Chapter 13 - Reading to and With Children: Reading Aloud, Shared and Guided Reading, and Writing

        Overall, I felt as though Chapter 13 was very helpful in determining when to use a read and write aloud, shared reading and writing, and guided reading. The chapter not only explained when to use each of these methods to read with children, but it also described how to do so. Various useful suggestions were given for each of the three reading techniques as well.

What I thought was very important to remember about reading aloud was that one of the fondest memories pre-service teachers have from their elementary school years was there teachers reading to them. I believe that this alone shows how important effectively reading aloud to your students can be. Reading aloud has also made numerous children fall in love with their teacher, and she was never forgotten. When reading aloud it is important to have passion and enthusiasm for the book you are reading. Reading aloud aids in numerous things: increased motivation and positive attitude toward reading, language and literacy development in the understanding of story structure, conventions of print, vocabulary development and listening comprehension, decoding and reading comprehension, and literary understanding. It is important to remember that the effectiveness of a read aloud depends on the consideration given to the read aloud process. When writing aloud it is important to select a topic that can emerge from read alouds, storytelling, hands on experiences, shared readings, and content area instruction.

The next technique discussed in the chapter was shared reading. I believe that it is important to remember as with read alouds, it is important to use a well developed thought process throughout the shared reading. Before shared reading it is critical that an engaging book is selected that is an appropriate level for the students. During the reading you need to make sure that all students can se and hear the book. This is a great time to pose questions, stop to think aloud, and allow the children to make predictions. After the shared reading it is important to as students to provide explicit teaching of certain reading concepts, skills, or strategies. In shared writing, the teacher and students think collaboratively. For shared writing teachers collaboratively construct the text with students to help convey the meaningful text. Guided Reading was the last technique discussed in the chapter. A guided reading is a context where the teacher supports each reader's development of effective strategies for processing novel texts at increasingly challenging levels of difficulty. At this time the teacher would work with a small group of students who use similar strategies and have similar reading levels. It is important to remember that guided reading is based on dynamic grouping of students. The first and most important aspects of guided reading are initial and ongoing dynamic, meaning temporary and fluid, grouping of students.

In conclusion, reading and writing aloud, shared reading and writing, and guided readings are effective strategies teachers can use to address the various different needs each student may have so that all children can see the amazing aspects of children's literature. It is important to remember the key aspects of each strategy (Johnson, 2012). Remember to always read aloud with passion!