Although I wasn’t in class during the discussion on choral reading, I did some of my own research online about the topic. I found that choral reading is when a group of students read something together aloud in unison. Choral reading is most often done with short stories and poems. A website I found gives four recommendations when choosing short stories or poems to use. First, the selection should be short. It shouldn’t so long that students are unable to pay attention or remain focused. Second, the material selected should be simple enough for students to read. From what I gather, the focus seems to be more on attending to the dramatics aspect of the reading selection. Third, try finding something with a catchy title. That will draw students in and get their imaginations going. Finally, the website recommended to select a piece of literature that will “come alive” when read aloud. The selection should foster different dramatic elements of choral reading. (Choral Reading Method)
A second website I found listed several benefits of choral reading. They are the following: improved sight vocabulary, development of effective read aloud skills and development in ability to sight read aloud (Choral Reading). From researching a little, I feel like I’ve learned other benefits from choral reading as well. Students may be excited to play with the dramatics aspect of choral reading. If students are interested, then they’re more engaged which ultimately means that the reading taking place is more meaningful to them. This is very beneficial to learning!
When I was in elementary I remember doing choral reading for our poetry unit in third grade. We each made poetry books, and our teacher would hand out several poems by various children’s authors. We were then assigned a ‘chunk’ of the poem to read which we would highlight. Usually about three or four students were assigned to each ‘chunk.’ I remember practicing and practicing thinking of different unique and fun ways to read aloud the selection.
If there is anything you would like to comment on, or if you think I missed any key points about choral reading, please let me know :) I was absent for class the day we discussed this topic, and am interested to hear what I missed!
Works Referenced
“Choral Reading Method” - http://www.d21.k12.il.us/dept_instr/langarts/parentinfo/choral_rdg.html
“Choral Reading” - http://www.rocksforkids.com/FabFours/choral_reading.html
3 comments:
Your definition of choral reading was a little different then the examples that we did in class. Choral reading isn’t always reading in unison, only some of the students in a group or class may be reading at one time. I would recommend that you get the handout that Kate passed out to us in class; it gives examples of several different kinds of choral reading. I also think that it is important that you know some of the aspects of choral reading. They include: Temp (how fast or slow you read the lines), Rhythm (which words to express or say loudly), Pitch (when to raise or lower your voice), and Juncture (when and how long to pause).
I liked how you gave examples of how choral reading benefits students as well. All though we worked with choral reading in class I don’t really remember her going over the benefits of it. From your example in elementary school I can see that it is very beneficial for students. The teacher having you read chunks of the poem made you think about the text and new ways you could emphasize it.
I also like your rationing of how if students are interested, then they are more engaged which in return means what they are reading is more meaningful. I agree with you, if students aren’t engaged with what they are doing then they aren’t meeting their full learning potential.
I think that you did a good job of coming up with information about choral reading without having done the activity in class. I also when to the websites that you referenced and they do have good information on them. If a student wanted to learn more about choral reading, it is nice to know that there is more information out there for them to use. I really liked the recommendations that they website gave about choosing short stories or poems to use. I also liked the site that talked about the benefits of choral reading, it is nice to see some proof of how it helps students. As Andy said thought, it is helpful to know some of the terminology that we talked about in class, but as you said at the end of your blog, you are interested in learning more about the topic, and that is all we can ask out of a future teacher! : )
The handout Andy is talking about actually came from the Tompkins book (in the back I believe), I just copied the pages so that everyone would have it during the activity, but it is certainly worth reading.
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