30 Wonderful Read Aloud Books Perfect For All Ages
Discover wonderful read aloud books that will help your students understand the connection between written text and spoken language. You can model reading habits and strategies, reading fluency, tone and introduce different genres, authors and illustrators.
Read Aloud Books
You can use any book as a read aloud, but not all books add an extra level of engagement and interaction to the experience.
If you want to deliver an effective read aloud session, there are a few things to consider before reading to your class.
Choosing Picture Books for Read Aloud Lessons
I go into more detail in the post ‘Key Reasons Why Is It Important To Read Aloud Books’, but here is a quick overview of things to think about before reading.
Theme or Big Idea
- Does the book provide opportunities for deep and critical thinking?
- Is any background knowledge necessary? Do you need to introduce any knowledge before sharing the books for the children to understand the text?
- Does it relate to current events you can use for discussions?
Diversity or Stereotypes
- Is the book diverse?
- How does the book relate to the children’s own background and culture?
- Does the book reinforce negative stereotypes?
Length
- How long is the book? Will you need several days to finish the text?
Engagement
- Is it age appropriate? (characters, setting, time period, plot and the social and emotional level of children).
- Is the text is engaging and relevant for your purpose and instructional goal?
- How will you get students will interact during the reading aloud?
- What types of questioning does the text inspire? Think about explicit and implicit questions.
- Are there sections where you can pause the chosen read aloud books for meaningful discussions or a mini-lesson?
List of Engaging Picture Books for Read Aloud Lessons
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These picture books are wonderful read-aloud books. Each book has suggestions for appropriate discussion topics. You will also see from each image if additional teaching resources are available. Just click on the image to access.
What Next?
Remember to think about how you will share the book. Do you hold a picture book for a read aloud lesson or do you share it on an interactive whiteboard? Helping your students engage with the illustrations and the text will further support their comprehension.
There are many teacher websites with read aloud lesson plans. One I particularly like is from Teach Outside the Box and their post ‘Top 10 Read Alouds for Elementary STEM’.
The more read aloud books you use the more independent and confident your students will become at sharing their opinions and thoughts. The goal should be for the students to start asking questions and leading discussions. This will allow you to monitor and facilitate. Don’t forget to check out the post ‘Key Reasons Why Is It Important To Read Aloud Books’. Here you will find more in depth information on using a picture books for read aloud sessions.
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