Tips for Dynamic Read Alouds

I love reading aloud to my students. It is fun to read dramatically and bring stories alive for children. My acting experience certainly helps me do this, but even the quietest, most shy teacher can read dynamically to their class. Below are small moves you can try right away. You could just pick one try it. Slowly adding to your read aloud bag of tricks. I would love to hear how it goes.

Book choice

For me, it all starts with book choice:

- Make sure you like the book - you will be more likely to read aloud dynamically if you like the characters and story plus kids can tell if you don’t like the book and they won’t like it either

- Make sure it is a book that has something different or surprising about it Example: Make sure there are interesting characters to portray while reading it 

- If you have to read a book that goes along with your district’s curriculum, the tips below will help you whether you like the book or not.

Read and know the book well

- Make sure you read a book before you read it to your class. There are many reasons why doing this is a good idea. One important one is avoiding any triggers for students in your class who have experienced trauma. You can skip that one line or whole part, or choose to skip the book altogether. Another is if a student recommends a book for you to read aloud, they may have enjoyed it, but it might not be a book you or the whole class would like. I experienced that this year. A student really enjoyed a book and I knew the series was one that students have enjoyed in the past, so I said yes and broke my rule about reading the book first. It had an interesting premise but it was the first book in a series and took its sweet time getting to any kind of meaningful plot points since it had to stretch its story across multiple books. Honestly, I didn’t like it that much. More importantly, there was not much reaction from the students while I read it. Many seemed bored and it was wordy and confusing for them in parts. Another big reason for reading the book first is to be able to plan out some of the tips I mention in this episode.

- This year, we implemented a new reading/writing curriculum called ARC: American Reading Company. We received some books only a week or two before starting the unit. We are all busy and it is just not always realistic to get through an entire book before you have to start reading it aloud. If time won’t allow reading ahead, at least find time to preread what you will be reading that day so you can do some of the ideas I am sharing in this episode so your students will hopefully enjoy the read aloud even more.

- Be present when reading. See the movie in your mind just like we tell students to do. This is easier when you know the book.

- Knowing the story helps you to know where you want to slow down, get softer or louder, get animated, all things that any teacher can do. More about this later.

Book Talk before you start reading

This is another reason that it is important to love the books you are reading aloud. I like to give an enthusiastic commercial type book talk about why this is one of my favorite read alouds, how it is a favorite of past classes, a little genre talk and talk about how the text is structured. In the case of the S.O.S. Files, I share that this could be a fun writing assignment for our class to do, write S.O.S. stories, real or fictional. Priming the pump for the book  instantly intrigues the class.

Plan/Mark Up

- You can mark up/color code the text for a number of things: pacing, volume, voices

- If you are not good at acting on the fly, this can help with confidence, marking up is a road map

Pacing

- The power of the pause: This is a great way to get kids on the edge of their seats listening intently. The pause also helps when a character is upset. Pausing with a serious expression on your face goes a long way.

- Marking where to slow down or speed up could be helpful if you don’t naturally feel the timing when you read aloud

- Showing the pictures if there are any

- Try not to stop too much for discussion, teaching - save for after if it naturally arises or the book has elements you are learning about Ex. Shoeshine Girl, we analyze the plot moves that the author makes (plot mountain, etc)

- Strategically stopping at big moments though for students to infer adds to anticipation as well Ex. Mysteries like the Sammy Keyes series are perfect for this, but all great books apply at some point in the story.

Volume

- marking where to get softer or louder 

- whispering Ex. when a character is angry try leaning forward if you are sitting and whisper with your teeth together instead of going loud with it - your students will be riveted

- getting louder in dramatic parts or when dialogue requires it 

Ex. In Fantastic Mr. Fox there is a part where there is a woman down in the cellar yelling up to another woman, I act this out and yell with my head up like I am shouting upstairs and then I yell looking down for the other character.

Eye Contact

- Great in conjunction with the powerful pause

- React to the story as if you haven’t read it before (even though you have)

- You don’t have to be Meryl Streep to strategically look up at the class when something surprising is about to happen. Pausing and looking up with a confused or inquisitive expression primes the pump for them to expect something and put on their inferring hats. 

Voices

- As I am reading to students, I read ahead to the dialogue tags on the fly in the moment to make sure which character is talking and I know my voices ahead of time. You can take note of the character voices if you need to, but I usually attach the character to an actor or type in my head which helps me remember what voice to use. 

- You could create a quick color code for voices  and highlight the dialogue tags or mark in the margins of the pages

- If you are not comfortable with acting and trying voices, but want to be, you can listen to books on tape to hear how the readers do the character voices. If you have the time and the resources, listening to the book on tape for the actual book you are going to read is even better, you don’t have to create your own voices if that is not your thing, steal from the best on tape

Examples: S.O.S. Files which was especially a favorite with my class this year, I chose a different voice for each short story. I approached them like a collection of monologues. Some of the stories were more like I was a stand up comedian. Some of the stories had, from what I could tell, built in comic timing and delivery and the kids were crying from laughing so hard. I am sure if I had read it without the voices, I wouldn’t have captured the timing and humor of it. I also know that my facial expressions certainly made them laugh too. 

Facial Expressions/Gestures/Body Language of Characters

- When reading that same Fantastic Mr. Fox scene mentioned earlier, not only did I raise my voice to portray yelling up to the main house or yelling down to the cellar, I also looked up or looked down accordingly acting as if I were the characters in that moment. I scrunched up my face and hunched my shoulders up.

- Students love when teachers act out parts or take on the character’s body language. Whatever gets students engaged with the story and caring about the characters wins.

- If a character is talking about how awesome they are, stand up or sit up straight and say the dialogue looking off into the distance or up, make sure to pause for a second afterwards. Ex. this recently worked while reading Fantastic Mr. Fox. The kids laughed a lot just at that body language.

Leave ‘em Wanting More

- Skim ahead and choose where you will end the day’s reading. Make it a moment that students will be begging you not to stop. It is not always necessarily at the end of a chapter. Once that decision is made, I slow that part down. I dramatically reach for the bookmark and the kids call out and groan that they don’t want me to stop. It is great and makes them anticipate the next day’s reading.

Examples 

• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - ex. captured in kitchen at end of chapter

• Most chapter endings of Malamander by Thomas Taylor

Have fun when you read aloud and be willing to be embarrassed as you lose yourself in a character. Your class will thank you for it and remember it for years to come. I hope you will try even just one of these tips with your next read aloud. Thanks for listening.