Special Readers Update - and Why Practice is Important

Special Reader time is a cherished tradition in our classroom, for both the lucky children who get to be in the limelight and our audience members. We will hear next from the “final four”, and then we will start the rotation again.

It is really important to help your child pick an appropriate book AND to help them practice reading aloud. This is not a skill that comes naturally for all of us! I tell students all the time that I rehearse reading a new book at least once or twice before I read it to them. But why teach children to read aloud to an audience anyway?

It enhances fluency. Preparing to read a text aloud with expression provides children with the means to recognize words automatically and with high accuracy.

It strengthens comprehension. When children become smoother and more accurate readers they will also become more knowledgeable ones. In other words, once they become more comfortable with a text, they are then in a position to make discoveries about different kinds of meanings.

It develops critical reading skills. Children need to make decisions about how to read and what they should emphasize while they are reading so they can communicate both the content and the emotions.

It helps struggling readers. When children learn to use reading skills and apply them to something they are going to read aloud, they become stronger readers. Repeated practice improves accuracy and word recognition.

It builds confidence! I think everyone would agree that there really is no better feeling than when an audience is attentive and laughs in all the right places!

Here is the list of special readers from now until Winter Break:

October 28 - Emi and Clementine

November 4 – Oliver S and Stanley

November 11 – Amelia and Quinn

November 18 – Sydney and Ariana

December 2 – Maddy and Owen

December 9 – Oliver G and David

December 16 – Emma and Sophie