Being in Kindergarten, books are often more frequently implemented to curriculum and lessons then most other grades. In my classroom, the students are so inquisitive and love when my CT or I read aloud to them. They are perk up and listen intently to the story and each word that is written. My CT has been giving me more and more small tasks in the classroom, one of which are read alouds. She often has me do read alouds right before lunch and at the end of the day. I have always loved reading aloud to kids, so for me this “task” was more of an enjoyment than a task to check off the list. Since I had done more than one read aloud in the class, I’ve seen myself becoming more and more comfortable with just spontaneously coming up with pre-reading, during reading, and post reading questions that my teacher often does.

As I have observed my CT doing read alouds she always some how links the book to something the kids have learned before, their sight words, or gets them thinking in a higher manner. The first read aloud that I did in this class, I wasn’t able to ask very many questions, the kids were engaged, but I wasn’t really able to hear if they were. The next couple of times, I was able to have the kids use their sight words they have learned so far to help me read. Now I am able to stop and ask inferencing and predicting questions that the kids really enjoy. At this age, these kids really want to give their input (whether its on topic or not), so giving them opportunities to share their thinking benefits the entire learning community.

Prior to being in this class, I struggled with spontaneity and I think that this simple task of doing read alouds is really strengthening this skill in me. Having the guidance of my CT, I am able to watch and see the strategies that she uses, the termonilgy that she uses, and her teaching philosophy. After watching these things I am able to implement them into my own teaching and better myself as a teacher. Additionally, after seeing the excitement and the engagement when doing the read aloud, I would like to incorporate them more often into other subjects such as social studies, math, and science. I think that it would benefit them because the will be more engaged and be able to make connections between reading and other genres of reading. Teaching students at such a young age that through reading you can gain as much information as you would like in almost any field you would like is a valuable concept that I would like to see these kids understand. In the lesson that I am teaching next week, I planned on incorporating a read aloud into my math lesson to take this concept and implement it into my teaching.