Benefits of Reading to Your Students
As primary teachers we often feel pressure to get our students reading. While they need to have books in their hands and need their own practice, I think it’s so important that we don’t forget the power that reading TO your students has.
Consider how popular audiobooks have become in recent years. Sure, you can get through a book during your commute or while you fold laundry and you wouldn’t be able to do that with a physical book but there’s also enjoyment in having that read to you.
I now make it a priority to read to my students. As a language teacher, reading to them in their second language exposes them to a French accent and tons of vocabulary. Since I teach 3/4, I have an English component as well and I love reading novels to my students. For a list of books for this age group, check out the blog post here. I usually read my English novel three days per week and they always beg to read more. I think that’s proof that they enjoy it!
While there is a time and place for a novel study, don’t underestimate the power of just reading for fun. This doesn’t mean that you can’t talk about the book, make predictions, make connections or summarize, just do it orally.
What are the benefits of reading aloud to your students?
Increases knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structure
You are exposing them to vocabulary and grammatical structures that may not be used in daily communication. This development can help them in their verbal and written communication.
Builds imagination
When someone is reading to you, you are having to use visualization to put the words into a concrete image in your mind. It’s always fascinating to hear how other people picture characters or a setting because it’s often different from what we imagine even if we read the same words.
Practices listening skills
Whether it’s a picture book or a couple chapters of a novel, hearing a story read aloud requires attention and focus. These are skills that can benefit them when they are reading independently.
Builds classroom community
In my experience, having a shared enjoyment of a story has helped build classroom community and discussion. I will often hear them talking about the book or bringing up a funny moment even when we aren’t reading.
Exposes students to voice changes like inflection and expression
Once students have mastered decoding, the next thing we are often working on is developing their fluency and expression. By reading aloud, you are modelling these skills. Students may start to improve in these skills when they are reading.
If you’re a dramatic reader, you can create different voices for the characters and do things like build tension and anticipation. This enriches the experience and helps the listeners dive deeper into the story.
Practices comprehension, connections, predicting, summarization and more
I am constantly asking them to make predictions about what will happen in the next chapter, asking questions about what’s going on, getting a student to summarize what happened in the story while another student was away and making connections with other things we’ve read or our own lives. Instead of doing written comprehension or summarization, we do it orally.
Showcases reading for enjoyment
As a beginner reader, it can be tiring to learn to read, especially since early books aren’t the most exciting things out there. By reading these stories, it shows that there are books to strive for and that as a good reader, we can choose to read these books for fun. I try to choose books that my students can relate to, or would think are funny or exciting. I want to draw them in to show them that reading can be fun.
Encourages students to try out different genres or to improve their own reading
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a book and then a student has gone to the library and checked out that book. When I ask why they want to read the book we already read, they often say “Because I want to read it now”. It’s usually a book that they probably would never have picked up. It’s also a motivator to improve their reading if they find they can’t quite read that book yet.