The Forge

Do you remember being read aloud to as a child? I have core memories of my fifth-grade teacher gathering us around her rocking chair to listen as she read novels like The Boxcar Children and Sarah, Plain and Tall. At night, my dad would tuck us into our bed and read Hank the Cowdog aloud, using all the voices, of course, before saying our prayers. My childhood was filled with adults reading aloud to me on a consistent basis, and those moments left a lasting impression, and a love for sharing the gift of reading with others.

Research on literacy development shows that listening comprehension often exceeds reading comprehension through much of the early grades. In other words, children can understand more complex text when it is read to them than when they are decoding it independently. Read-alouds expose students to richer vocabulary and more complex sentence structures earlier than they might encounter on their own. Read-alouds aren’t just for elementary age students either as one might think, they are surprisingly powerful in middle school as well. They support higher-level thinking skills such as making inferences, visualizing, questioning the text, and analyzing theme and author’s craft.

When adults read aloud to students at any age, they are modeling the joy of reading. They show children and young adults what it looks like to read for pleasure, discovery, and connection. Is it any wonder that, even as adults, we are drawn to podcasts, audiobooks, and places where stories are shared and meaning is built together, like book clubs? 

I deeply believe in the power of read-alouds. I have personally experienced the joy of listening and imagining as adults read to me as a child, and I have had the privilege of reading aloud to my own students for the past sixteen years while serving our youngest learners in the classroom. I love sharing childhood classic fairy tales and some lesser-known fractured fairy tales for the students to make literary comparisons. I get excited when I get to share my favorite authors such as Jan Brett and Eric Carle, but my absolute favorite part of reading to students is what I get to be a part of after the reading is over. I hear their authentic and heartfelt discussion
about connections they made with the characters, how the story made them feel, and where they saw God in the story. Beyond the school walls, I read aloud to my three children, one of whom is a highly auditory learner whose vocabulary and comprehension flourish when he hears stories read aloud.

Time spent sharing books aloud with the next generation is a treasure, and will never turn up void. I can’t help but smile when I think about how out of all the different ways The God of the Universe could have chosen to pour out His heart and reveal His loving, sovereign plan for our lives, He chose to Author a book. He knows reading is powerful and meaningful. Effective read-alouds are typically books that are chosen above a child’s independent reading level. That means those old novels sitting on the shelf, Little House on the Prairie, White Fang, Little Women, or another favorite from your own childhood, are perfect to dust off and share the gift of reading aloud with your child. They will remember it forever.

Happy trails and happy reading!

Mrs. Hale teaches first grade at Trinity Prep and is currently pursuing her Masters of Education in Curriculum & Instruction with an emphasis on literacy!  Mrs. Hale is passionate about helping young learners build a strong foundation in reading and learning. When she is not studying or teaching, she enjoys spending her free time playing Mahjong.