Reading Aloud Hints

Greetings,

I love to read aloud to groups of children. I will blow my own horn here since most of you have not met me and do not know my strengths. This is one of my strengths. I am an excellent oral reader. Over the years I have heard many people read aloud and I have come to the realization that few of them are excellent oral readers. If you are an excellent oral reader, then you are probably doing all the things I will be talking about. Congratulations! You could just stop reading right here. However, if you continue reading, you could help me and add any tips I may have missed.

When reading aloud to children (or anyone) choose a book that you like. You will enjoy it more and therefore will be more involved and read it better.

First, read the book through. Look for hard words and learn to pronounce them correctly. Also, learn what the word means and be able to explain it to the age you are reading. If not, you may be a bit embarrassed when a first grader asks, “What does ‘miry clay’ mean? For me it is something that I know intuitively, but I need some time to come up with the descriptive words that a young child would understand better. If I have to stop and stumble around, I feel a bit foolish that I can’t explain it right away. So, to avoid this, look it up ahead of time and find a description for children to understand. Write it on a small post-it and stick it in the book right by the word. If no one asks, give the explanation anyway. Just imagine how brilliant you will appear to the children! “Our teachers knows all the words in the dictionary!” If you don’t have time, keep a dictionary beside you. When asked for a meaning, say, “Let’s look it up and see what the dictionary says.” Now you are modeling good reading skills. When we see a word we don’t know, we stop and look it up. It adds to the story. Again, you still look brilliant.

Second, use your voice to add interest. Think of it as a performance, since that really is what it is. No one wants to hear a monotone voice reading. As you read, watch for different punctuation marks that indicate pauses, breaks, excitement, questions, and so forth. Use your voice to show these things. If the character whispers, you whisper. If the character is yelling, raise your voice. If the character is crying, show that in your voice. If the character is very young, change your voice to mimic that. Speak somewhat higher and a little childishly. If a man is talking, lower your voice a bit. I’m sure you get the idea.

Third, set a timer and then read the book aloud. This accomplishes two things. It lets you know how much time you will need to actually read the book. If you know ahead of time that you won’t be able to finish the story in one sitting, you can find a good place to stop. Also, it is good practice for the words and phrases that might be problematic, and good practice to use your voice to add interest to the story.

You are the model for the children in your classroom. If you don’t use expression in your reading, how can you expect them to do it? They need to hear it from you.
I hope there is something here that has been helpful to you. Good luck in your reading.


Have a great week!

Audrey

PS. Food for thought. What do you think you (and I) might do to improve your oral Bible reading? We tend to have a particular way we read the Bible because we have heard it read that way all our lives. However, it can be a little boring. What can we do to help change this idea?