Literacy

Professional Development

January 25, 2023

Save Tons of Time on Read Aloud Lessons: Here’s How!

Interactive read aloud lessons were always one of my favorite times of the day. Not only do you get to gather your students together and help them develop a love for reading and expose them to a variety of books, but you get to help them strengthen their reading skills and strategies to build a solid foundation in reading.

Read aloud lessons are powerful. There is no doubt about that. But planning strong read aloud lessons can take time. You have to find a strong book that’s age appropriate for your students. Then, you have to pre-read the book and figure out what reading skill or strategy you will teach. Next, you have to plan your stopping points and teaching points. All of that doesn’t include finding and planning activities that correlate to the book.

What if I told you there is a solution that can help you reclaim your planning time and boost your readers’ reading skills? What if that solution includes read aloud lesson plans, vocabulary building activities, interactive notebook components, and purposeful crafts? I’d love to share what that is! But first…

Why Are Interactive Read Aloud Lessons Important?

Read alouds are a powerful tool to help our students develop reading skills and strategies to improve reading comprehension and fluency. You can use read alouds to model fluent reading, grow schema, develop students’ interest in books, expose students to a variety of genres, model thinking, and build strategic readers. There are so many benefits to interactive read alouds.

The key is to be strategic with your lesson. Thoughtfully planned read aloud lessons can help develop those skills in our students. During your read aloud lesson, you can model how to think like a reader and then invite students to practice the reading skill you are working on. The ultimate goal is for students to have a bank of reading skills and strategies to consistently pull from to help them understand a book.

An effective read aloud lesson is more than reading a book to students and asking casual questions. Research shows that effective read aloud lessons invite students to actively participate rather than passively listen. Students must ask questions and make predictions, connections, and inferences while engaging in meaningful talk about the books we read.

The Solution: The Read Aloud Library

This small part of the day is super important, but it’s also time-consuming to plan for. So I wanted to take the taxing part of lesson planning off your plate with The Read Aloud Library. This brand new resource has everything you need for successful, effective read aloud lessons.

Whether you’re a brand new teacher still learning how to deliver lessons and find the perfect books or a seasoned teacher looking for fresh ideas and to save time, The Read Aloud Library is for you. Learn more about it here!

Each month, you’ll get six lesson plans for six different books. Three books will be seasonal and three will be great for any time of the year. Each book will have three to four lesson plans that teach a reading skill or strategy. Every book will also come with printable sticky notes you can place inside your book so you’ll know exactly where to stop and teach.

Each book also gets vocabulary cards, a vocabulary lesson plan, printable sticky notes with the words and definitions to place in your book, and a vocabulary activity for students. Our young readers need some direct vocabulary instruction to help them better understand what they are reading.

“Direct instruction helps students learn difficult words, such as words that represent complex concepts that are not part of the students’ everyday experiences. Direct instruction of vocabulary relevant to a given text leads to better reading comprehension.”

Reading Rockets

Additionally, each book also comes with two reading response activities for interactive reading notebooks. These activities provide students with opportunities to record their thinking and learning.

Finally, each month, two of the books will have a purposeful craft that also reinforces a reading strategy or skill. This makes for a fun informal assessment that also serves as a cute display!

Want to try a free lesson? Leave your name and email address below and I’ll send it right to you! Image getting six of them each month!

For a quick recap, each month you’ll get:

  • 6 Interactive Read Aloud Lesson Plans that teach a reading skill or strategy, include a printable sticky note template with teacher prompts ready to go for the book, and a 3-4 day pacing guide for each book
  • Vocabulary cards, student vocabulary page, and printable vocabulary sticky notes with words and definitions for each lesson
  • 12 Student Reading Response Notebook Activities
  • 2 Reading & Writing Crafts that coordinate with 2 of the lessons
  • Easily Accessible Organized Digital Library of Lessons

Just in case you’re not sure why we teach certain strategies or what they actually look like in practice, I also included a Reading Skill and Strategy Video Library for quick teacher tips and tutorials.

And because who doesn’t love surprises, I’m going to throw in some seasonal surprises that you and your students will love!

Learn to learn more about The Read Aloud Library or sign up? Click HERE! I’d love to walk you through everything you’ll get! I can’t wait to save you time and get these effective lessons in your hands.

Happy Teaching,

Amanda

EASILY PLAN YOUR K-2 READING SMALL GROUPS​

Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!

Hi, I'm Amanda

I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers.  Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!

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