Windows and Doors Are Opened by Reading Aloud

Do you read aloud to your students? If so, how often do you do it—daily, once a week, every other day, or whenever you have the time? The answer, for me, is not as much as I would like. Every day, I teach three first-grade classes: social studies, science, and health. While I would love to read to all of my students daily, the demands of the curriculum and the limited time I have with each group make it impossible.

I don't want my kids to miss out on the learning opportunities that reading aloud to them has to offer. I want my students to benefit from listening to me read to them. I want them to learn new terminology and develop a love of reading. I want students to grasp how things function and learn about what happens outside of my classroom. I also want children to become interested in the words, characters, and tales they hear. My ultimate objective is to foster in my students a love of reading, and reading aloud is critical to reaching these goals.

There are numerous advantages to reading aloud to students, including:

Reading aloud to my students exposes them to new ideas and vocabulary and helps them become more interested in the subjects I teach. Many of my students are learning English while studying social studies, science, and health. I read books like Don't Eat Bees, I Like Myself, and Me on the Map to my students to supplement the curriculum and introduce them to new words with great picture support. 

Listening to me reading aloud helps my students improve their listening skills. I make reading fun by changing my voice or tone for different characters, putting more emphasis on important words, and sharing my thoughts and interests. These techniques assist my students in immersing themselves in the story.

Here is a clip of me reading Oona for my online class during the pandemic. Oona is one of my favorite books to read to students. 

Oh, the places your students will go if you read to them! Reading aloud benefits students by exposing them to new places, people, and situations. I make it a point to introduce students to books that feature students who look like them and people they may not have met yet, different ways of life, foods, and friends. To do this, I've shared My Papi Has a Motocycle, Cora Cooks Pancit, Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away, and many other multicultural books.

Teachers can help their students develop their imagination and creativity by reading aloud. Draw!, What If, The Bear Ate My Sandwich, Oona, and What to Do with a Box are just a few books I've used to encourage students to think outside the box. These books have fabulous illustrations that inspire my students to draw and write after hearing them.

Hearing books read aloud can help kids learn new vocabulary and improve their language skills while helping them appreciate interesting stories and motivating them to read independently. Reading aloud can help build community in the classroom by giving students a shared experience and getting them to talk about the book and how they feel about it. It could also help students acquire a lifelong thirst for knowledge, which is my goal.