I’m a great big fan of genre study, and genre study relies on genre immersion (reading the genre throughout workshop: read alouds, guided reading, independent reading, etc.). One of the best ways to expose students to a new genre is though daily read alouds. Teachers love sharing awesome picture books with students, but sometimes the the purpose of read alouds become muddy. Are read alouds meant to mini lessons? Are they like a whole group version of guided reading? Are they just for fun? The first step to planning an excellent read aloud is to remember what read alouds are for. What Are Read Alouds FOR? It’s useful to refer…
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A Versatile Template for Read Alouds (Free Download)
One of my favorite things about reading workshop is finding and sharing picture books with students. Shared readings generate discussions (academic and personal) that are relevant to your kiddos . While ‘meeting student needs’ is one of the great benefits of shared readings, it’s also one of the great challenges. Suiting a favorite read aloud to this particular class year after year can be time consuming. When I was creating my series of genre units, I wanted to include discussion guides for shared readings that would be versatile enough to fit a range of needs, but specific enough to make them low-prep for teachers. I ended up a creating a…
