Grades
K - 12
Read-Aloud Strategies to Engage Students
Make your read-aloud sessions more engaging with these helpful tips and books.
Reading aloud is an effective way for teachers to demonstrate reading behaviors that will have a lasting impact. It’s not only essential for developing literacy, but it can also help students discover the joy and power of reading.
Here are some tips and resources to enhance your classroom read-aloud experience.
Shop read-aloud books and supplies below! You can find all books and activities at The Teacher Store.
According to the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, children seek out books that reflect our diverse world. In fact, 76 percent of kids believe that diversity in books is important. Books with inclusive representation teach empathy and build self-esteem, while helping students embrace who they are and their place in the world.
When building your classroom read-aloud collection, incorporate books with diverse characters and experiences that students can see themselves in. Spark a meaningful classroom conversation with some of our favorite books that celebrate diversity:
A sweet, timely picture book about kindness and connection told in rhyme.
This inclusive picture book rejoices in the specialness of each person's beauty and ability.
This boy visits friends in 13 different countries spanning all six populated continents. Along the way, he introduces readers to each friend's environment and customs.
Beauty is much more than how one looks on the outside. True beauty is found in conquering challenges, showing kindness, and spreading contagious laughter. Beautiful girls are empowered, smart, and really, really strong!
A breezy and irresistible picture of the human family, and how wonderful it is to be just who you are.
Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Purple crayon try to guess what they will be able to create. When a diverse group of students finally puts them to use they get quite a workout as they work together to make a giant rainbow.
Pen pals exchanging letters and pictures learn their worlds might look different, but their likes are universal.
An inspiring picture book authored by creator of the More Than Peach Project which aims to offer a wide array of skin-toned crayon colors with every kid in mind.
When a girl is asked where she's from-where she's really from-none of her answers seems to be the right one. Unsure about how to reply, she turns to her loving abuelo for help. He doesn't give her the response she expects. She gets an even better one:
When choosing a book for your next read-aloud session, consider involving your students in the process. The freedom to explore enables your students to practice collaborative decision making and form a positive relationship with reading. Additionally, catering to your students’ interests makes for a more captivating and exciting read-aloud experience.
According to the 7th edition of the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report, 89 percent of kids across demographics agree that their favorite books are the ones that they have picked out themselves. Furthermore, another 88 percent say that they are more likely to finish a book they have picked out themselves and eight in 10 say they feel a sense of accomplishment when they finish reading a book.
Here are four tips to help your students choose the next read-aloud book:
Look at the front cover.
Read the back cover.
Flip through the pages to glance at illustrations.
Read one page at random to determine interest.
To fill your classroom read-aloud library, take a look at these 50+ read-alouds to restock your library and shop the Ultimate Read-Aloud Collections below:
Expressive dialogue and animated gestures lend color to words and captivate any classroom. An engaging storyteller helps students form connections with the text while strengthening their comprehension, listening, and fluent reading skills. An entertaining read-aloud experience also inspires a greater love for reading among your students.
Choose books that allow you to make unique character voices and silly noises to make the read-aloud experience engaging and interesting. We’ve compiled a few for you below to get you started:
Turn scary to silly with this laugh-out-loud joke book. Hunny and Funny are monster best friends. When Hunny is feeling sad, Funny knows exactly how to cheer up his friend... with laughter!
With an engaging search and find element on every page, this hilarious story is packed full of fun for kids to enjoy. The bouncy, rhyming text makes for the perfect read-aloud and Katy Halford's adorable art gives kids plenty to explore.
Gerald the giraffe longs to dance, but his legs are too skinny and his neck is too long.
This laugh-out-loud companion to Ross Burach's The Very Impatient Caterpillar, The Little Butterfly That Could, and Goodnight, Butterfly playfully encourages readers to embrace their own uniqueness while also presenting the steps of pollination.
Little ones will giggle with delight as they anticipate the arrival of the terrible troll in this hilarious twist on a timeless favorite.
Enhance each read-aloud session with interactive activities to help students connect with the story and exercise their comprehension skills.
Have your students identify familiar sight words from the book using the Sight Words: Bulletin Board and use the Laught-a-Lot Phonics: Short Vowels set to set them up for reading success through laughter.
Shop materials and accessories to help you facilitate a conversation during your next read-aloud session:
Reinforce sight word learning with this colorful word wall set.
Promote respectful conversation in the classroom while building critical thinking skills.
Boosting early reading skills is easy with these super-fun songs that teach the second 50 sight words from the Fry List!
Give children the tools they need to soar as readers with this irresistible set of highly decodable stories! Inside the bright box, you’ll find 12 funny books that provide targeted practice with simple, short-vowel words plus a tip-filled parent guide, mini-workbook, and motivating stickers. That’s everything a child needs to grow into a confident, fluent, joyful reader.
Set your students on the road to reading success with this library of adorable, illustrated mini books. The fun, easy-to-read stories in this collection give your students practice with must-know phonics skills, such as short vowels, long vowels, consonant blends, digraphs, and more. The convenient storage box houses 24 books plus a guide filled with tips for helping students read. A great addition to your classroom library!
