S H A N A F RA Z I N , @ S F RA Z I N TC RW P

TIPS FOR PLANNING INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD

THE BIG THREE

• Interactive Read Aloud is…

1. Planned

2. Instructional

3. Interactive

INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD IS PLANNED

• One of the best ways to plan your interactive read aloud is to read the text first as a reader. Sit down with the text you’ve selected, some post-its and a pen. The goal here is to capture your reader-ly (as opposed to teacher-ly) thinking by jotting. Listed below are a few predictable places worth stopping and thinking, talking or jotting in a text.• Beginnings—stories, scenes, chapters, character

introductions• Confusions• Moments of Surprise• Strong Emotions• Aha! Moment• ?!!?

INTERACTIVE READ ALOUD IS INSTRUCTIONAL

• Here are a few sources of information for informing your instructional decisions:• Unit of Study Goals: Before you begin planning a unit ask,

“Why am I teaching this unit to these students?” Turn your answer into 2-4 big important goals for the unit. Use these goals to guide the skill work you plan in your read aloud.

• Students’ Reading Levels: In which band do most students read? Study the reading work necessarily to be proficient. Again, use this to guide your IRA plans.

• Tricky Parts of this Particular Text: Study your reader-ly jots. What makes this text tricky? Create prompts that teach kids to navigate the trickiness.

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: LISTENING PROMPTS

1. Listening Prompt Example from Each Kindness

A listening prompt is partly a book introduction and partly a higher level comprehension preview.

Readers, 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.

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: THINK ALOUD

1.Think Aloud Example from Each Kindness

The mind work of reading is invisible. When a teacher demonstrates a “think aloud” she is giving voice to the mind work the she does while she reads.

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.

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: TURN AND TALK

2.Turn and Talk Example from Each Kindness

An opportunity for readers to give voice to the thinking they are doing in a text.

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…”

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: JOT ALOUD

3. Jot Aloud Example from Each Kindness

When a teacher demonstrates a “jot aloud” she models capturing her thinking in writing, usually on a large post-it.

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.”

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: STOP AND JOT

4. Stop and Jot Example from Each Kindness

Another opportunity for readers to give voice to the thinking, this time by jotting.

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?

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: ACT ALOUD

5. Act Aloud Example from Each Kindness

Another way for teachers to demonstrate the thinking work they are doing in a text is to act out a part.

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.

KINDS OF IRA PROMPTS: ACT IT OUT

6. Act it Out Example from Each Kindness

One more way for readers to deepen their thinking in a text is to act out a scene with a partner or by oneself using one’s index fingers as characters in the story.

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.