Read with Me
By Tina Kern
Introduction: A Personal Note
Every night I would read to my children. Our favorite book was Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Sometimes they chimed in “reading” with me: “I’ll love you forever/ I’ll like you for always /As long as I’m living/ my baby you’ll be.” As time progressed, we would read the refrain in Spanish: “Para siempre te amará, /Para siempre te querré, /Mientras en mi haya vida, /Siempre serás mi bebé.” Eventually they parroted this with me, too young to connect the words to any meaning, but knowing it gave me joy to hear the words as we spoke them together. We communicated and bonded, taking turns, asking questions, embracing the love.
The Importance of Reading Aloud
A statement from the 1985 report from the Commission on Reading, stated: “The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.” (Anderson, 1985). Jim Trelease wrote several editions of his book called The Read Aloud Handbook. “We read aloud to children for the same reasons we talk with them: to reassure, entertain, bond, inform, arouse curiosity, and inspire. But reading aloud goes further than conversation when: It conditions the child to associate reading with pleasure; creates background knowledge.” (Trelease, 2006). As a result, some homes filled with books as people embraced the importance of reading. Some schools conveyed information and distributed books to families so communities of readers were created. Educators shared the message that reading in any language is critical and leads to success in schools.
Reading Aloud in School
There are definite benefits to reading aloud to students in school. As teachers, we help develop their listening skills. In addition, the skills of patience and paying attention with sustained concentration are developed, skills which are essential when students read independently. As the teacher reads the words become alive so that students are aware that words are not just printed letters on a page. Students can use the skill of visualization as they become involved in the story. As they are introduced to various topics, it is a method of building background, especially with picture books. For ELLs, reading aloud and choral reading can be utilized, especially with chants, patterned text, predictable text, etc. Here the teacher can use gestures and voice to enhance meaning.
Reading in school, though, also holds the key to many other skills that promote success for students. Teachers need to awaken the joy and wonder of reading, but there is a higher purpose, especially as the students get older and need more rigor that only true comprehension of reading and the skills associated with them can achieve. Teachers are passed the baton to foster reading. Their responsibility though, is more multifaceted. There are objectives and curriculum. There is a responsibility to integrate the skills, and create “good readers”. Anchor charts are posted: Good readers make meaning of words. Good readers create pictures. Teachers attempt to ignite curiosity while instructing students in the skills and strategies that will guide them for future success in school. As educators know, reading is the backbone of almost every content area.
With this weighty responsibility, what should teachers be doing to make a difference and promote the highest quality reading lesson? Many times, students are mesmerized by a picture book that elicits visions and fosters imagination. In various forms teachers read to their students in almost every grade. The vast responsibility of carrying on the beauty of reading is innate as teachers. A love of reading is important, but being able to understand the building blocks of reading translates into success in academics in school. Reading takes on a different meaning in the school setting. What is the purpose of being able to read in school? When we go beyond the mechanics of reading, what is the academic purpose that underlies our reading lessons?
When visiting classrooms, one can observe teachers incorporating rigor while filling in the gaps, an almost overwhelming task. As a result, every minute of every school day has gained infinite importance – that there is no time to “waste”. Periods of time are orchestrated like a well-practiced symphony, gathering the types of activities and presenting them for students to be as effective and make the greatest impact.
Sometimes teachers in upper elementary and middle schools read chapters to their students, gesticulating and reading in voices that reflect the mood of the passages. When the bell rings for the end of the period, their reading voice settles, as they reluctantly stop, and dismiss the class. In one class being observed, as students filed out of a classroom, some were suppressing a yawn, some leaving quickly as they disposed of the book that was open to the same page on the desk during the reading. Others left having enjoyed the story, but when it stopped abruptly, did not have a chance to internalize what really happened during the reading. The teacher seemed to be working harder than her students. In fact, some students were not engaged. Two students were playing with their pens. Three students were staring, but not following along in the book at all. Some students were looking down, but not tracking in their books either. The question is, what was the purpose of reading the complete chapter of the book? What did the students learn? What did they understand? The teacher was very skillful in her rendition. She asked several questions, but all were answered by a handful of the same students. Her effort was palpable. If her purpose was to finish the chapter of a book that was part of the curriculum, she was successful. That chapter was over. But the learning was not.
Importance of Reading Complexity
One of the wonderings after that class was to what extent did all of the students understand the text? The class was diverse, encompassing mainstream students and ELLs. The book was complex and integrated some idioms, complex sentences and references to the American past with words that reflected this era. When examining the student population in the classroom and the data, it was found that there were students with a variety of Lexile levels, some quite below the Lexile of the book read to them. In this case, the book was about a 785 Lexile, while some students were only at a 350 Lexile! Lexile is one method to measure the difficulty of a text. This was a group lesson, with expectations that probably couldn’t be met by all of the students. Content, complexity of the text and the reading level must be examined before presenting a text. Maybe this teacher’s purpose was to expose the book to all of the students, one chapter at a time. But what was the “takeaway” from the lesson from the students’ points of view? What did they learn? Was the time used wisely? Could the teacher have used some strategies to engage the students as she read? Beyond that, the question also becomes should teachers be reading complete chapters or books to students? Would smaller excerpts be more productive? What was the next step? If this novel was several hundred lexiles above some of the students’ independent reading level, how would the book be continued, and ultimately completed by them? Perhaps there was another version of the text, one with reduced English text.
One Solution
One solution to offering only one article or text to a class comprised of so many levels is to find readings that have alternative versions of the same material. Teachers must assess the complexity of the text, and then assess the appropriateness of the version for the students. This is an example of “One size doesn’t fit all.” For example, with nonfiction articles, the website, Newsela, https://newsela.com/ , presents the articles on various Lexile levels so that the entire class can extract the same basic information, but with comprehensible input, since that site reduces the complexity of the sentences and vocabulary to meet the needs of the levels of the students. There are books and sites that offer various articles and books, or versions of the same basic story on different lexiles and/or grade levels. In this way students can read parallel texts. There are publishers that have classics presented in graphic stories or less complex versions. Also, there are free websites such as CommonLit https://www.commonlit.org/en and ReadWorks, https://www.readworks.org/ , which present the same text on different Lexile levels. The challenge of finding the Lexile of the novel or passage can easily be solved by various online sites. Here is one site: https://lexile.com/parents-students/find-books-at-the-right-level/lookup-a-books-measure/. Sometimes an educator finds a passage that seems apropos to a lesson, but there is no indication of the level. Having an innocuous label “Second Grade” is often deceiving. There are so many factors that go into the determination of a Lexile that sometimes two different sites might deviate by several Lexiles. Teachers can check the levels of some passages by using this tool, the text analyzer: https://hub.lexile.com/analyzer . At other times there is a need to reduce the complexity of the text, which can be accomplished at https://rewordify.com/ .
Passive vs. Active Listening
Another observation is the inattention of some students who could not maintain their concentration for an extended time of listening and concentration necessary for long periods of reading aloud. Kate Kinsella (2021) expounds upon this “passive listening”. To be disengaged from the oral reading, perhaps not even listening at all, means that the lesson is totally ineffective for that student. It is one way communication and mechanical. Many students do not engage in the oral reading activity for many reasons. The story could be too difficult to understand, the language could be too complex, or perhaps the students’ mode of learning is not auditory. There are many methods to create more interaction for students during read aloud stories, especially at the upper levels. There must be active listeners who interact with the lesson.
If teachers are tasked with providing novels as part of the curriculum, hopefully there are parallel texts, or choices of novels so that students can interact with the book and move forward in skills and comprehension. To present a book that is levels beyond the independent reading level of the student defeats any purpose. If the student is being read to by the teacher, then it is understandable if the student is not being engaged, and, therefore, distracted. First, the student will not enjoy the reading, and will be passively listening – or not listening at all. Also, energy will be expelled just to understand the reading, instead of having the reading elevate the skills and move the student forward. Reading then becomes a burden and something to be avoided.
Texts should be broken into manageable segments. In following the teaching method of “I do, we do, you do”, the book can be introduced and a section can be read aloud to activate interest, modeled so that the mood and style is established, and lead to the next part, “we do”. Here the teacher can involve the students by incorporating strategies such as cloze or echo reading. When the students have a copy of the book or a chapter, the students can be active participants. If a copy is not available, the section can be projected, or part of the chapter can be scanned, provided online to the student or they can have a hard copy. In cloze reading, the teacher can alert the students that certain words, phrases or sentences will be read by the students. As the teacher models this technique, she reads and then pauses. With gestures, the students are encouraged to continue when the teacher pauses until the end of the sentence. Echo reading is when a teacher reads sentences or parts of a text to model the reading for the students. The students repeat the section after the teacher in order to build oral fluency and accuracy. It also helps promote interaction.
Kate Kinsella (2021), in a recent webinar hosted by Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, talked about other factors that are not conducive to fluency and reading comprehension, including popcorn reading. In popcorn reading, a student reads and then chooses another student to continue reading after they say, “Popcorn”. During this activity, many students try to ascertain what they will be expected to read, and concentrate more on the ability to read the words aloud, instead of putting all of the parts together for comprehension. There are other more purposeful effective strategies to hold the attention of students and check for understanding.
When reading aloud, the students must take ownership of the reading, feel included and delve into the reading with purpose. To that end, the teacher should be providing background knowledge so the students get ready for the journey they will take together. The teacher should introduce vocabulary that is integral to the meaning of the story. Providing the words and the meanings will allow the students to concentrate on the other reading skills and help the student comprehend the selection. Checks on comprehension can be accomplished by infusing questions, discussions, double entry journals and graphic organizers, among other activities. Student led discussions and creative projects, such as Flipgrid videos can be planned to check comprehension.
Conclusion
Teachers must distinguish between recreational reading, informational reading, and instructional reading. When reading is the means to navigate the academic world of school, then the lesson must be planned so that reading is a vehicle to that end. The joy of reading is then couched within the strategically planned lesson so that students are seamlessly led through the skills and strategies to boost their understanding and infuse knowledge that will be added to the students’ toolboxes as they continue their education successfully.
The Author – Tina Kern is a Professor-in-Residence at William Paterson University, and provides professional development, coaching and mentoring at two schools in the Paterson School District. She is also an adjunct professor at WPU and Kean University, with an MA in education, and NJ certifications in ESL, Bilingual Education, English, Spanish, and Elementary Education. Her experience includes mentoring teachers, being a Program Assistant and teaching ESL, and Bilingual Language Arts in the Morris School District for 30 years.
References:
Anderson, R C. (1985). Becoming a Nation of Readers: The Report on the Commission Reading. Washington Institute of Education, Washington, D.C.
Kinsela, K. (2021). Techniques and Tools for Supporting Multilingual Learners in Interpreting and Constructing Informational Text. [Webinar]
Trelease, J. (2006). Why Read Aloud to Children. [Brochure].