Out Loud

Do you have a loud class? One that never shuts up? Especially this week before spring Break?

Some kids need to talk. Some kids never shut up. Some kids who are normally more quiet are loud this week  as they prep for Spring Break. Believe me, I feel for them. It’s probably no surprise that I was one of those kids. (sorry, again, to all of my teachers when I was a kid!)

I know you probably think this is a weakness of that group. And, in many lessons, that’s true. But could we turn it into a strength?

I think there are ways to teach that are more open and helpful for these types of kids. We can harness the energy of the shout-out kids. (It’s true!) It’s not a complex reading strategy and it requires little, if any, preparation.

It goes like this:

1. Teacher and students all have copies of the same reading.
2. Teacher reads aloud, pausing strategically at certain words (you might underline or highlight those words on your TEACHER COPY ONLY ahead of time so you know what words you want to make sure they get)
3. When the teacher pauses, the kids say (shout?) out loud the word that goes there.
4. The teacher continues reading the selection out loud, pausing at the words he or she wants the students to say (or shout) aloud.

Now, why would I WANT to have my kids shout out loud during reading? I have a couple of benefits I can notice...

• It helps them stay engaged with the reading.  
• It helps kids who normally “tune out” during reading to stay with it.
• It helps with fluency of struggling students.  
• It helps me-the-teacher to chose important terms and make sure the kids stay with me for those.
• It’s more fun.
• It helps use that LOUDNESS for good reasons and not for off-task reasons.

It’s not hard and requires less than a minute of preparation. How can you use this strategy to keep your kids engaged and to emphasize important terms?

As always, let me know how it goes! I love to hear from you all!

And I hope you have an awesome Spring Break full of whatever you like to do in your free time! WE’re ALMOST THERE! HANG IN THERE!!! Enjoy the beach, or your TV, or your beer, or your kids, or your gardening, or your gym, or whatever you get to do!  :)

-Tracy