Story time is extremely important in the growth of language, comprehension strategies, and the development of story structures (for writing or telling). In my class I read, react to the story, ask questions, ask students to make predictions, talk about the emotions inferred by pictures or text clues, etc.
At Columbia University, they call these "Read Alouds with Accountable Talk." Reading this way, is so much more than reading words on a page. See below for some information I have from the Teacher's College at Columbia University.
"Teachers use ‘think alouds’ as opportunities to model that strong readers don’t just read the words but also think about the story. For example, if you stop in the middle of a chapter and say, “I can’t believe the character is acting this way. I wonder why she’s being like this…” you demonstrate to your students that readers question the characters and wonder about their motivations. If you think aloud by saying, “I bet she’s going to lose the bracelet,” you model that readers make
predictions as they read. When you say to your class, “I want just to reread that part again. I was
daydreaming and lost the story,” you teach that rereading is a strategy, readers reread to regain
comprehension.
Besides thinking aloud, you will provide opportunities throughout the book for children to turn
and talk to each other about the text. Prompt the class by saying something like, “Turn and tell your
neighbor what you think will happen next,” or “Let’s think about what’s going on here. Turn and talk to your neighbor about what you think (so and so) is thinking right now.”
To prepare for the interactive read aloud, reread the text in a really thoughtful way. Spy on yourself as you read in order to notice a few places in each chapter where your brain does a lot of reading-work. Note those sections. Later, review each one. Ask, “Was I doing a lot of thinking here because the text is written in such a way that lots of readers will be thinking at this section? (or was your response totally idiosyncratic?) If the section of the text seems to ask for a thoughtful response, you may decide use this as an opportunity to teach:
• You may “think aloud.” This means you’ll pause at this section of the text and be pensive aloud.
“Hmmm… something weird is going on. It’s giving me the creeps!” you might say. Or “Why’s
he so mad? I’m going to read to find out.” Don’t say a lot… a line or two is usually enough. "
I hope this gives you some ideas about how to make read alouds more fun at home :)
Here are some stories we've been reading lately
