Books for Read-Aloud Lessons
Children's Books to Inspire Classroom Discussions
Picture book read-alouds can be a great way to introduce and illustrate the topic of a reading lesson, prompting conversations that explore those topics in depth.
Read-alouds can inspire in-depth classroom discussions, which can lead to greater understanding of reading lesson topics, if the read-alouds are chosen carefully to align with the topic at hand. While there are certainly a vast number of books to choose from when looking for read-alouds for use in reading lessons, it is important to consider how each book illustrates that topic.
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Where the Wild Things Are is often at the top of read-aloud lists for a variety of reasons. In this case, the story explores the growth and changes of the main character in an open, engaging manner that allows students to easily grasp the progression from anger and defiance to tiredness and homesickness. Some questions to prompt a discussion about the character's growth are:
- How was Max acting at the beginning of the story?
- How do you think Max was feeling?
- What was different about the way he acted at the end of the story?
- Why do you think he changed his mind?
If there is time for independent reading after this discussion, it can be very helpful to reinforce the earlier discussion by asking questions about how the characters in students' independent reading are growing and changing throughout their stories. This allows students the opportunity to think about character growth on a broader scale and lets them apply their ideas.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day has quite a few catchy phrases that make it an ideal read-aloud. It also conveys very clearly the ways in which character speech can describe the character himself. Alexander's proposed solution to his problem is a clear signal that he would rather run away than deal with what's wrong.
Ask some questions to get students thinking:
- What's wrong with Alexander?
- What does he want to do to solve his problem?
- Will that really help fix what's wrong?
- What do you know about Alexander because of the way he wants to solve his problem?
- What are some other things Alexander could've done instead of moving to Australia?
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a classic book about the power of a child’s imagination, but it can also be used in a reading lesson focusing on the one of the four types of conflict in literature: character versus nature. Harold spends the whole story struggling to get home after he draws himself into some trouble, and he comes up with some very creative solutions.
Some questions to ask students include:
- What is Harold's problem in this scene?
- What is causing Harold's problem in this scene?
- How is this different from the problem Harold had in the last scene?
- How is it the same?
- Which of the four types of conflict do you think fits Harold's story best?
- Why?
As students discuss the types of conflict that apply to Harold's story, present more questions that challenge their thinking. For example, why is Harold's story not a character-versus-society story? This can help prepare them for thinking about the different types of conflict in other stories.
