Maximizing+the+Effectiveness+of+Reading+Aloud

Lane, H. B., & Wright, T. L. (2007). Maximizing the effectiveness of reading aloud. //The Reading Teacher, 60//(7), 668-675. Retrieved June 21, 2009, from Academic Search Complete.
 * Quotes || Reaction ||
 * 1. "With such widespread promotion, most parents and teachers have come to believe that reading aloud to children is an important part of early literacy development (Roberts & Burchinal, 2002), and many parents and teachers spend a good deal of time engaged in read-aloud activities (Teale, 2003). Despite this common acceptance of the importance of reading aloud, many children continue to start school with extremely limited experience with books (Anderson-Yockel & Hayes, 1994). The most frequently cited barriers to reading aloud are lack of time (Smoth, 1989) and limited access to children's books (Dickinson, McCabe, & Anastasopoulos, 2003; Strickland, 2002)." (p. 668)

2. "Meyer, Wardrop, Linn, and Hastings (1993) found that there are low to moderate negative correlations between time teachers spend reading aloud and their students' reading achievement. That is, in classrooms where teachers spend more time reading aloud to children, students' reading achievement tends to be worse than in classrooms there less time is devoted to read-aloud activities. In classrooms where reading aloud was taking place, there were fewer interactions with students, and students spent less time reading on their own." (p. 668) 

3. "So, how can we make sense of these apprently contradictory findings? We can start by examining the conditions under which reading aloud to children has been effective. The most positive results of reading aloud have typically been found with research-designed methods, as opposed to naturally occurring methods. This suggests that teachers and parents could be more productive in their read-aloud sactivities if they employed some of the more systematic methods that reseearchers use." (p. 669)

4. "Often, multiple instructional goals can be accomplished with one read-aloud, which can actually save instructional time." (p. 669)

5. "Teachers should consider the instructional goals of the read-aloud when selecting books." (p. 669)

6. "Although substantial research efforts have been devited to exmaining the effects of reading aloud, only a few researchers have developed and tested specific techniques for reading aloud to children. Three methods that have emerged as particularly compelling approaches to reading aloud are dialogic reading (Whitehurst, Arnold, Epstein, & Angell, 1994), text talk (Beck & McKeown, 2001), and print referencing (Ezell & Justice, 2000). These methods incorporate critical elements of language development, vocabulary growth, and kowledge about books in ways that promote learning without detracting from children's enjoyment." (p. 670)

7. "According to Whitehurst et al. (1988), as parents or teachers begin using dialogic reading, the emphasis should be on asking 'what' questions, following answers with questions, repeating what the child says, and providing help and praise. As the read-aloud interactions become more sophisticated, specific types of prompts are implemented." (p. 670)

8. "A teacher begins a text talk lesson by reading a story aloud and engaging in rich discussion with children. The teacher then targets several words from the story to discuss in more depth. Deep learning of these words becomes the focus of the lesson." (p. 670)

9. "The purpose of print referencing is to increase the metalinguistic focus of reading aloud, thereby increasing print interest. With increased print interest, 'children come to view written language as an object distinctly worthy of attention' (Justice & Ezell, 2004, p. 186)." (p. 672)

10. "Helping parents make the most of read-aloud activities can be aligned with research-based practices." (p. 673) || 2. The results of this study surprised me greatly. I had not read any research indicating that read-alouds may not be beneficial before. However, the results make sense. Teachers must balance all components of a literacy program.

3. Teachers who are not adept at teaching reading may read aloud to teach reading. Because of this, I can see how read-alouds would impact literacy negatively.

10. The authors mention training parents, not just teachers, to maximize read aloud benefits. ||

Tags: read-aloud, literature review, choosing material , reading aloud effectively, read-aloud cons