📚 Reading Aloud and Real Books

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Grades K-5About 120 minutes a week

Fluency is heard, not clicked: someone has to listen to him read. Twenty minutes a day on the couch, you reading to him and him reading to you, builds speed, expression and the stamina for a whole novel.

What to do, grade by grade

• K: read to him daily; ask about the story and what it reminds him of in his own life.
• Grade 1: echo reading (you read a line, he copies it); read in word groups; a voice for each character.
• Grade 2: phrase long sentences; read only the quoted words in the speaker's voice; stop and reread when a word did not make sense.
• Grades 2-3: read abbreviations where they live (Mr., Dr., St., Ave., Feb.) on mail, street signs and the calendar; he says the whole word.
• Grades 3-5: the same passage three times in a week, timed, with expression; stress a different word and hear the meaning change.
• Grades 4-5: summarize a long chapter in a few sentences; read a full novel over several weeks with a character and plot chart.
• Grade 4: after each book, he says its big idea about people in one sentence, with no names in it.

How to teach it

1. Read the passage to him first so he hears how it should sound. Then he reads it.
2. When he misreads, wait. Give him the chance to notice and reread before you help.
3. Aim for smooth, not fast. If he races, ask what just happened in the story.
4. Say "I never said he took it" three times, stressing a different word each time, and talk about the change.
5. For a summary, the rule is: what mattered most, not everything in order.
6. With a novel, add to the chart after each sitting: who is new, what changed, what might happen next.
7. For the big idea, leave out names and events. "People who keep trying get better" is a theme; "Sam fixed the boat" is the plot.

Curriculum goals this sheet covers (17)

In the words of the grade-by-grade guide.

• Answers questions about a read-aloud and ties it to something in his own life
• Copies a read-aloud model to build phrasing and expression
• Reads several words together as a group instead of one word at a time
• Changes voice to match the character who is speaking
• Breaks a long sentence into natural phrases when reading it aloud
• Finds the words a character actually says and reads them in that character's voice
• Notices a misread word and rereads the sentence to repair it
• Reads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 3.4)
• Changes which word is stressed when reading aloud and hears the meaning change
• Reads at a speed that keeps the meaning instead of at the fastest speed possible
• Reads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 4.4)
• Summarizes a longer text without simply retelling it in order
• Reads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 5.4)
• Reads a full-length novel across several weeks and keeps track of characters and plot
• Reads compound words, contractions and common abbreviations (TEKS 2.2.B.iv)
• Reads compound words, contractions and abbreviations without stumbling (TEKS 3.2.A.iii)
• States the theme of a story, the idea it carries about people, in one sentence

Goals covered: Answers questions about a read-aloud and ties it to something in his own lifeCopies a read-aloud model to build phrasing and expressionReads several words together as a group instead of one word at a timeChanges voice to match the character who is speakingBreaks a long sentence into natural phrases when reading it aloudFinds the words a character actually says and reads them in that character's voiceNotices a misread word and rereads the sentence to repair itReads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 3.4)Changes which word is stressed when reading aloud and hears the meaning changeReads at a speed that keeps the meaning instead of at the fastest speed possibleReads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 4.4)Summarizes a longer text without simply retelling it in orderReads grade-level text with appropriate rate, accuracy and expression (TEKS 5.4)Reads a full-length novel across several weeks and keeps track of characters and plotReads compound words, contractions and common abbreviations (TEKS 2.2.B.iv)Reads compound words, contractions and abbreviations without stumbling (TEKS 3.2.A.iii)States the theme of a story, the idea it carries about people, in one sentence

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