Read It Aloud! Using Literature in the Secondary Content Classroom

As teachers rush toward their academic goals, the pleasure of learning is often forgotten or regulated to last place. Richardson shows that read-alouds bring reading from a "have to" chore to a "want to" experience. Read It Aloud! is a short easy book to read with many good ideas. The book encourages teachers to think about how to bring a variety of literature into the classroom without losing class time. Perhaps more importantly, it emphasizes helping students connect the classroom experience with the everyday world. Richardson gives four principles for selecting read-alouds: (1) Selection should "tie reading to pleasure, not pain" (Chandler,l997). (2) Selection should encourage discussion and application of content material. (3) Selection should make the content "come alive." (4) Selection should encourage further reading and inquiry. Richardson encourages teachers to use a variety of genres that the teacher personally enjoys. The book includes principles for selecting, locating, and using great "read-alouds." The author emphasizes that reading aloud spreads the joy of reading. High school teachers should want to share the pleasure of reading with their students, showing them the connection between content topics and pleasure reading. Remember everyone enjoys having someone read to them.