Reading Aloud

     On a field trip to the Monroe County Public Library, we watched a video of their storytelling program called Tuesday Tales. The teacher's ability to read aloud stories in an engaging and entertaining way impressed me. He demonstrated all of the strategies Mem Fox discussed on the article on her website. He was very expressive in his voice and face. He changed his voice by being "loud and soft; fast and slow; and high and low" (Fox, A read-aloud). He went beyond merely changing his pitch and came up with different voices for characters. Story telling with emotion and expression benefits the children. They will become more interested and appreciative of stories and will also try to mimic the teacher's expression in their dramatic play.
     The article, ""Why do you like this page so much?" Exploring the Potential of Talk during Preschool Reading Activities" by Tolentino discusses the roles children took when socializing. In one scenario, Arthur took on the role of teacher and "read" a story to his friends. While reading, he "demonstrated literate behaviors: turning the page from right to left, pointing to pictures and words, and reading with expression" (Tolentino, 2007, p. 522). Fox also noted in her read- aloud lesson that when teachers read expressively in the same way each time for a particular book, children more easily recall the story. When Arthur engaged in social play with his classmates, he read with expression because he was copying what he saw his teacher do when she read the book. I hope to practice my reading aloud strategies, so I can be a better teacher.

 

Sources:
Fox, M. A read-aloud lesson. Retrieved from: http://memfox.com/for-anyone-interested/for-anyone-interested-a-read-aloud-lesson/

Tolentino, E.P. (2007). "Why do you like this page so much?" Exploring the Potential of Talk during Preschool Reading Activities. Language Arts, 84 (6), 519-528