Interactive read alouds are really important ways to orientate students towards different ways of thinking about a text. Infants teachers will think this is a 'no brainer' as they are probably doing great interactive read alouds with their students all the time, however by the time students enter Primary grades teachers tend skip or progress really quickly through the orientating of a text and get right into the reading of a text.
All students, but especially EAL/D students, really benefit from a good orientation of a text prior to reading. It is important as taking the time to do this before reading and while reading, allows students to gain the most from the text and the illustrations. It allows for clear explanations of main ideas and themes and also generates conversations that help make connections between text and self and text and the world.
Click on the poster above for an excellent explanation of why interactive read alouds are important and how to do an interactive read aloud well using the step by step instructions.
Linda Hoyt's website has examples, lesson plans, reader's theatre scripts and a book matrix for each stage that covers the different comprehension strategies.
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