Final Thoughts

Developing comprehension strategies through reading aloud requires planning and setting up an environment of thinking, listening, and discussion. You will soon learn how to follow your student's lead: modeling connections, asking questions, encouraging discussion, and using literature to prompt personal storytelling. Become comfortable with slight diversions. Through conversations and diversions, children make meaning and share connections that are relevant to them. Reading aloud to children gives them the opportunity to try on the language and experience of others. It helps them make connections with their lives, and informs their view of themselves and others. Thinking aloud helps children learn how to use comprehension strategies that are important when reading independently.

Sample Read Aloud Collections

Family Traditions
Age range: All
Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco
Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen

Friendship
All range: All
Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D. B. Johnson
Matthew and Tilly by Rebecca C. Jones
Henry and Amy (Right-Way-Round and Upside-Down) by Stephen Michael King
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber

Immigration
Age range: Second grade and up
Painted Words/Spoken Memories by Aliki
Going Home by Eve Bunting
How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story by Eve Bunting
My Freedom Trip by Frances Park and Ginger Park
The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff

The Wonders of Literacy
Age range: Second grade and up
More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradby
Papa’s Stories by Dolores Johnson
Amber on the Mountain by Robert Johnston
Tomàs and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco