Start practicing your character voices and expressive intonations because World Read Aloud Day is coming up on February 1, 2023!
This bookworm-friendly celebration was founded by LitWorld in 2010, and honors the power of reading aloud, while advocating for literacy as a fundamental human right. We are proud to join this global movement of millions of readers coming together to “honor the joy and power of reading and sharing stories.” This ideology perfectly aligns with CLiF’s mission and we can’t think of a better thing to celebrate than sharing an awesome book with friends, students, and family by reading out loud together.
Did you know that reading aloud is the foundation for literacy development?
It is the single most important activity for reading success (Bredekamp, Copple, & Neuman, 2000). It provides children with a demonstration of phrased, fluent reading (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). Reading aloud stimulates brain activity, promotes emergent literacy skills, such as letter recognition, and advances comprehension levels. It also fosters listening and attention skills, builds self-esteem and empathy, and forms interpersonal bonds between the reader and listener(s). Even for older students, reading aloud remains a key strategy for literacy instruction.
Children can listen on a higher language level than they can read, so reading aloud makes complex ideas more accessible and exposes children to new vocabulary and language patterns. This, in turn, helps them understand the structure of books when they read independently (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996). It exposes less able readers to the same rich and engaging books that fluent readers read on their own, and entices them to become better readers.
Live Events for Read Aloud Day
There will be live read aloud events coordinated by LitWorld on their website for you to check out. Scholastic Books, one of the sponsors, is planning some great stuff too. They will be hosting World Read Aloud events on Storyvoice, their weekly live read aloud show.
Author Kate Messner has put together a list of authors & illustrators who have volunteered their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world. Kate lives just across the pond (Lake Champlain) from us in the Adirondacks of New York and we adore her books. Check out the list of volunteering authors and illustrators compiled by Kate, as well as two special virtual read aloud opportunities that Kate is hosting, on her blog here.
Favorite Read Aloud Books
Here at CLiF, we have lots of opinions and thoughts on favorite books to read aloud. It’s so hard to choose, but here are some of our recommendations:
- Cassie loves The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors because it’s so funny, the illustrations are so bold and easy to see for groups of students, and it appeals to many ages. She also likes the Poppy series because of Avi’s beautiful writing and captivating storytelling with bonus points for Brian Floca’s illustrations.
- Mary Edith LOVES SkippyJon Jones as a read-aloud for its bouncy rhythm and opportunity to use fun voices!
- Sarah loves Iggy Peck, Architect (and all of Andrea Beaty’s books) because of the clever rhyming, and the message that there’s no limit to what kids can do when they put their minds to something!
There are many resources on how to select read alouds, as well as read aloud tips and strategies, but what’s most important is choosing a book that resonates with YOU, for whatever the reason may be. We’d love to hear from you in the comments about your favorite books to read aloud. Share away, and let’s get reading!
