Read-Alouds

by

Teacher Read-Alouds

Introduction

A teacher reading aloud to a class of students is a common sight in primary- and intermediate-grade classrooms, but is this the case in middle school classrooms? Many educators and scholars promote reading aloud to older students (e.g., Richardson, 2000; Sanacore, 2000), and middle school students, in particular, have told us that they enjoy and value teacher read-alouds (Albright, 2002;

Ivey & Broaddus, 2001).However, we have very little data that describe the extent and nature of read-aloud practices in middle schools.

For decades, researchers (e.g., Beck & McKeown, 2001; Chomsky, 1972; Cochran Smith, 1984; Durkin, 1966; Teale & Martinez, 1996) have documented many benefits of reading aloud to younger children in the areas of language growth and reading achievement. The practice is valued so highly by the members of the National Commission on Reading that they called it "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading" (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985, p. 23). The Commission urged teachers to continue reading to students through all grades.

Furthermore, teachers may find that using alternate and multiple texts in the classroom can circumvent some of the problems associated with relying solely on textbooks (Guthrie & Davis, 2003). Teachers may also be delighted to discover that reading aloud a variety of materials can increase not only their students' understanding of the content but also their engagement and inquiry into the ideas they encounter (Albright, 2002; Roser & Keehn, 2002), which, in turn, can help students make more meaningful connections between learning and their lives. Short read-alouds can also be

"used to introduce a new topic, to illustrate practical applications of content area concepts, and to inject a measure of humor into the classroom" (Alvermann & Phelps, 1998, p. 384).

Research indicates that motivation, interest, and engagement are often enhanced when teachers read aloud to middle school students. In Beers's (1990) study of aliterate seventh graders (students who could read but chose not to), students selected having a teacher read aloud in an exciting voice as one of the few activities they found to be motivating.More recently, Albright (2002) showed how read-alouds in a seventhgrade social studies class fostered engagement and learning. In Ivey & Broaddus's (2001) survey of 1,700 sixth graders, teacher read-alouds were named as one of the two most preferred reading activities in school. Students saw the read-alouds as "scaffolds to understanding because the teacher Albright teaches at Texas Woman's University (PO Box 425769, Denton, TX 76204-5769, USA). Ariail teaches at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

helped to make the text more comprehensible or more interesting to them" (p. 367). In addition, educators claim that reading aloud to middle school students can introduce them to books they might not locate on their own (Lesesne, 2001).

This research suggests that teacher read-alouds in middle grades can have positive outcomes for both motivation and learning.

It is unfortunate that we know very little about teacher read-aloud practices beyond the elementary grades.We do know that students are exposed to read-alouds less frequently as they move ...