By Lester Laminack

The Importance of Reading Aloud to Children
Reading aloud to children plays a vital role in their development for several reasons.
First, it immerses children in the rhythms of written language, helping them become
familiar with the patterns and sounds that characterize stories and informational texts.
The exposure to varied linguistic patterns helps develop an appreciation for the music
and potential in written expression. This exposure is foundational for their literacy
growth, facilitates a deeper appreciation for language, and helps them become attuned
to the nuances of how language can be crafted.
Additionally, reading aloud contributes to the enhancement of listening skills. As
children follow along with a story, they learn to focus, comprehend, and process spoken
words, all of which are necessary for effective communication and learning.
Another important benefit is that reading aloud introduces children to a wide range of
authors, illustrators, titles, topics, and genres. This variety not only enriches their
literary experiences but also encourages curiosity and exploration within the world of
books.
Furthermore, reading aloud provides children with exposure to multiple points of view
on a topic. By listening to stories from various perspectives, children gain a broader
understanding of the world and the diverse ways in which people think and feel.
Engaging children in read-aloud experiences enables children to think about critical
issues that they might not encounter otherwise. Through stories and discussions,
children are prompted to consider ideas and dilemmas that foster critical thinking and
empathy.
Finally, reading aloud provides access to language and ideas, allowing children to
encounter new vocabulary, concepts, and ways of expressing themselves. Offering
students a shared literary experience and exposure to a diverse body of literature
generates a common point of reference, fosters a sense of community, and establishes
a basis for thoughtful dialogue about texts. This access is crucial for their cognitive and
social development, laying the foundation for success in both academic and everyday
settings.
The power of rereading is another important aspect modeled during read-aloud
experiences. Teachers demonstrate how revisiting a text with a specific focus can reveal
new insights and enhance appreciation for the author’s craft. This repeated exposure
emphasizes the importance of looking closely, examining ideas, considering
perspectives, and questioning what is read.

Selecting Books for Repeated Reading
When all members of a classroom share deep and intimate knowledge of a small
collection of books, a new level of communication about reading and writing is possible.
I recommend beginning with five fiction and five nonfiction titles to revisit throughout
the year. When making your selections, consider the following:
 Does the book have enough depth and substance to merit multiple readings?
 Do the language and art provide different perspectives for repeated exploration?
 Are literary elements or text features strong enough to support focused study?
 Is the information accurate and engaging?
 Does the writer use craft techniques to help readers construct meaning?
 Are text features used to clarify, elaborate, or extend information?
 Can this book serve as a lens for approaching other books?
 Will this book help build insights that can translate into writing opportunities?
*Note, this collection of books for repeated readings is one small part of the read-aloud
experiences across the year. There will be many texts that are read in addition to this
collection.

Elements of Effective Read-Aloud Experiences
Think of the read-aloud experience as a performance art. Read the text aloud a few
times before reading it to your students. As you read, think about how your voice will
convey the feeling, the intentions, the emotions, and the energy in the writing. Here
are four elements to consider as you prepare.
Tone
I think of tone as the attitude expressed in a piece of writing. It may be chatty and
informal, sincere, snarky, caustic, arrogant, formal and distant, cheerful, solemn,
pushing, pleading, preachy, or academic. The writer’s attitude or feelings toward the
subject directly influence the tone, and the tone may also be shaped by the writer’s
intentions to evoke certain responses from the reader. It is important for the reader’s
voice to reflect the tone present in the text to convey its full meaning.
Mood
I think of mood as the emotional climate or temperament, the feeling it leaves with the
reader. A piece may be sad, depressed, hopeful, wishful, excited, eager, or nostalgic.
Setting, voice, and the character’s personality are all elements that contribute to
establishing the mood. Ideally, as the reading concludes, the mood should linger,
leaving a lasting impression, much like a fragrance.
Intensity

I think of intensity as the energy within the text. It may be powerful and bold, or tender
and quiet. The energy might build and wane, begin with a punch and maintain that
level, or start full and gradually diminish. In some cases, it is gentle from beginning to
end. When reading aloud, intensity is revealed through shifts in volume and the
strength of the reader’s voice, which help bring the text to life.
Pacing
I think of pacing as the heartbeat, the pulse and rhythm of the text, shaping its flow. At
times, the pacing may race, while at other moments, it slows to a standstill. Dramatic
pauses and a rush in the reader’s voice can create tension, while slow, deliberate
speech can draw the listener in. Emphasizing words or moving quickly through passages
can mirror the action and emotion found in the piece.
Just as a musician interprets what is on the page, a reader interprets the intentions of
the writer through tone, intensity, pacing, and mood. Reading aloud with skill means
playing that music with your voice. Beyond accurate reading, it requires interpreting the
writer’s intentions and conveying them through expressive delivery.
Making Time for Read-Aloud Experiences
Many of us find it challenging to set aside time for read-aloud experiences. Here are six
possible times across the day when a read-aloud may fit nicely. Each possible time is
paired with an intention that can make the read-aloud experiences a viable part of your
instructional day.

1. Building Community (Starting your day). Begin the day by reading aloud to help
   foster a sense of community among students. This shared experience sets a
   positive tone and encourages connection. Stories shared here can be
   touchstones across the year.
2. Exposure to language (First transition). During the first transition of the day,
   share texts that allow students to hear the rhythm and melody of language,
   immersing them in its musical qualities. For this read-aloud experience you’ll
   want to focus on lyrical texts that will expose students to a more expansive
   vocabulary.
3. Featuring poetry (Preparing for lunch). As students prepare for lunch, continue
   the focus on language through poetry, sustaining engagement and offering a
   soothing transition. Consider featuring one poem per week.
4. Supporting writing opportunities (After lunch). When your class returns from
   lunch, a read-aloud experience can support writing work, providing inspiration
   and models for effective writing. Select texts that model the work you and your
   writers are doing.
5. Building bridges across the curriculum (At the opening of a content area class).
   Integrate read-aloud experiences into subject area lessons to connect literature
   with curriculum topics, building subject specific vocabulary, pairing language and
   image to facilitate concept formation, making learning more cohesive and
   meaningful.
6. Closing the day with a chapter book (Last event of the day):
   End the day by reading from a chapter book or extended text, offering a
   satisfying conclusion and encouraging a love of reading that extends beyond the
   classroom. If you are reading a chapter book, consider ending at a high point, a
   moment of tension or suspense, rather than at the end of a chapter. Leave them
   with something to think about as they travel home.
   Reading aloud to our students is essential instruction. Let’s elevate it to a place of
   prominence in our day.

By Cameron Carter

In the age of the Science of Reading, many schools have adopted various curricula aligned to explicitly teach the five pillars of reading instruction: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Research around reading instruction emphasizes The Reading Rope, a visual metaphor connecting language comprehension and word recognition in order to build a skilled reader. As schools begin to pilot or implement curricula aligned with this type of explicit teaching, it is crucial for administrators to emphasize the need for teachers to continue to bridge their passion, art, and craft of teaching with the technicalities of the “science” of literacy instruction. Most curriculums on the market are scripted, containing step-by-step directions on how to teach the lesson. At times, teachers can get lost in learning the new curriculum, which leads to losing their art of teacher voice. Below are some pros and cons from teachers in regards to their experiences with scripted curricula: 

Pros

-Easy access for learning standards/targets 

-Helpful for substitute or guest teachers 

-Can be interdisciplinary with other content areas 

-An outline of activities for interventions or enrichment 

-Rigorous academic content 

-High level of family engagement with topics 

Cons

-Feeling of restriction… worried about veering off from the script 

-Lack of teacher autonomy or creativity 

-A lot of prior reading before implementing the lesson with students 

-Can be overwhelming for first-year teachers 

-A lot of time dedicated to one content area 

Teacher feedback loops show there are many pros and cons. As more schools purchase these curricula, teachers must have an understanding of not only the why for the switch, but also the importance of the how in regards to the implementation process. 

Teacher Engagement is Crucial

Research shows high teacher engagement has a positive effect on student engagement levels. As professional development teams roll out scripted curriculums, it is important to express the need for teachers to continue to teach as their authentic self. For example, the “script” of the curriculum is a roadmap, a guide, to aid in navigating the academic rigor of the content. Teachers must know they are still the trained expert, and they understand the needs of their students. A “tuned in” teacher will recognize when their students are disengaged. If an activity must be slightly altered to meet the students where they are, do it. This is the art of responsive teaching. 

Think about your own experiences with professional development. The times where the speaker may have been monotone, or the session was primarily what we call a “sit and get”. Afterwards, or even during, you feel drained, and your brain has been essentially turned off. It is our job as teachers to use all of our craft to try not to let this happen to the students that sit before us each day. 

Many teachers fear being handed a “script” and the mere thought of being asked to teach verbatim. While it is important to hit the necessary targets being addressed in the lesson, paraphrasing the language in your own words, or even language that your students may understand more effectively, is justifiable as long as the core target of the lesson is communicated. 

So now what? How will you navigate the uncharted waters of a scripted curriculum? 

Teacher Tips 

–Embrace the unknown! You are a learner alongside your students
–Be honest. Share with your students that this is new for you and that you will make mistakes… It’s okay! Students need to see adults modeling mistakes

–Read the manual the day prior to feel prepared

–Use different colored highlighters to designate words or items you will say verbatim and areas of the lesson that allow your creativity and art of teaching to shine

–Get connected. Find your colleagues that are in the same boat as you. Share your triumphs and tribulations

–Social media. Join curriculum support groups to get ideas

–Have fun! Continue to bring your best teacher flair

Administrator Tips

–Communicate. Share with your staff that you value their vulnerability in learning something new 

–Validate. Express that you understand this will be a shift from current teaching practices

–You are learning, too. Alongside them you will help to provide the necessary supports to make this transition manageable 

–Evaluations. Yes, they will still occur, however you recognize the manual will be in the teacher’s hands and mistakes will happen. It is natural and should be celebrated 

In conclusion, remember this… 

You are the expert, the trained professional, that best knows your students. 

Whatever you do, do not lose sight of your unique art of being an authentic teacher. 

]We must continue to advocate to bridge the art and science of scripted curricula. 

We are stronger together. 

You can do this. 

Cameron Carter is currently a first grade teacher in Worthington, Ohio and an aspiring educational leader. He is pursuing his administrative licensure from​​ The Ohio State University. Continue learning alongside Cameron via LinkedIn. 

By: Lynne Kulich, PhD & Timothy Rasinski, PhD

Attempts to improve reading outcomes, especially among students who struggle to become proficient reading, have been in the reading spotlight in the past few years. The solution that is most commonly offered is a stronger emphasis on direct systematic phonics instruction (e.g. Sold a Story podcast, 2022).   While we completely agree that phonics is essential to reading success, phonics itself is only one part of the equation to develop proficient readers.

The aim of phonics instruction is for readers to be able to decode words accurately.  However, consider a reader who is able to decode words accurately but does so in an overly slow word-by-word manner without paying any attention to phrasing or expression. Clearly, we would not consider such readers proficient.  Truly proficient readers not only decode words accurately, they also decode the words they read effortlessly and they read text with good phrasing.    

Fluency in reading involves teaching students to read text not only accurately but also automatically or effortlessly.  The significance of automatic word recognition is that readers no longer have to employ their cognitive resources to decode the words in text – the words are instantly decoded with minimal use of cognitive resources.  Those freed up resources can then be employed to the more important task in reading – comprehension.    

Fluency also involves reading with what linguists call prosody.  We prefer to call it reading with expression and phrasing that reflects the meaning of the text.  In order to read with prosody, readers need to be attending to the meaning of the text. Thus, prosodic reading aids in comprehension.

Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress have shown that large numbers of lower performing fourth grade readers tend to struggle in both automatic word recognition and prosodic reading.    Clearly, then, developing fluency in these students, both automaticity and prosody, will significantly improve reading proficiency.    Fluency instruction must be a part of any science-based reading curriculum.

The Tools for Developing Fluency

• Modeling Fluent Reading.   Young readers need to hear fluent reading in order to understand reading fluency.   This means teachers, parents, and others should read to their children regularly and make sure that when they do they read with expression that marks fluent reading.
• Wide Reading.   Fluency in anything requires practice.   Wide reading involves reading as much as possible.   Recent research (Allington & McGill-Franzen, 2021) has shown that reading volume is associated with reading achievement.
• Deep (Repeated) Reading.  Fluency often requires the learner to practice a text (or other activity) multiple times in order to achieve fluency.  Research (Rasinski, et al, 2011) has shown that repeatedly reading one text leads to improvements in new texts never before read.   The key to repeated reading (i.e. rehearsal) is to make it authentic.    If a text is meant to be performed for an audience it needs to be rehearsed- not for speed but for developing a sense of expression that an audience with find satisfying.    Texts such as readers theater scripts, poetry, song lyrics, and other are meant to be read aloud for an audience and are thus excellent choices for repeated reading.
• Assisted Reading.   If a text is challenging having an assist or scaffold from a more fluent reader can lead to fluent reading.   Assisted reading can take the form of choral reading as a group, paired reading where the partner is a more fluent reader, or reading while simultaneously listening to a prerecorded version of the text.    Assisted reading (Rasinski, et al, 2011) has been shown to be a powerful tool for developing fluency and overall reading proficiency.
• Phrased Reading.  Less fluent readers / tend to read / in a word-by-word manner / that disrupts the natural language / of the text / and makes  comprehension difficult. //   Helping students / read in phrases / by marking a text / with phrase boundaries / can move students / to more natural and meaningful phrasing / that will improve reading fluency / and comprehension.//

These basic fluency development tools, by themselves, can move students toward higher levels of fluency and reading proficiency.   However, if we can combine these tools into a single lesson format we get synergy – a situation where the benefit from a whole lesson combining these elements is greater than the sum of the parts alone.  This is where the Fluency Development Lesson (FDL) comes in.   

The Fluency Development Lesson

The FDL is a systematic, explicit, science-backed instructional practice that when implemented regularly closes reading gaps for all students, including multilingual learners (National Reading Panel, 2000; Kulich 2009; Zimmerman, et al., 2019). While the FDL supports all foundational reading skills, it targets fluency since reading difficulties often manifest in this area (White, et al., 2021), and its flexible design supports readers of all ages.

Implemented in 15-20 minutes, the FDL includes effective assisted reading practices like choral, echo, and partner reading. Initially, the FDL was created to be delivered in a single day using short, grade-level passages (Rasinski, 2010; Rasinski, Padak, Linek, & Sturtevant, 1994). Research suggests that scaffolded, repeated reading of a single text over the course of a week leads to gains in fluency and comprehension skills (Stahl & Heubach, 2005). So, we encourage students to read the same text throughout the school week with a variety of scaffolds. Additionally, you’ll find embedded activities to target all literacy skills, i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing. You’ll also notice activities for students to continue developing all foundational reading skills, such as phonemic awareness and phonics. 

Planning 

First, choose a grade-level text aligned to a reading scope and sequence, theme, or phonics skill.  The FDL supports your core curriculum. While any genre will do, our favorite is poetry.  Given its rich, rhythmic language, poetry is an obvious choice. This is particularly true for multilingual learners who benefit from the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition that poetry offers (Vardell, Hadaway, & Young, 2006).

Next, select the assisted reading practices needed to support your students, and plan to explicitly teach new vocabulary.  Remember students will need more scaffolding earlier rather than later in the week. Prepare to discuss the poet’s purpose, word choice, and theme because comprehension is always the goal.

Include opportunities for students to read aloud for different audiences, e.g., principal, custodian, etc., and include a written response activity. Reading and writing are synergistic, so be sure students write about the poem and share their responses. This experience helps develop the necessary dialogic communication skills students need and will use.

Finally, the FDL supports home-school partnerships. Students can read their weekly poems to someone at home.  Consider hosting classroom poetry parties and invite families to listen to students read their favorite poems.

Implementation

Monday: Present the new poem.Model fluent reading. Discuss poet’s purpose, word choice, and style. Identify rhymes, antonyms, hyperbole, etc. Students chorally echo read.

Tuesday:Reread poem.Review components of fluency (rate, accuracy & prosody).Students chorally read poem.Small groups of students read different lines or stanzas.Students locate words with r-controlled vowels, consonant clusters, homonyms, etc.

Wednesday:Teacher and students chorally read.Students partner read and provide feedback.Students volunteer to read for class.Students complete word activities, such as a Word Ladder.

Thursday:Students chorally read and self-evaluate.Volunteers read for class.Students read poem for families.Students complete writing activity.

Friday:Students read poem with different emotions.Students perform for different school audiences.Teacher records mystery readers.

Conclusion

I (Lynne) implemented the FDL with my elementary students, and no other instructional practice proved to engage my students and advance their reading skills like the FDL. One year, 12 first graders out of 27 were performing below grade level based on general reading outcome measures in the fall.  In addition, five of those students were multilingual learners. Due to limited bandwidth, not all 12 students qualified for Title 1 services.  I (Lynne) knew I had to leverage evidence-based reading practices – core instruction had to be solid.  Besides using the district’s curricular resources, which included an explicit phonics program, I (Lynne) implemented the FDL each day for 15 – 20 minutes.  All 27 students were reading on or above grade level by the spring.  The following year, none of the students qualified for Title 1 services (Kulich & Evanchan, 2007, 2008).

Pre and post reading data from my (Lynne’s) doctoral research (2009) with Karen children revealed the reading growth three students made during the summer and after-school sessions with the FDL. During this 9-week summer program for a total of 4½ hours a week, and the afterschool sessions from September through December for 1 hour a week, the multilingual learners made between two to three years of reading progress.  In addition, their attitudes towards reading significantly improved.

Fluency instruction can be engaging, authentic, and effective all at the same time.  The Fluency Development Lesson combines all the evidence-based tools for fluency instruction into a synergistic practice that closes reading gaps and promotes the joy of reading.

References (Lynne)

Allington, R.L., & McGill-Franzen, A.M. (2021). Reading Volume and Reading Achievement: A Review of Recent Research. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(S1), S231– S238. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.404

Kulich, L. S. (2009). The English reading development of Karen children using the Fluency Development Lesson in an intensive English language program: Three descriptive case studies (Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron).

Kulich, L. S., & Evanchan, G. (2007, November). The Fluency Factor: How did the fluency development lesson impact the literacy development of thirteen “at-risk” first grade readers? Paper presented at the Fiftieth Annual Meeting of the College Reading Association, Salt Lake City, UT. 

Kulich, L. S., & Evanchan, G. (2008, November). The Final Fluency Factor: How did the fluency development lesson impact the literacy development of thirteen “at risk” first grade readers? Paper presented at the Fifty-First Annual Meeting of the College Reading Association, Sarasota, FL. 

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read. Report of the subgroups.  Washington, DC:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.

Rasinski, T. V. (2010). The fluent reader: Oral reading strategies for building word recognition, fluency, and comprehension (2nd ed.). Scholastic.

Rasinski, T. V., Padak, N. D., Linek, W. L., & Sturtevant, E. (1994). Effects of fluency development on urban second-grade readers. Journal of Educational Research, 87, 158–165.

Rasinski, T. V., Reutzel, C. R., Chard, D. & Linan-Thompson, S. (2011).  Reading Fluency.  In M. L. Kamil, P. D. Pearson, B. Moje, & P. Afflerbach E (Eds), Handbook of Reading Research, Volume IV (pp. 286-319).  New York:  Routledge.

Stahl, S., & Heubach, K. (2005). Fluency-oriented reading instruction. Journal of Literacy Research, 37, 25–60.

Vardell, S. M., Hadaway, N. L., & Young, T. A. (2006). Matching books and readers: Selecting literature for English learners. The Reading Teacher, 59(8), 734–741.

White, S., Sabatini, J., Park, B. J., Chen, J., Bernstein, J., and Li, M. (2021). The 2018 NAEP oral reading fluency study. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.

Zimmerman, B.S., Rasinski, T.V., Kruse, S.D., Was, C.A., Rawson, K.A., Dunlosky, J., & Nikbakht, E. (2019). Enhancing outcomes for struggling readers: Empirical analysis of the fluency development lesson, Reading Psychology, 40(1), 70-94. DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2018.1555365

By Lester Laminack

As I write this, I am beginning my forty-seventh year as an educator. I’ve been a classroom teacher, a reading teacher, a university professor, and continue now as a full-time writer and consultant working with schools throughout the US and abroad. In my career I have been witness to big shifts in how we approach the teaching of reading several times. Each time it happens there are comments about a pendulum swinging from one side to the other, from point A to point B. 

It can’t be a pendulum, though. If it were a pendulum, we are simply moving from what we used to do (A) to what we’re doing (B), which is what we used to do (B) before we did what we used to do (A). If this is the case, we’ve just been moving back and forth between the same two things, which would make all of us rather silly. There would be no evolution of thinking. There would be no change in our practice. It would just be moving between A and B, constantly bickering about which is better. Therefore, I reject the notion of a pendulum.

I prefer to think of it more like a Ferris wheel. Pause a moment and picture a Ferris wheel someplace in an amusement park; it’s a giant wheel, a circle. Think about the profile of this wheel laid out like the face of a clock. There are major positions 12, 3, 6, 9, with all the smaller hash marks representing each minute between. And each one of those is a seat on the Ferris wheel which is slowly moving in a constant clockwise motion. There is always one seat in the 12 o’clock position for a while. One seat will be in the three o’clock position for a while, and another in the six o’clock position, and another in the nine o’clock position.

Using this analogy, I would argue that the seat in the twelve o’clock position is the new “it” thing getting all the public attention. It’s the current “new best way” to do something. The seat in the three o’clock position is the former “best way” of doing something and is gradually falling out of favor. The seat in the six o’clock position, which once was in the twelve o’clock position is now rejected. And, in the nine o’clock position, there is something that is being researched, retooled, tweaked, reorganized and is slowly on the rise. If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve watched that Ferris wheel make full turns, which seem to take about ten years per rotation.

As a profession we understand that how we teach, what we teach, what we think about should be, like any other professional practice, ever evolving, ever-changing as we continue to question and research and refine. 

The Ferris wheel turns and the seat at twelve o’clock will rotate to three o’clock, on to six, then to nine, and eventually back around to the twelve o’clock position. But when it returns to twelve, it will not be the same as when it was previously in the twelve o’clock position. It will have been reexamined, researched, revised, revisited. It will have had time to examine what was argued against it, what was put forth as it flaws. During the movement it will fine tune, refine, repackage, reposition. 

I am drawn to the idea of the Ferris wheel because that circle is always evolving. Every single seat is attached to a common axle by a spoke. If this analogy works for you, ask fifteen different people what the axle represents. I suspect you’ll get a variety of answers. From my perspective (and I’m creating the analogy) the axle is students. Every seat is connected to that axle. I believe that no matter which seat you choose on that Ferris wheel, the occupants hold the fervent belief that what they are advocating is the best thing for kids. Each seat will pull a body of research, a set of practices, a set of materials to the forefront and say, “If you just do this, it will be best for kids.” 

Perhaps, if we stand back, if we move out to the edge of the fairgrounds and look at the Ferris wheel, we will see it as a unified thing rather than a collection of isolated seats. Each seat contributes to the whole and every seat is an integral part connected to one common axle.

Those of us who teach know there is no silver bullet, no one correct and magic thing that works for every single child. I place my faith in the professional knowledge of teachers to begin with the axle, the child/children before them, and consider which seat of knowledge to pull from. I trust the professional practices of teachers to weigh the needs of the student against their knowledge base and make an informed and professional decision about how to proceed. I trust professional teachers to monitor the progress and adjust those decisions as needed. 

Rather than arguing over which seat holds the “right” set of practices, let’s work together to provide teachers with the most robust knowledge base possible and trust them to teach.

For more in-depth discussion and sample lessons, see Critical Comprehension: Lessons for Guiding Students to Deeper Meaning Katie Kelly, Lester Laminack, and Vivian Vasquez (2023) Corwin.