Presented by Shana Frazin@sfrazintcrwpshana@readingandwritingproject.com

Interactive Read Aloud Can Be a Time to Teach Comprehension if We

Can Find a Way to Make the Thinking Work Portable and

Visible

Interactive Read Aloud is…

Interactive!Teachers demonstrateThink Aloud, Jot Aloud, Act Aloud

Readers practiceTurn & Talk, Stop & Jot, Act it Out, Stop & Think

Interactive Read Aloud is…

Instructional

Planned

Listening Prompt: Each Kindness by Jacqueline WoodsonReaders, on the surface, this is a new kid-

new school story. Maya is a new student at the school Chloe attends. As you listen, it will be easy to label the characters and the messages they learn and teach, in very simple ways—she’s mean or don’t judge a book by its cover. I want to remind you that characters and their messages can be complicated. By studying the setting and the symbols and the objects that repeat, you can push past simple, obvious ideas into sophisticated complex ones. Let’s try.

Thinking and TalkingTeacher Demonstrates by…

Readers Practice by…

Thinking AloudExample: I could just turn the page and keep reading. Except I know Jacqueline Woodson set the story in winter for a reason. I know that winter is cold and I know that snow can cover up and hide things. Maybe this school is a cold place. Maybe things look nice, but really aren’t.

Turn and Talk:Example: One simple, obvious thought we might have here is “Poor Maya, she has to play all by herself.” Try with your partner to push past that first obvious thought. You might try a prompt like, “Maybe… Or could it be… I wonder if…”

Thinking and JottingTeacher Demonstrates by…

Jot AloudExample: So I am thinking about the empty seat, how it repeats and what it might represent. Let me quick grab a post-it and jot my thinking. I notice the story begins and ends with the empty seat. Let me jot that, “The story begins and ends with an empty seat.” But in the middle, Maya is in the seat. Let me add that to my jot, “In the middle Maya occupies the seat.” What might the seat represent? Well, Chloe has the opportunity to make a friend in Maya. So maybe the seat represents opportunity. (Add to jot.) “Maybe the seat represents opportunity” But, Chloe rejects Maya and then regrets it, so (adding to the jot) “—and how sometimes there are no second chances.”

Thinking and Jotting con’tReaders Demonstrates by…

Stop and JotExample:Readers, at the start of the book, some of us thought this school might be the kind of place where things look nice, but really aren’t. Stop and jot. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? AND, what’s the text evidence to support your thinking?

Thinking and ActingTeacher demonstrates by…

Readers practice by…

Act AloudExample: Readers, I really want to understand exactly what each character is thinking in feeling in this part, so I am going to reread the scene quickly and act it out. Sometimes this really deepens my understanding of what the characters are thinking and feeling.

Act It Out Example: Readers, quickly join another partnership. Let’s act out this scene. Only I want one partnership to play Chloe and one partnership to play Ms. Albert. Partner two you act out what the character said and did. Partner one you fill in the scene by saying what the character is thinking and feeling in that moment.

Pause and Process:Qualities of Strong IRA Prompts Match the Readers in the Room

Match the Unit of Study

Thoughtfully Sequenced: demonstrationpractice, practiceresponsive demonstration

Use Text Evidence

Connect to… other parts of same text, other texts we’ve read, other experiences we’ve had

Incorporate Rereading of Text

Names the reading word in a way that is transferrable

Acknowledges that thinking takes (wait) time

Interactive Read Aloud Can... Change!Shared Interactive Read Aloud

Let’s Talk About…

-Which text structure helps us hold onto this information

-What is surprising or conflicts with what we thought we knew

-What’s the purpose of…

-The central idea the author is conveying

-What actions we could take based on this information

Integrated Read AloudExcerpt from The Babe and I by David Adler

FOR MY BIRTHDAY I was hoping my parents would give me a bicycle. They only gave me a dime. I was disappointed, but not surprised. It was 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, and millions of people were out of work.

Excerpt from The Great Depression

The ten years from 1929 to 1939 is often called The Great Depression. Depression is a term that used to describe a country’s financial health. In the years from 1929 to 1939, the Unites States went from very, very healthy to very, very ill.

Making Interactive Read Aloud Visible Class Read Aloud Log

Characters We Are Studying

Flow of Read Aloud

Post-It Trail

Class Read Aloud Logdate title start

pageend page

min. read

3-19-14The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

2 10 20

3-20-14 “ “ 11 20 20

3-21-14 “ “ 21 36 30

Characters We Are StudyingMaya

Chloe

Andrew

Sophie

Kendra

The principal

Ms. Albert

Flow of Read AloudMonday Tuesda

yWednesd

ayThursda

yFriday

Read Read

Talk

Read Read

Talk

Read

Post-It Trail

More Tools to Make IRA VisibleTalk Trail

Fresh, New Phrases

Words We’re Using to Think, Talk, and Write About…

Words or Phrases the Author is Using to Teach Us About…

What About Transference?Parking Lot and Parking Spots

Talk Tools

Whole Class Partner Work Club Work