[LM_NET] Read-alouds and Technology Tools

[Judi Moreillon <storypower@THERIVER.COM>]

Dear Colleagues,
 
I'm going to guess that for a significant number of us reading aloud is one
of our great pleasures. Some of us were drawn to the profession because of
our love of books and some of us became teacher-librarians in school
libraries before computers. We love words and engaging young people's hearts
and minds through stories and high-quality print-based information.
 
Just as technology tools must be integrated into the curriculum as vehicles
to address standards, so read-alouds can and must be similarly integrated.
Not only can we use read-alouds to model fluent reading, we can use them to
teach reading comprehension strategies in every content area. These
comprehension strategies are also at the heart of information literacy.
Accessing/activating/building background knowledge, determining main ideas,
questioning, making inferences and predictions, and synthesizing are all
learning objective keywords that classroom teachers and teacher-librarians
can teach through thoughtfully chosen read-alouds.
 
In every lesson and unit of study that we collaboratively teach, we can use
read-alouds to further students' connections to ideas and information; it
matters not whether those ideas and information are found in print or
electronic resources. 
 
What we teach has a great deal to do with our values combined with what we
are charged to teach in order to impact student achievement. Co-teaching the
classroom curriculum, we can effectively use both print and electronic
resources to meet student learning objectives.
 
If you serve your school learning community best or exclusively through
facilitating technology tools-based lessons, then give yourself and your
school the gift of lunch-time or after school read-alouds, a book club,
family literacy nights, and other events. If you yearn to share your love of
story through read-alouds, I, for one, hope you don't feel you must give
that up. 
 
Read-alouds - technology tools? It shouldn't be an "either-or" question.
Remember that other Boolean operator - and!
 
Best,
Judi
 
Judi Moreillon, M.L.S., Ph.D.
Literacies and Libraries Consultant
Author:  <http://tinyurl.com/yzvy5g> Collaborative Strategies for Teaching
Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact
 <http://storytrail.com/> http://storytrail.com
 
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
  You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings
  by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
 * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
 * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
 * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
 * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------