PowerPoint from TCRWP's Spring 2014 Reunion

1. Presented by Shana Frazin
@sfrazintcrwp
shana@readingandwritingproject.com
Interactive Read Aloud
Can Be a Time to Teach
Comprehension if We
Can Find a Way to
Make the Thinking Work
Portable and Visible

2. Interactive Read Aloud is…
Interactive!
Teachers demonstrate
Think Aloud, Jot Aloud, Act
Aloud
Readers practice
Turn & Talk, Stop & Jot, Act
it Out, Stop & Think

3. Interactive Read Aloud is…
Instructional
Planned

4. Listening Prompt:
Each Kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson
 Readers, on the surface, this is a new kid-
new school story. Maya is a new student at
the school Chloe attends. As you listen, it will
be easy to label the characters and the
messages they learn and teach, in very
simple ways—she’s mean or don’t judge a
book by its cover. I want to remind you that
characters and their messages can be
complicated. By studying the setting and
the symbols and the objects that repeat, you
can push past simple, obvious ideas into
sophisticated complex ones. Let’s try.

5. Thinking and Talking
Teacher Demonstrates by… Readers Practice by…
Thinking Aloud
Example: I could just turn
the page and keep
reading. Except I know
Jacqueline Woodson set
the story in winter for a
reason. I know that winter
is cold and I know that
snow can cover up and
hide things. Maybe this
school is a cold place.
Maybe things look nice,
but really aren’t.
Turn and Talk:
Example: One simple,
obvious thought we
might have here is
“Poor Maya, she has to
play all by herself.” Try
with your partner to
push past that first
obvious thought. You
might try a prompt like,
“Maybe… Or could it
be… I wonder if…”

6. Thinking and Jotting
Teacher Demonstrates by…
Jot Aloud
Example: So I am thinking about the empty seat, how it
repeats and what it might represent. Let me quick grab
a post-it and jot my thinking.
I notice the story begins and ends with the empty seat.
Let me jot that,
“The story begins and ends with an empty seat.” But in
the middle, Maya is in the seat. Let me add that to my
jot, “In the middle Maya occupies the seat.” What might
the seat represent? Well, Chloe has the opportunity to
make a friend in Maya. So maybe the seat represents
opportunity. (Add to jot.) “Maybe the seat represents
opportunity” But, Chloe rejects Maya and then regrets it,
so (adding to the jot) “—and how sometimes there are
no second chances.”

7. Thinking and Jotting con’t
Readers Demonstrates by…
Stop and Jot
Example:
Readers, at the start of the book,
some of us thought this school might
be the kind of place where things
look nice, but really aren’t. Stop
and jot. Do you agree or disagree
with this idea? AND, what’s the text
evidence to support your thinking?

8. Thinking and Acting
Teacher demonstrates by… Readers practice by…
Act Aloud
Example: Readers, I really
want to understand exactly
what each character is
thinking in feeling in this
part, so I am going to
reread the scene quickly
and act it out. Sometimes
this really deepens my
understanding of what the
characters are thinking
and feeling.
Act It Out
Example: Readers, quickly
join another partnership.
Let’s act out this scene.
Only I want one partnership
to play Chloe and one
partnership to play Ms.
Albert. Partner two you act
out what the character
said and did. Partner one
you fill in the scene by
saying what the character
is thinking and feeling in
that moment.

9. Pause and Process:
Qualities of Strong IRA Prompts
 Match the Readers in the Room
 Match the Unit of Study
 Thoughtfully Sequenced: demonstrationpractice,
practiceresponsive demonstration
 Use Text Evidence
 Connect to… other parts of same text, other texts
we’ve read, other experiences we’ve had
 Incorporate Rereading of Text
 Names the reading word in a way that is transferrable
 Acknowledges that thinking takes (wait) time

10. Interactive Read Aloud
Can... Change!
Shared Interactive Read Aloud
Let’s Talk About…
-Which text structure helps us hold onto this
information
-What is surprising or conflicts with what we thought
we knew
-What’s the purpose of…
-The central idea the author is conveying
-What actions we could take based on this
information

11. Integrated Read Aloud
 Excerpt from The Babe and I by David Adler
FOR MY BIRTHDAY I was hoping my parents would
give me a bicycle. They only gave me a dime. I
was disappointed, but not surprised. It was 1932, in
the midst of the Great Depression, and millions of
people were out of work.
 Excerpt from The Great Depression
The ten years from 1929 to 1939 is often called The
Great Depression. Depression is a term that used
to describe a country’s financial health. In the
years from 1929 to 1939, the Unites States went
from very, very healthy to very, very ill.

12. Making Interactive Read
Aloud Visible
Class Read Aloud Log
Characters We Are Studying
Flow of Read Aloud
Post-It Trail

13. Class Read Aloud Log
date title start
page
end
page
min.
read
3-19-14
The Real Boy
by Anne Ursu
2 10 20
3-20-14
“ “ 11 20 20
3-21-14
“ “ 21 36 30

14. Characters We Are Studying
 Maya
 Chloe
 Andrew
 Sophie
 Kendra
 The principal
 Ms. Albert

15. Flow of Read Aloud
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Read Read
Talk
Read Read
Talk
Read

16. Post-It Trail

17. More Tools to Make IRA
Visible
 Talk Trail
 Fresh, New Phrases
 Words We’re Using to Think, Talk, and Write
About…
 Words or Phrases the Author is Using to Teach Us
About…

18. What About Transference?
Parking Lot and Parking Spots
Talk Tools
Whole Class  Partner Work 
Club Work