Why Are Read Alouds Important?

/
why are read alouds important?

What Is A Read Aloud?

Read alouds are the act of reading out loud to children. Many parents do not realize all the benefits that read alouds provide. One consequence is that parents either skip read alouds altogether or do not optimize them in engaging ways. Read alouds are so much more than an opportunity for your child to listen to a story.

Why Are Read Alouds Important?

Read alouds provide a wealth of literary knowledge to children.

Promote oral language:

Children are exposed to different forms, content and use of oral language during read alouds. For instance, read alouds can help them understand how we use figurative language. They can learn a person is not literally an owl when they are referred to as a night owl in a book. Read alouds also expose children to new words and meanings. Children are transported to different situations through books. This allows them to be introduced to new words they would not encounter in everyday conversations.

Print knowledge:

Read alouds help children understand that printed text carries meaning. Children in the emergent stage of reading begin to understand that the scribbles on the page (letters) represent words. This translates to them understanding the printed world around them including menus, road signs, etc. 

Positive reading association:

Children create a positive association between reading and nurturing experiences when they are read to in their early childhood years. Reading to children in any leisure capacity, such as bedtime reading, also contributes to a positive reading association.

Model reading:

Read alouds are a great opportunity for children to understand how reading works in general. They learn that reading requires us to pause, change our intonation, etc. They also understand the natural flow of a book. For instance, they learn that we read from the top to bottom of a page and must turn the page to continue reading.

Best Practices

The process of a read aloud seems straight forward. Open a book and read, right? Ideally, parents would optimize their read alouds when the opportunity arises. This time can be more than just allowing them to listen to a story. Below are some ways you can engage your child during a read aloud to ensure they are getting the most out of the time.

Show the book’s cover page:

Read the title to your child and allow them to see the cover. Let them explore the pictures and ask what they see. Do they think the picture relates to the title? Why or why not?

Talk about the author and illustrator:

As you read each name, make sure to talk about what it means to be an author and an illustrator. As you continue to reference them in the future, make sure to use the terms author and illustrator.  This is helpful to grow your child’s vocabulary.

Ask for predictions:

Parents should do this throughout the book. For instance, ask what they think the book is about after you read the title. You could ask for predictions again after a problem has been introduced in the story. If you are unable to read the entire story in one sitting, end the read aloud by asking what they think will happen next.

parents reading aloud to child
Read the book with expression: 

Parents should put on their actor hats when reading to their children. Some ways to read with expressions would be to make different voices for every character, exaggerate your intonation, and actually sing when the characters in the book sing. This makes read alouds much more engaging for your child.

Ask open-ended questions: 

Open-ended questions encourage children to use higher level thinking skills such as inferencing, predicting and interpreting. They also help children with their expressive language and develop larger vocabularies. Open-ended questions facilitate purposeful conversations between parents and children and encourage high-quality dialogue. 

Call attention to expressive language:

Books provide a great opportunity for children to learn how we use different types of language. Parents should analyze examples of analogies, personification, metaphors, and hyperbole with their children whenever possible. Ask questions like, “What does the author mean when she wrote the wind howled? Do you think the character was so hungry, she really wanted to eat a horse?”

Talk about new words:

Books will introduce new words to your child. When you’re done reading a page, pick a few words and ask your child what they think the word means. You can reread the sentence for context and then tell them what the word actually means if they were incorrect.

Follow this link to a list of great read alouds divided by age. Do you have any favorite books to read with your child? Let us know the in comments! You can reach us via our connect page with any questions or concerns. We would love to support you in any way we can.