This week’s article is about a study that was
completed to show how teacher's reading-aloud styles can influence vocabulary
acquisition and comprehension of students in early elementary grades. “Just reading,” “performance,” and
“interactional” are the three styles of read-alouds that contributes to success
in vocabulary and comprehension for elementary students. We are told that read-alouds are very
important in the classroom; however, teachers are sometimes confused on how
these read-alouds should be used to increase literacy learning and
comprehension.
There has
not been one particular style that has been proven to be more effective. Each student comprehends and learns
differently. Some students may
comprehend best by the just reading style.
Other students need more discussion, such as the performance style,
which encourages discussion before and after the reading, or interactional
style, which simultaneously discusses the material throughout the story. Researchers found that the interactional style
worked best with students that had memory abilities below the group average.
I believe the best way to figure out which style is
more effective is based on each individual child. One style is not better than the other
one. It just depends on the type of
learning style your student possesses.
We have learned that discussion and analyzing different things increases
comprehension. It only makes sense to
use this in the classroom. I agree with
the authors’ conclusion that verbally mediated, interactional, and performance
reading aloud styles are more effective for vocabulary acquisition than just
reading aloud with no discussion or analysis.
Questions:
1. How does a teacher know what read-aloud style works best?
2. How does a teacher incorporate multiple styles of read-alouds in his/her class?
I completely agree with you. Students are as unique as their fingerprints. I do not think there is a one-size-fits-all approach to read-alouds. Several factors affect what approach a teacher should use. These include the instrucional goal of the lesson as well as the individual learning styles of the students within the classroom. For special education classrooms, it is critical to consider the students' ability levels and what helps them succeed. It is also important to reduce behavior problems which may occur when particular strategies are used. Again, teacher should consider these factors and more when deciding how to present a read-aloud.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in order for teachers to know which read-aloud style works for each individual student, they can try the different styles and assess which one works most effectively. It is important for us as pre-service teachers to realize the benefits of using a variety of read-aloud methods and incorporating those into our lessons. Great description of the styles and we agree with your statement that one style is not best for everyone but each child should find which one works for them.
ReplyDeleteKim and Leeann