prior learning about a topic. For example, if you are reading about winter animals, then one topic can be about how winter weather helps certain animals survive the winter atmosphere or environment.
• Summarizing or Retelling - It is important to summarize what you read at the end with a lesson you learned, the morale of the story or how the story turned out by going over main points or story themes.

How to make Read-aloud fun and interesting for your child? Match everything you do with the story text and the pictures.

• Match your voice to the characters in the story.
• Make animal, movement sounds or other sound effects (i.e. howling of the wind, the crow of the rooster, birds chirping, opening of the door, etc.).
• Act out the story or various parts of the story as a form of reader's theater (where readers tell the story using vocal expression).
• Always ask questions to keep your child engaged.

Reading aloud to your child is a great learning experience and you can start from an early age. In the beginning, some children may persist or some may like the book read to them at a different time in the day. Finally, I cannot begin to say that the love of reading that you instill in your child's heart is forever.

Fun fact: if you read to your child every day for 15 minutes that equals to 5475 minutes or 91.25 hours in one year.

On a side note: it is okay to read your child's favorite book more than once.

Freebie: I have made a read-aloud chart that you can print in plain and color to track all those reading session and to instill a love of reading.

Have fun reading, 

Annie