Read-alouds have always been one of the more magical parts of teaching for me. Pictures and words bring rich stories to life, and suddenly the class is immersed in tales that might be whimsical, moving, hilarious, suspenseful, heart-breaking, or uplifting… It’s hard to imagine a more powerful learning medium. As a new teacher I remember marveling at the hush that would fall across a carpet full of students when I took out a book, held it up, and began reading to a suddenly-motionless class. And I remember my own school days, sitting on similar carpets, similarly enthralled.
Most (if not all) of the read-aloud experience back then was in the listening. The teacher would simply open a picture book and start reading, usually without much introduction. Flipping through the pages one by one, the teacher’s voice was the only one that filled the room, until the final sentence was uttered and the cover firmly closed. The End. Back to your seats, everyone. And although that uninterrupted story time was a joyful experience, and valuable in and of itself, I love what we have added to that joy in more recent years: isolating and defining interesting vocabulary that pops up in the story, decoding key words from the text and studying their morphology, exploring curriculum connections found within the book, and using music, art, and drama to explore character, conflicts, connections, and solutions.
But all of that great learning starts with the first reading itself, listening to the tale for the simple and beautiful pleasure of it. In fact, many teaching guides recommend this as the first step: before diving into text study, just read the book for pure enjoyment, like the old days on the carpet.
And it would be heartbreaking if any student were excluded from that wondrous story time with their peers…
We tend to think of read-alouds as universally accessible, that anyone could sit through a cold reading and be included in the moment. But for a student new to English, it is difficult to imagine they would feel much inclusion in that initial read. Words that fill the air with emotion and story for others may be incomprehensible to a beginner Multilingual Language Learner. Pictures that capture the imagination of everyone in the room may be culturally unfamiliar and equally perplexing – and even if they are familiar to the student, they have no access to the language that introduces and explains them. Instead of enjoying the story along with their classmates, MLLs may sit flummoxed, perhaps fidgeting or staring out the window while their peers listen to the tale, while we educators occasionally remind them to “pay attention” to what amounts to white noise.
So how do we make sure every student is included in that community? How do we make that first reading accessible to everyone, including MLLs? Here are some initial questions and considerations that may help:
Planning Stage – Background Knowledge
- What aspects of the story I have chosen might be unfamiliar to the MLL?
- If it is unfamiliar, how can I build schema around story content before the whole class reading?
- Is there a different book I could choose that is more familiar to the student?
- Is there a dual language book on a similar topic, written in both the language of instruction and the language of the student, that they could preview before the whole-class reading?
- Can I translate parts of the book accurately for the student before the whole-class reading?
- Can I use online storybooks that read picture books aloud in both English, French, and many other languages?
Planning Stage – Language Features
- What vocabulary will the MLL need to understand the story?
- Could I pre-teach this vocabulary with a simple picture walk before the whole-class read?
- What simple, student-friendly definitions could I prepare for these words ahead of time?
- Can students easily “chime in” or repeat language in the book for oral language practice?
Show Time – The Whole-class Reading
- Before the first read, do a short picture walk through the text with the whole class, simply pointing to vocabulary in the pictures and having the class repeat.
- Then point to that vocabulary again in the pictures as you read the story naturally to the class.
- Slow your rate of speech and add emphasis to highlight vocabulary.
- If your read-aloud has patterned, repeated, and predictable sentences, have the class “chime in” at key points for oral language practice.
These are just a few ways to make your read-alouds accessible to all students, no matter their level of language proficiency. And regardless of which ones work for your students, I wish you magical journeys into those story times for everyone.
