Building Confident Readers Through Reading to Others

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    Reading is a struggle for many students.  Some students do not feel confident in reading a book to others, or even by themselves.  It is crucial that students read a variety of text often to become a better reader.  Sometimes it is hard to motivate students to read.  This is when teachers have to identify creative ways to get students engaged and excited about reading.
    This year in my resource room, I decided I would take a chance with my students by offering them to read to a class of kindergarten students.  I was not sure if they would be motivated by this but I was wrong.  My students found it very encouraging to have a chance to read a book to a class of younger students.
    They look their time picking out the perfect book they wanted to master.  Most of my students picked a book at their level, that they felt comfortable reading on their own or that they needed to practice a little more.  My students spent time every day reading the book they chose for 2 weeks before they were scheduled to read to the kindergarteners.  The boys and girls loved reading their books.  Some even asked to take the book back to class to read on their own time.  One of my students picked a book that was 5 reading levels, or about 1 grade level, more difficult than what his reading level was at.  He liked text with humor and Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus By Mo Willems was the perfect pick.  He practiced the book a lot.  He knew it was important to master everything the pigeon and the bus driver said.  He read the book in my class, his class, and even asked to take it home for a while to practice at home.
    As the kids practiced their books, I met with them individually to practiced adding voice and emotion to our stories.  We also discussed why it is important and how to engage your audience when reading to them.  My students were nervous practicing these skills but the more I modeled adding voice and emotion with the students, the more comfortable they were with adding voice to their story.  We also practiced how to engage an audience when reading a book.

Time to read to the class!

    Once the day arrived to read the book they chose to the younger students, a couple of the girls were a little nervous but all the students were ready to read the book they mastered.  As I watched, wide-eyed with a smile from ear to ear, I could see the confidence grow in my students as they were reading.  They did it!  Some of the students that struggled the most with reading achieved reading a book in front of others.  All the practice and hard work they did to read their book to the class really paid off.  I think my students saw themselves differently from having that experience.  When I asked for someone or appointed someone to read in our classroom, I didn't get "do I have to?" or the deer in the headlights looks anymore.   I saw more excited students wanting to read because they knew they could do it since they have read in front of a class of students before.