Participatory & Partner Read-alouds
Overview
Reading aloud allows students to hear and practice reading and fluency skills. Listening to others read exposes learners to diverse texts that may be above their usual reading level while supporting the development of their literacy skills.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how an elementary teacher structures the activity of reading aloud. Since each pair has a reader and a checker of understanding, both support the other's reading process. The reader is able to practice Decoding, Phonological Awareness, and Morphological Awareness, while the checker builds Verbal Reasoning and Vocabulary.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Learn how this interactive read-aloud app, A Story Before Bed, records partner reading of a shared text. Pairing readers of different experience levels, such as parents with their children or siblings, provides a model of fluent reading and allows for practice of various literacy skills, such as Decoding, Phonological Awareness, and Sight Recognition. Rewatching these recordings brings the stories to life and captivates the learner's Attention.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Active Learning Strategies
Creating and acting out texts or original narratives can enhance literacy for young learners, solidifying their comprehension and building Narrative Skills.
Students activate more cognitive processes by exploring and representing their understandings in visual form.
When young children draw and are encouraged to explain their drawings, they are sharpening the cognitive and motor skills involved in conventional writing.
When students explain their thinking process aloud, they recognize the strategies they use and solidify their understanding.
Visiting places connected to classroom learning provides opportunities to deepen understanding through firsthand experiences.
Free choice supports learner interests and allows more complex social interactions to develop.
Games help students visualize new information and immerse themselves in the learning process.
Imagining allows students to step back from a problem or task and think about it from multiple angles.
Playful activities, including pretending, games, and other child-led activities, can support the development of learners' Metacognition and also inspire their narratives and writing.
Project-based learning (PBL) actively engages learners in authentic tasks designed to create products that answer a given question or solve a problem.
Response devices boost engagement by encouraging all students to answer every question.
