The Influence Read Aloud Styles on Learning

Convinced of its value, a second grade teacher has her students gather round as she begins to read one of her favorite stories aloud. Within minutes she senses that students are not quite responding optimally and she must make a decision: Does she interrupt the oral reading and intervene in some manner or continue reading? She will make this decision countless times as she reads aloud. The consequences of these decisions will doubtlessly have considerable effect on the students’ experience and will very likely effect their learning learning.

Several studies have found that the way texts are read aloud to students can have significant impact on vocabulary development, comprehension, and literacy development (Brabham & Lynch-Brown, 2002; Oulette, Dagostino & Carifio, 1999; Brannon & Douksas, 2012; Elley, 1989; Whitehurst, et al, 1994). Many studies suggest that read aloud styles that encourage active participation by students are more effective in promoting word learning (Brabham & Lynch-Brown, 2002; Dickinson & Smith, 1994; Fisher, Flood, Lapp & Frey, 2004; Senechal, 1997; Senechal, Thomas & Monker, 1997; Wood, Pressley, Turnure, & Walton, 1987). Lo (1997) found that students of all abilities drew more inferences in response to comprehension questions under the “co-construction condition” than under the questioning or control conditions. Sipe (2000) points out that so many of the wide and rich variety of student responses to the text that he encountered “were so often of the moment and in the moment, [that] to hold the response to the end of the reading would have been, in many cases, to lose it” (p. 272).

While our teacher’s initial decision about whether or not to interrupt her reading aloud is quite specific, the recommen...

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...fficient, little attention has been devoted to

developing instructional methods that might foster automaticity of com-

prehension strategies. (p. 68)

This explains the focus of the proposed research on note-taking, text-coding, questions and marginal comments. The notations sought in the research amount to tangible evidence of active processing. Such notations keep student readers focused clearly on text content, and are likely candidates as vehicles for enacting the comprehension strategies. The research will not answer the question about whether readers need explicit instruction on the strategies themselves. Tracking the kind of interruption and whether it is oriented more toward strategy or content would begin to answer the question of whether and which of these approaches more effectively foster and maintain habits of active reading and text processing.