Read Aloud is Magical

There is something magical about having a shared reading experience as a class. It pulls us closer together as a community. It helps us think more deeply and consider new perspectives. It helps activate our thinking. It helps us make connections with ourselves and the larger world.  

Read Aloud is magical. For instance, when you notice your students are hanging onto the edge of their seats, ears and eyes alert as you read slowly–emphasizing a character’s actions, s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g out the tension, making them wait in anticipation. 

Read Aloud is magical. When your students gasp and then groan and then try to convince you that they will trade in their independent reading time for more read aloud. They just NEED to know what happens next. It’s SO unfair that we ended on a cliffhanger. You always do that Mrs. K! 

Read Aloud is magical. You go on adventures to new and unexpected places, to familiar places, to places where you can see yourself and to places where you can learn alongside the characters. 

Read Aloud is magical. It’s a time in our day where we share our noticings and our theories. We jot and add sketches, we dive back into the text again and again. It’s a place where we confirm and sometimes challenge each other’s thinking. 

Read Aloud is magical.

Part of Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers March Slice a Day Challenge! I’m slicing every day this month. Thanks for stopping by.