One of the greatest pleasures you may have in your class comes from reading aloud. The really wonderful thing is that it may please your students just as much. An incredible silence comes when children have entered the power of a book. Here are several tricks that make read alouds succeed.
Success begins with selection. Choose books with characters that capture children, conflicts that keep them hooked, and endings that are satisfying. Search for books with a range of feelings; laughter and tears are both powerful attention grabbers. Be careful about picking books that represent the developmental needs of the children you're reading to.
The second part of success comes from how you read aloud. It's best to pre-read all stories before recommending them, but even more necessary if you plan to read them aloud. Pre-reading will make you sure you're presenting a book you're comfortable with and can also help you plan for the most dramatic reading possible. You'll learn when to pause, make sure of pronunciation and discover emphasis that will give your reading the best effect. Books with dynamic dialogue make room for you to amp up the theatrics by adding voices and emotions. Tension and humor are good bets for read aloud triumph.
Read aloud with the knowledge that the more you put into your reading the more your listeners will get out of it. Children are great appreciators. You can take comfort in knowing that you'll never embarrass yourself by singing out loud, bringing in silly props, or hamming up a story. The more you dramatize, the more they'll love the experience. I've found that certain kinds of books work best for specific ages. Here some examples of new books that promise read aloud satisfaction.
Patterns and chorusing make sure-win read alouds for younger listeners. They love to take an active role in a dramatic reading. Knowing what comes next gives them a comforting familiarity and they love knowing something the character in the book doesn't know. Fun aside, these kinds of read aloud experiences encourage young children to pick up a book that's been read aloud because they know their individual readings will be supported by the pattern they've discovered and the predictability it provides.
Circular patterns are fun and Katja Reider uses this to great advantage in Snail Started It! (North-South Books, $15.95; grades K-2). When snail tells pig "My, you are fat!", Pig defends her mass by saying "I like being big and round." But later, she has hurt feelings and responds by insulting rabbit's timidness. So begins a circle of cutting remarks which go on and on until snail is belittled, rethinks his actions and sets off a new circle This time it's a pattern is of apologies. One of the strengths of this book is that Reider uses a common childhood behavior; anger turned on others and kindling new anger. The book can open up all kinds of discussions about past hurts, making amends, and the bad feelings that insults inspire. One of the greatest pluses of this book is that all characters see their positive sides, so it's not solely about hurt feelings.
I've pleased more children by reading aloud Margie Palatini's Piggie Pie (Clarion, $13.95 ;grades 2-5). The main character, Gritch the Witch, is bent on having piggie pie, but that means the dimwitted witch must find pigs. She flies to Old MacDonald's farm cackling, "I've got you in my sights now, you little porkers!" as she writes in the sky, "Surrender Piggies!" This book is a brilliant blend of illustration and text as the illustrator Howard Fine shows how the precocious piggies dressing themselves up as other farm creatures to avoid capture. Children delight in seeing what Gritch can not. In stunningly silly dialogue, Gritch confronts curious looking ducks, cows, chickens, and finally the farmer. Her insults are funny, but then there's a further joy as the author weaves the famous Old MacDonald Chorus into the animal's response. When she demands a "bird brained" chicken tell her the pigs' location, it "cluck-clucked here. It cluck-clucked there...." . Even older elementary students thrill in joining in. As if that's not enough...the book ends with an appearance by the Big Bad Wolf. Amid laughter and refrains, you might even be able to introduce young readers to the pleasures of literary references!
Stories are a way to open up discussion where children can see themselves as authorities on their own imaginings and opinions. Often the stories that do this best are those that leave room for interpretation and inference. Pamela Edwards' new Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad (HarperCollins, $14.95; grades 2-5) is just such a book. The story tells of a young boy who escapes from slavery, his journey witnessed by the animals who surround him. A heron calls and warns other animals about the approach of a Barefoot who flees his pursuers, the Heavy Boots. The young boy is shown fresh water by the frog, berries by a small mouse. When the Heavy Boots are bitten by mosquitoes and led astray by a deer, readers have to wonder if the animals' actions are intentional rather than coincidental. The text is short, but with few words Edwards shows the relationship of a gentle, fearful young boy with a natural world that nurtures him. Not only does Edwards offer questions of the rewards of respect, but threads marvelous words like "sentinel" and "furtive" which open up whole discussions of how powerful words can be to create a mood. Illustrations by Henry Cole have a darkness that echoes the text's quiet and hidden qualities.
There are amazing new picture books for older readers that speak to important human issues. When young hearts are open to change, teachers who read aloud powerful stories can make a real difference in the perception of children.
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story (Lee and Low, $15.95; grades mature 4-6) is the third collaboration of writer Ken Mochizuki and illustrator Dom Lee. This true story is told through the eyes of five year old Hiroki Sugihara who wakes one morning to find his house surrounded by Jewish refugees. His father is the 1940's Japanese consul to Lithuania and he finds that men, women and children have come to plead for visas that will allow them to escape Hitler's armies. Three times Sugihara's government refuses to allow him to issue visas. Finally with the support of his family, he decides "I may have to disobey my government, but if I don't, I will be disobeying God." When you are surrounded by a society whose value system is questioned so often and choices are so confusing, it's helpful to have focus books like this that give models for living and leave lots of room for discussion. Sugihara's humanity lost him favor with the Japanese government, but he saved 10,000 Jews. This is the kind of hard-hitting book that will counteract the numbness that television brings to so many children. It, and other books like it, demands an outloud reading for they will initiate powerful feelings about prejudice and humanness and integrity that need to be part of every child's learning.
There's nothing like a novel read day after day until the happy crescendo of a shared conclusion. There are many different ways to approach read alouds and within a year, you might introduce your children to all of these. Some factors that influence your choices might be finding books that are sure to please, books that are hard-hitting and beg for discussion and books of a more literary level, the kinds that are a stretch for children. Your students might not be drawn to this kind of reading, but might be inclined to try it again if you introduce them to a dramatic, but challenging author.
When you're looking for the enjoyable read aloud, no one keeps older elementary students hooked like Brian Jacques. His books are made to be read aloud. The chapters are short, filled with characters who have intriguing voices to imitate, there's the thrill of good striving against evil, much mystery, and every chapter ends with a cliff hanger! His newest, Pearls of Lutra (Philomel, $19.95; grades 4-6) is the ninth in the Redwall saga. There are several heroines including Tansy, a young hedgehog maid who seeks to discover the whereabouts of the six perfect rose-colored pearls. She's pitted against such evil forces as Ublaz, the emperor who can hypnotize you with his mad eyes and his henchmen, hordes of monitor lizards. Jacques' stories are so riveting students might not notice he writes beautiful descriptions filled with the senses. Jacques, like other authors who have written many books, is also a good choice because he can open doors to new independent reading.
Another pleaser is Karen Cushman's The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (Clarion, $13.95; grades 4-6). Cushman is reigning queen of historical fiction. She shows children history's humor while presenting characters who give an authentic view of eras and in addition writes books that read aloud well. Her latest is the gold-rush story of , Lucy, a young woman who's unhappy to be leaving her New England home and her recently buried father to find a new life in a dusty primitive goldmining camp. Cushman, using Lucy's voice, gives a wild word ride through eccentric characters and their odd actions. Historical research is flawless and she definitely knows the heart of a young woman yearning for home and confused about what she needs and wants. Best of all there are lots of laughs along the way.
Gail Levine's Enchanted Ella (HarperCollins, $14.95; grades 3-6) is the kind of book that will transport your class into a different world. In this novelized telling of Cinderella, the ingenious new author broadens the life of the familiar fairy tale heroine until she and her world become real. In her story, for example Ella, as a baby, has been cursed to obey orders this make for a character that is stronger and more believable. Her fairy godmother works in the house caring for her and worrying about the effects of using "big" magic. This Ella is intelligent, plucky, and as enchanting as her world. Levine takes great care to develop a real backdrop where we learn the traits of ogres and gnomes, how they speak and how Ella comes to understand them. This intelligent fantasy may lead you to looking at comparative literature or viewing the way an author creates a fantasy world that seems real.
Paul Fleischman is one of the most powerful authors in the field of children's books, but his thoughtful work is complex and may succeed best with a read aloud. His newest. Seedfolks (HarperCollins, $13.95; grades 5 and up) is the story of a suburban community garden that develops out of the needs of individuals. We see its evolution in short powerful chapters told by a dozen characters whose viewpoints and backgrounds vary, but they're united in the learning they receive from the garden. Fleischman flips easily in and out of cultures, ages, and situations, but each chapter has a beautiful literary quality. We get to know the street-savvy black Leona who fights red tape by taking with her a bag of garbage with a smell "that made you think of hog pens and maggots and kitchen scraps from back when Nixon was president" and gets quick service. There's Sam , an older Jewish man who "sews up rips in the neighborhood". We see too a young black man who proves his fidelity through raising tomatoes and an unwed teenage mother who's helped to see her connection to all life. The truths of this book are sometimes hard to hear, but the seeds it offers for understanding differences, community, perspectives, prejudice and literature, are well worth worth planting.
There are so many wonderful read alouds that it's often hard to pick. I recommend choosing authors that have written several books so that your reading aloud inspires independent reading. You might begin the year with a humorous author like Roald Dahl, Kathleen Leverich, Barbara Parks , Jon Scieska, or Louis Sacher. Then try mystery or adventure books like those by Jean Craighead George, Scott O'Dell, or Gary Paulsen. Open doors to history with books by Eleanor Coerr, Patricia MacLachlan, or Mildred Taylor. Escape into fantasy with Lloyd Alexander, Natalie Babbitt, Lynne Reid Banks, John Bellairs, and Bill Brittan. Make your animal lovers cry with classic stories like: John Gardiner's Stone Fox, Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows, EB White's Charlotte's Web or Phyllis Naylor's Shiloh.