The read aloud I did today is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I did a short book introduction with the whole class by asking them if they have experienced a very bad day where everything seemed wrong and unfair. Then, I stated that one thing good readers do when they listen to read aloud is to pay attention to the character’s internal thinking, by asking, ‘how would I feel if I were him/her?’
This picture book, like Ruby Sings the Blues invovles a story that is also 'authentic' in children's perspective. Throughout the story, Alexander encounters a series of unfair situations where his voice and comments have been neglected. The plot of this story is definitely something that the students could really relate to. During the read aloud, I asked some open ended questions that allowed them to turn and talk to their partners. Questions such as, 'is Alexander's day getting better? What's going on now?', 'if you were Alexander, when you you get blamed for pushing someone, how would you feel?', and 'what would you do if your parents or teachers don't care about your concerns?'.
During turn and talk, and whole class share, I found that the students were significantly more responsive to picture books with characters and actions that they could relate to. The students were extremely excited to find out what Alexander was going to face on the next page. They found some very humorous parts as well, which engaged them a lot. When they shared in turn-and-talk, I heard Nathan and his partner, Janeally, having a conversation about Alexander’s voice is not being heard by adults, which made him very mad and upset. And after the read aloud, we discussed how Alexander felt, and what caused his frustrations. Many of them, including Nathan were able to relate their personal experiences, where they expressed their concerns, but their parents/teachers didn’t listen. They found this type of situation very unfair and irritating.
On the other hand, Jesse showed less interest in this particular book compared to Ruby Sings the Blues. He did not want to participate in turn and talk, and whole class share. However, his concentration was still evident to me, and my fieldwork supervisor, Megan, who was observing me that day. An interesting note from Megan, saying that during the read aloud, Jesse was sitting at his desk (because he tends to focus better and not distract others in his spot) and was complaining to Megan that he could not see the pictures due to where he was sitting. With this particular point in mind, I had to carefully consider Jesse's reading spot for next time. I have a strong feeling that Jesse could have been more engaged if he sat with others on the rug. However, this leads me to another concern is that, how could I be sure that Jesse would be focused and not distract others if he had joined everyone on the rug.
As we have been discussing a lot in our LITI classes last term, when doing a read aloud it is important to consider the technique in holding the book and sharing the illustrations. Every child, even third graders in this case can be aided by pictures in meaning making. Modeling this interaction between the text and illustrations can guide students to attend to the details in the illustration to enhance their understanding and interest. This is something that I should carefully considered in the future.
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