Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Reading Aloud - Katie Wood Ray
I love this book, and I think this chapter was fabulous, inspiring, encouraging, and full of great ideas. I wholeheartedly believe in the value of read alouds, and I think Katie Wood Ray does an excellent job of expressing their importance. On page 67, she says "read-aloud time diminishes...in classrooms where most students are reading independently." I find this to be true; time is always such an issue! I believe we need to be truly purposeful in incorporating many read alouds into our school day. I am the type of reader who gets completely lost in a book. I become one of the characters and live in the setting of the book. When a really good book is over, I am sad! Reading is such a huge part of my life, and I enjoy it so very much. I want to be the type of teacher that creates that kind of love for reading in my students. Reading and hearing literature does so much for students' writing lives. Through the Midlands Writing Project I was a part of in June, I learned to view my life through my "writer's eyes." I think that we can get all students to do this very same thing when we give them ample reading and listening experiences. It is also very important for students to practice reading aloud. When they own it, they can see the true value in it. The spoken word is just as important as the written or read. I am also learning that it is okay to read only part of a book - sometimes finishing it later and sometimes not. The importance is exposing the students to and immersing the students in the language. We don't want them to get overwhelmed, bogged down, or uninterested in the text. It's okay to break it up into manageable and exciting chunks.
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I am so glad to be exposed to Katie Wood Ray! I enjoyed this article, and her passion for reading aloud and reading to write: as important as 'vegetables' in our daily routines. I love her imagery, 'catching students in a carefully spun web of words', and filling the space with wondrous words that can 'walk across and meet one another'. It makes sense that sharing read alouds in a classroom contributes to the sense of community as you 'go places together' through the book you are reading. I also enjoyed reading about the 'sounds'of words, and what an important part of learning to write this is. And I agree that it is so important that students believe that the teacher really cares about them, and about what she is reading. The idea of choral reading is new to me, but it sounds like a fun way for older students to get involved in what they have read, and to transition reading into writing.
ReplyDeleteI loved this article. I feel like Katie spoke of me. I love to read and get lost in the books that I am reading. There is nothing better than find a good book that you cannot put down. I think I learned something really important from this article and that is the real aloud helps our students become better writers. I always thought of reading and writing as two seperate but equally important skills. Now I see how the read aloud helps our students become better writers by exposing them to the beauty of the written word.I also never thought about how we need to spend the time moving from our teaching voice to our reading voice. The way we do a read aloud is very important. We should read slowly and with meaning so the words can reach out and grab our students drawing them into the story.
ReplyDeleteWow! Not many people speak of reading and writing like Katie does. I love the part of the article about getting lost in a book. I remember doing this as a child (upper elementary), and now as an adult. I remember feeling like I was in the book. I still get this feeling when I read.
ReplyDeleteKatie is right... students know when our heart is in the book. Reading slowly and with meaning is key.
I loved how Katie made the writing connection with read alouds. I had never thought that reading aloud to kids could have such an impact on their writing. I especially loved the gathering voices activity she did with the students. I feel that she is fostering a true love and passion for reading in her students through the read alouds.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that she spoke about that particularity hit home with me is that part about believing in yourself as the reader. I love to hear people read who change their voices and show emotion when they are reading and so do children. It captivates them and pulls them into the story. This is something that I would like to work on; I have not yet mastered the art of reading aloud in a way that captivates my audience.
Such a delightful read! I think Katie Wood Ray is an inspring and motivating author who combines vital strategies with effective implementation. As Jackie mentioned, I really like the statement about read alouds being a vegetable, thus we need daily servings. How wonderful for students to get lost in a book even for just a few minutes and be able "to go to a different time and place" admist the busyness of the school day? Wonderous words are the foundation in which to build readers and writers! I sm intrigued with the concept of "echoes" and its effect on the writer as well as the idea of the choral reading experience. Having been a cheerleader in HS and college, I enjoyed the corrleation between holding the motion at the end of the cheer for 3 seconds just as one can hold the words at the end of a read aloud... silence.. before letting go.
ReplyDeleteFabulous article! Eye opening for this high school science teacher. One of my biggest challenges as a 10th grade honors teacher is to have my students develop fluency in Scientific writing. We write lab reports before, during and after laboratory experiences. Removing all person from their written technique is often a struggle. for example..."Boil the water for 10 minutes." or..."A color change is noted: blue to yellow; therefore CO2 is present in the solution"...Well, this way of talking doesn't sound normal to them...no wonder why there is such a struggle! Katie Wood Ray writes, "We learn what writing sounds like from what we read."
ReplyDeleteOver time, my students eventually get the idea. As I go over a previous lab report I usually photocopy a few peer examples to give the class the benefit of seeing and hearing excellent reports...this sets the expectation... I have just realized that I should expose my students to reading lab report segments aloud from the very beginning of the year. This personless scientific inquiry writing will become music to their science ears, so that when we are in lab the composition will flow. More exposure to scientific inquiry reading will spill over onto their inquiry writing....AHHHHA!
Yay for Aha moments!! :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciated Katie Wood Ray's explanation that read alouds are like "going on a field trip together every single day." I have seen this sense of community in classrooms where teachers read aloud to the students. I am intrigued at the possibilities of using read alouds full of "wonderous words" to inspire students about the writers the can become. The choral readings are not only engaging but seem to draw the students into a level thinking and expression that will empower them as learners.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite read aloud books is by Eloise Greenfield entitled 'Honey, I Love' simply because of the flow of her wondrous words. I use that phase frequently in conversations with young children to make a strong point. My favorite statement in this article related to children as writers..."we fill our classrooms with the sound of words, well placed and well written, and that sound wraps its arms around the work of young writers who are hard at work learning their craft." I love WONDROUS WORDS!!!
ReplyDeleteI have experienced first hand the special bond that is formed through read alouds in a classroom community. Many times, this is the best part of the day for us as a class. We're literally "all on the same page"! We have common things to talk about and the read aloud does give us a great jumping off point to think about WHY we like certain books and authors. How can we use what we like as readers to help make our writing better? Having a classroom environment rich in literacy has to include read alouds. It reminds me of something I read in the Powerpoint handout in class...how children can grow to associate pleasure with reading. That's how it is in my class with my own students. We look forward to that time of the day...it is a pleasurable time! We grow closer to each other and smarter because of read alouds!
ReplyDeleteAs Mary, I thought the field trip of a read aloud was a unique way of looking at the experience--and valid. Read Alouds look easy, but implementing successful ones is a true task that requires thoughtful planning. I loved how KWR went into specific details about how to make RA successful.
ReplyDeleteKWR's points about being immersed in a certain sound and language inevitalby effects the voice of the speaker is insightful and authentic. I grew up in Pittsburgh, but ended up in Columbia via The U.S. Army...and love. My wife is a twangy country girl---she got dialect! We have been together a long time now and I find myself speaking like her ('make a picture', 'ya'll' of couse, and 'it only cost fifty cent' etc.), but I have had the same phenomenom occur in other contexts with a particular suddenness. If a classroom is truly a community then it has a culture---language is always an essence of culture; as such, what we read, write, and discuss in our learning becomes who we are. What a powerful truth, and what a responsibility we have as community leaders to make wise choices that cultivate growth.