6 Characteristics of Interactive Read Aloud’s

Some of you may be unsure as to what an interactive read aloud is. A brief description is when the teacher reads a picture book, or a section of a chapter book aloud to the class and engages the students in becoming active participants in the thinking and reading. They’re not just passive learners. We as teachers aren't simply reading to them. Let's dig a little bit deeper into what exactly an interactive read aloud is by going over 6 characteristics that make them up. Each one of these descriptions will give you a better understanding of interactive read aloud’s.

Both the teacher and the students think about, talk about, and respond to the text. Instead of the teacher reading AT the students, the teacher actually engages students in conversation and thinking.

The students are engaged in the text, therefore, the learning is active. It is not passive.

Students process information, language, ideas, and make connections just as a reader normally would.

The teacher stops intentionally at places planned ahead of time to share thinking. So the teacher will plan a few places before reading aloud to stop to share his/her thinking and invite the students to share their thinking as well.

The read aloud is interactive and fun. There is no way to plan ahead for what listeners might share when they are talking about a text which makes read aloud’s unique and fun!

There is a shared text experience. The conversation is grounded in a shared text experience that is new every time. You can read the same book to the class and have a different experience each time!

I hope these 6 characteristics help you gain a deeper understanding of interactive read aloud's and helps you discover just how valuable this time is. If you love reading aloud to your class, I have a great resource for you! This resource is SUPER special because it includes EVERYTHING you need to have a successful Interactive Read Aloud experience with your class and allows you to put into practice everything we learned here today. You can check out all my interactive read Alouds HERE. If you enjoyed today’s lesson you can find this post and many more on iTunes, Spotify, or Alexa Briefings. Click here to listen