Read To MeReading aloud promotes early reading and helps children learn.

Tips: Reading Aloud to Tweens and Teens

Anna HarmonA Collection from Anna Harmon

Reading aloud to tweens and early teens doesn’t necessarily have to do with basic literacy skills. It has to do with comprehension, vocabulary, and learning about the pleasures and possibilities of reading.

In middle school, I would read ahead of the teacher just because I could; I thought the point was to get work done fast in class so you could have some real fun. However, when the reading aloud was presented as an enjoyable, rewarding thing – for me, hot chocolate with marshmallows in a cozy place with my brother and mom – I kicked back and enjoyed the read aloud, as did my brother, a “reluctant” reader.

While there is a debate about the how-to’s and how-much’s of reading aloud in class, there is no doubt that reading aloud is always beneficial (see Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook). Here are ten tips that we have either experienced or rounded up:

1. Read a diverse selection of materials.

  • Newspaper articles encourage in-depth discussions and present diverse topics; reading a newspaper is reading, after all!
  •  Magazine articles and short stories make for diverse, one-sitting read alouds
  • Non-fiction can attract fact-minded, hands-on readers.
  • Chapter books encourage repeated read-aloud sessions (remember those cliff-hanger chapter endings that left you begging for more?).

2. When you’re dying of boredom, so are your listeners. If it’s because you’re getting easily distracted, call it a day (don’t force read alouds to last too long!); if it’s the material, switch to something more interesting.

3. Give listeners a background of the book. This can be the its historical background, or the background of the author, the genre, the subject. Whatever else piques your listener's interest.

4. Switch it around; encourage children to read to you when you’re busy cooking, driving, or otherwise engaged; or to younger siblings etc.

5. Allow your audience to do something else while reading aloud. Believe it or not, doodling, constructing, etc. (just not any other form of interactive media, i.e. texting or Game Boys) may allow them to concentrate on your words without getting fidgety.

6. Get comfortable. This means sofas, snacks, the beach, or whatever else you want it to mean. It is all about making reading a positive, comfortable experience.

7. Try read-alouds on the move, like books on tape or podcasts.

8. Share a story, newspaper or book that you liked, either when you were younger or now.

9. Read something related to real life.

  • Research current events together.
  • About to take a trip? Check out a book with fun facts about that place.
  • Want to build a tree house? Check out a book about it, and read beforehand.

10. Have fun!

And of course, you know your audience better than tip-givers may, so try whatever you think might work best, too.

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