Play It Again! Growing Readers with Online Read-Alouds

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

If I could, I would read aloud to my students all day long--as a class, in small groups, individually on the carpet. Nothing is more powerful than the shared experience of rich literature to develop readers' minds--and their hearts. In particular, poetry performed out loud grows sensitive readers.

My students are a diverse group of 2nd graders with a wide range of home literacy experiences.

Every one of them--but particularly those who haven't had extensive read-aloud opportunities at home--can benefit from daily listening to a skilled read-aloud of a variety of texts. This summary of research from the Reading Rockets website says it best: “Listening to others read develops key understanding and skills…Reading aloud demonstrates the relationship between the printed word and meaning… and invites the listener into a conversation with the author….Children can listen on a higher language level than they can read, so reading aloud makes complex ideas more accessible and exposes children to vocabulary and language patterns that are not part of everyday speech…. It exposes less able readers to the same rich and engaging books that fluent readers read on their own, and entices them to become better readers. “

My Project

Since I can't really spend ALL day reading aloud myself, picture four 7- and 8-year-olds tucked up in corners, on the carpet, on bean bag chairs, engrossed in a read-aloud story, poetry collection or nonfiction book of their choice. Meanwhile, I'll be meeting with small groups to model the deep satisfaction that the reading experience offers, along with its underlying decoding and comprehension skills. The four Amazon Fire internet-connected tablets I'm requesting will allow *every* child the opportunity to select and hear books read aloud *every* day, using our school's wi-fi connection and websites such as One More Story, Unite for Literacy, The Poetry Foundation and many more. The experience of hearing nuanced, fluent reading, especially poetry, will improve students' vocabulary and build their comprehension--both cognitive and emotional. It's not quite the same as the face-to-face version of read-aloud, but it multiplies the opportunities to hear good literature immensely.

I will continue to use the limited cassette and CD listening center technology that I always have, but I know that today's kids will much prefer the tablet-and-earphones experience, and the range of online books available has exploded.

I look forward to offering this daily "Listen to Reading" option to my students. The tablets' built-in cameras and other feature will be useful for many classroom projects, such as the class blog I'm planning. Thanks for your support!