Reading aloud techniques
10 Tips for Reading Aloud with Children
By NYPL Staff
January 22, 2021
World Read Aloud Day Art © 2020 Scholastic Inc
On February 3, 2021, The New York Public Library will be joining Scholastic, LitWorld, football champion, and literacy advocate Malcolm Mitchell, along with families and classrooms around the world, in celebrating World Read Aloud Day, which highlights both the importance of reading aloud and the many benefits that come from it! Created 12 years ago by LitWorld, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing people together through stories, and sponsored by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education, and media company, World Read Aloud Day is celebrated across the globe.
Making reading a pleasurable habit is one of the most important things you can do for the child or children in your life and sets them up for lifelong readership. Here are the top 10 tips for reading aloud according to our librarians.
1. All reading is good reading.
That includes books with commercial characters, comics, and nonfiction.
2. Find a comfortable space to read together.
The love of reading is built around our cultural connection to books and hearing stories. Being in a cozy environment while reading will help create those loving connections. It’s also good to carry a book with you wherever you go—reading in a crowded space like a busy subway can soothe and distract.
3. Slow down.
It takes time to process what’s happening on the page. You can pause on a page to look more closely at pictures before turning the page.
4. Ask and answer questions together.
If you come across a word or concept your child or students don’t know, ask them what they think it means. And if you don’t know, it’s OK to say that! Explore unknowns together: these moments are opportunities to discuss the book and what is happening in connection to the world around us and capitalize on curiosity.
5. Be yourself.
You don’t have to be an entertainer while you’re reading a great book! This is especially true when reading one-on-one with a child.
The bond already exists and the moment is special because it is your voice.
6. Read ahead!
Rhythm and meter are part of the magic of storytelling, so a little pre-reading can make a big difference. Flip through the pages before you start so you know what happens in the story and can check that it’s appropriate for your audience and moment. This will help you identify key moments for social-emotional learning.
7. Embrace wordless picture books.
Books without words are an opportunity for you and your child to invent a new story each time. Wordless picture books are also a great opportunity to think and talk about what is happening—and to predict what will happen next!
8. Don’t worry about age or grade level.
Even if a book isn’t entirely age-appropriate or seems a little advanced, you can still try reading different parts of it each time. You also don’t need to rush into bigger books because they are labeled as being more age-appropriate. If you’re looking for your next great read, take this opportunity to explore lists like the Scholastic 2021 World Read Aloud Day Book Picks and our list of 2020’s Best Books for Kids for favorites old and new.
9. You don’t have to finish a book.
Don’t make reading a chore! Sometimes the best thing to do is to stop. If your audience is running around or not interested, come back to it later or ditch it entirely! You can even come back to it much later: revisiting stories at a later age can create an entirely new and wonderful experience.
10. Make reading aloud part of your routine.
This is especially valuable for our littlest ones, who crave structure for comfort and early learning. Make bedtime or tummy time a good time for reading. Plus, if children see you reading, you’re modeling great reading behavior that sets the foundation for future readership.
We look forward to celebrating World Read Aloud Day with you on February 3, 2021! To learn more, visit the:
- Scholastic World Read Aloud Day website at www.scholastic.com/worldreadaloudday
- LitWorld World Read Aloud Day website at www.litworld.org/worldreadaloudday
Hints on How to Read Aloud to a Group
By: America Reads at Bank Street College of Education
From previewing to reading with expression, here are several helpful hints for anyone preparing to read a book aloud to a group of children.
Listening to literature being read aloud is one of the most valuable and pleasurable experiences beginning readers and writers can have. Read alouds should be part of every child's day.
Story time, circle time, and read alouds offer a chance to model good reading and thinking strategies and to expose young learners to a rich variety of literature. When this exposure is accompanied by supportive and engaging discussions, children are able to extend their world view and develop important critical thinking skills.
The following are some helpful hints that will help you make the most of your read aloud time.
- Plan enough time for each session (15-20 minutes)
You'll want to give yourself and the children enough time to read aloud, to enjoy, and to discuss the story, poem, or information text.
- Choose stories or texts that respond to children's interests and experiences
For very young children or emergent readers, choose books with vivid pictures, a strong story line, engaging characters, and evocative language.
Humorous and predictable books are particularly successful. - Preview the book before you read it with the group so you can anticipate questions or reactions
Practice reading the book through so you can decide where to pause for emphasis and where to elicit questions, predictions, or reactions.
- Introduce the book to the group
Point out the cover illustration, title, and author. Invite the children to predict what the book is about, and talk about how the book might connect to their own experience or to other books they've heard or read. You can also give a brief explanation about why you chose to read the book. "This is the story of a boy who goes on an unusual trip. I chose it because you just came back from a trip." Or "This is the story about a special friendship between a mouse and a whale. I have read this many times. I wonder what you will think about it."
- Read with expression
Let your voice reflect the tone of the story or the personalities of the characters.
Don't read too fast. Vary your pace so you can pause for emphasis. Allow time for children to think about what's happening or what might come next. - Build in time for listeners to respond along the way
Allow time for children to study the pictures as you read, make comments, and ask questions about the story.
- Encourage predictions
Ask children what they think will happen next. Help them confirm or revise these predictions as the story unfolds. Try to honor many ideas and interpretations, not just the "correct" ones. Instead of accepting or rejecting comments or ideas as right or wrong, use comments such as "That's one possibility, let's see what the author has in mind." or "Well that's an interesting idea. How did you think of that?"
- Watch your audience
Watch the children's expressions and body language and be sensitive to signs of boredom or confusion. You may need to change your reading plan, change the book, or do more preparation next time.
- Save time at the end of the story to get reactions
Ask open-ended questions that don't have right or wrong answers and that can't be answered with a yes or no reply. For instance, ask what the child liked (or disliked) about the book and why. You may ask what he or she thought about the characters or how the problem was solved. Find out if the book made listeners think of any personal experiences or other books they've heard or read.
- Point out parts of the story you noticed or especially liked
Show the children special language patterns or phrases or parts of the text that made you feel or visualize something. Ask children if there were other parts of the book they noticed.
- Remember that for some children, listening to stories is a new experience
Some children aren't used to being read to and will need to develop that interest and ability. Start with short, interesting stories with strong pictures. In some cases, allow active children to manipulate play dough or to draw while listening.
Be responsive to facial expressions and body language. - Encourage discussion about the story
Ask the children questions about what's going on and encourage them to predict what will come next. Be sure, though, not to turn the discussion into a quiz!
- Most importantly: Have a good time!
Updated and adapted from: Reading Aloud to Children: Helpful Hints. (August, 1997). America Reads at Bank Street College of Education. Available at http://bankstreet.edu/literacy-guide/sample-tutoring-lessons/reading-aloud-children-helpful-hints/.
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Reading aloud.
How to read aloud correctly When was the last time you read aloud from a sight?
Why are people bad at reading aloud ? What is happening, why does it seem: “Now, oh, how can I read it!”, But dry reading comes out? Let's think about this.
When was the last time you read aloud?
In this article
- why people do not read aloud,
- how to read aloud correctly
- practical exercises
- where they teach it
What is reading
How to write Wikipedia: Reading is a complex cognitive process of character decoding aimed at understanding the text.
Why people are bad at reading aloud.
When did we read aloud ? Probably still in school.
And not in the senior classes, but in the primary ones.
When they forced to read aloud.
Then we all switched to reading "to myself" . And in this achieved good success.
It is not surprising that speakers (and non-speakers) from the podium cannot read text well and colorfully aloud. Why?
Because is an unclaimed function , as doctors say, it will atrophy . With reading "aloud" , almost the same thing happens.
Read it now!
It seems to the speaker:
- I'll read it now! I read beautifully and colorfully. I have read hundreds of books!
What is the result?
Monotonous reading . Inexpressive. Without the desired overflow of voice.
So?
At least that's how it sounds from outside.
What can be done to improve the quality of reading aloud?
Usually, the speaker is associated with this way. The speaker reads, a fiery speech sounds, gestures are directed forward to the audience, leaves are scattered from the podium ... But how is it really happening?
It is useful to realize that Habit “reading aloud” we have not developed for a long time, but practiced reading “to ourselves”. And these are, although similar, but different skills of our brain.
And start to read aloud .
You can read various texts : both colorful texts of great writers and "dry" texts of encyclopedias.
After all, many texts are well written. They are carefully thought out by the writers. They contain words that are little used in everyday life, words that are useful for developing vocabulary.
How a speaker should read in public
Watch this video to learn how a speaker should read in public.
However, this applies not only to the speaker.
Recall, for example, the speeches of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.
How the speaker usually goes. The speaker is busy with the text - the audience is busy with their own affairs.
However, it happens that modern speakers read speeches very well.
Don't good speakers read from sight? - Read! And how they read.
Remember Zhvanetsky, Altov, and other pop comedians. They read, and they read very well from a sheet.
Even Barack Obama often speaks while looking at a sheet of paper.
But he reads in such a way that no one even notices reading.
Here, for example, is one of the videos where Barack Obama speaks using written text. But it does look beautiful. Why? Because he can read.
Public reading
Proper public reading.
Why is it “correct” – because there is a rule: you need to look into the eyes of those people to whom the speech is addressed, no matter whether it is written or not.
You need to read aloud so that you can see the audience and the text in front of you.
Public reading (reading in front of an audience) is really more difficult than ordinary speech and requires special skills.
Why is it more difficult? Because, as with any public speaking, eye contact with the audience is important here, and during sight reading it is difficult to create, and even more so, maintain this contact.
Both read and see those you read to.
And not only see , but also feel how well the audience accepts and assimilates your material.
To see, to feel, whether my dear listeners understood the previous words.
Often, very often, the speaker does not notice how quickly he overloads the listeners' perception.
Let's remember our wonderful lectures at the institute...0005 eye contact ?
Things to pay attention to: pauses, eye contact and the speed of our speech. How fast can you read aloud ? I suppose it will be fast, but we need it in such a way that every word of yours is perceived by the audience.
An important technique: read while you pause, and when you speak, look into the audience. And so alternately.
The speed of speech, the length of pauses and phrases need to be adjusted. All this is achieved through exercise.
We recommend to see how we teach oratory to children online:
Exercises
How to read aloud correctly
So, let's summarize everything written above.
1.
Not a problem Well, who reads like that? Where are the emotions?
If you (or someone else) are bad at reading aloud, this is not a problem . This is task . You need to start reading aloud, and this skill will quickly develop.
And, very quickly. You just need to start doing it.
In order to learn to read aloud (or teach someone else), you need to read any texts. As a rule, written texts are well thought out. They contain "new" words for our colloquial vocabulary.
How to increase vocabulary is written in great detail here:
How to increase vocabulary
2. What to read aloud
You can read fairy tales, read stories, read parables.
I highly recommend reading exactly parables .
These are short stories. And there is no desire to read quickly to read to the end. As a rule, they are very well written.
- I recommend these parables
- And this is a whole site of good parables
3. How to read aloud
It is advisable to read slowly, slowly. No more than 100 words per minute. Better: 60 . Even better (though difficult) is 40 wpm.
Yes. Exactly. Doubt? And you are doing it right. After all, there are many recommendations on the Internet where it is recommended to read at a speed of “120 words per minute”. But I am a public speaking coach, I know what I recommend.
At normal reading speed, there is no time to pay attention to pauses, intonations, gestures, facial expressions. At this speed, 120 or more, the brain only has time to read.
And when to memorize words?
At this speed (120 words per minute), you can only read by looking at the text.
But after all, you need to look not at the text, but directly, at the listener or listeners, or at yourself in the mirror.
- This is covered in detail in my book Speaker Mistakes: How to Read in Public.
4. By reading aloud slowly, you can read beautifully
Read this! 🙂
You will be able to control your speech and voice.
Try to make the phrases different: something louder, something quieter, something faster, something measured, stretching the sounds, something intonation higher or lower.
Reading slowly, you can switch emotions and admire them in the mirror.
5. First practice reading aloud to yourself
Without a recorder, but looking at your face in the mirror. Make sure that every phrase that you pronounce you say looking into your eyes.
It is considered a mistake (in this exercise) to pronounce the words while raising the eyes.
when you start talking, but your eyes have not yet seen. It will be the same in public, only instead of your eyes in the mirror you will see the eyes of the public.
- Why look into the eyes of the audience during a performance is written in detail here: Mistake #1. Where is the speaker looking?
6. Listen (look) as you read aloud
Turn on the video camera (now it is in any smartphone). Or a webcam for recording. Listen to yourself. Correct your speech.
Check for junk sounds like uh, mmm.
- If there is, then I recommend reading: Rubbish in words, and how to deal with it
Pay attention to the fact that the voice is not monotonous, that there are intonations.
7. Learn from the same text
It is more useful to re-read the same text than to constantly read new pages.
This is how you will see your result.
8. Don't worry if you don't like your voice
Reading aloud. Practical exercises in the training in public speaking.
This is a normal reaction of our subconscious to the voice we hear.
90% of our Public Speaking School students say they like other students' voices but dislike their own at all.
You probably know that we hear ourselves with the “inner ear” (this is such a device in our auricle), and other people with the “outer ear”. And suddenly - we heard ourselves "outer ear". It's a completely different sound, a different voice. Here the subconscious mind is “indignant”: “It’s not me talking! It's a stranger!"
You need to get used to your voice from the speakers . Addiction happens quickly, though not immediately. As a rule, after the seventh listening, none of my students has a “rejection” of their voice.
9. The same can be said about the video
After all, you have seen the speeches of my students on my YouTube channel, for example, with telling parables.
So, from the first time these videos are for everyone except ... the participants themselves. The participants themselves have to be convinced that the video is good, that all the training participants like it, that this is one of the best performances of the group ... But the opposite is written on the faces of the speakers: “What a horror!”. Time passes, and after a few such views, the speakers get used to their video image from the outside.
To confirm my words, watch this video of a famous film artist who tells how he himself did not like to look at himself from the outside:
When I first saw myself on the screen, my hair stood on end
10 Do an analysis of your speech
Set yourself new tasks.
And… read, read, read aloud.
Where you can learn to read aloud correctly
T The instructors of our Oratory School teach adults and children the art of oratory.
Including correct reading aloud. It is not expensive, but effective practical training. You can only try one lesson.
- Online Public Speaking Training
We recommend to see how we teach public speaking online for adults
Dear reader! The site has many other useful articles.
Sincerely, rhetoric coach Oleg Bolsunov.
Read more: how to develop vocabulary in a child →
0003
Primary school reading aloud norms
How many words should a child read per minute in grades 1, 2, 3 and 4?
There are standards for reading technique in elementary school. Reading speed is measured by the number of words read per minute. Mandatory assessment of reading speed in each quarter.
Standards for reading speed in elementary school:
Grade 1
I half-year - 25-30 words, II half-year - 40-45 words
Grade 2
I half-year - 45-55 words, II half-year - 60-70 words
3rd grade
1st semester - 70-80 words, 2nd semester - 80-90 words
4th grade
1st semester - 85-90 words, 2nd semester - 90-100 words
Reading speed standards 1-4 grades
Class
Class 1
at least 10 - 15 (20 - 25) wpm
at 2 -> less than 15 (25) wpm
at 3 -> 15-19 (25-34) wpm
at 4 -> 20-24 ( 35-40) words
by 5 -> from 25 (41) words
2 cells.
at the end of the first half of the year:
for 2 -> less than 25 (40) words per minute
for 3 -> 25-29 (40-48) words
for 4 -> 30-34 (49-54) words
for 5 -> from 35 (55) words
at the end of the second half of the year:
for 2 - > less than 40 (50) words per minute
by 3 -> 40-44 (50-58) words
by 4 -> 45-49 (59-64) words
by 5 -> from 50 (65) words
3 cells
at the end of the first half of the year
for 2 -> less than 40 (55) words per minute
for 3 -> 40-49 (55-64) words
for 4 -> 50-59 (65-69) words
for 5 -> from 60 (70) words
at the end of the second half of the year
for 2 -> less than 65 (70) words per minute
for 3 -> 65-69 (70-79) words
for 4 -> 70-74 (80-84) words
for 5 -> from 75 (85) words
4 cells.
at the end of the first half of the year
by 2 -> less than 65 (85) words per minute
by 3 -> 65-74 (85-99) words
by 4 -> 75-84 (100-114) words
by 5 -> from 85 (115) words
at the end of the second half of the year
by 2 -> less than 70 (100) words per minute
by 3 -> 70-88 (100-115) words
by 4 -> 89-94 (116-124) words
by 5 -> from 95 (125) words
*) The number of words may vary slightly depending on from the curriculum.
Increased rates are given in parentheses.
◊ Grade 1: no mark is given, the student has “handled” or “failed”. In the first half of the year, the reading technique may not be carried out.
Other reading parameters 1-4 class
1 cl.
Reading is conscious, correct, simple words are read as a word. Words with a complex syllabic structure can be read syllable by syllable.
2 cl.
at the end of the first half of the year
Conscious, correct reading, in whole words. Compliance with logical stresses. Words of a complex syllabic structure can be read syllable by syllable.
at the end of the second half of the year
Reading consciously, correctly, in whole words. With observance of logical stresses, pauses and intonations. Syllabic reading is undesirable.
3 cl.
at the end of the first half of the year
Conscious, correct reading, in whole words. With observance of pauses and intonations, through which the student expresses understanding of the meaning of what is being read.
