Sample Read Aloud: My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza

Subject Line: Video Name and a Descriptor

Subject Line (Example): Moreillon Read-Aloud – Student Participation!

• What is the purpose of the lesson? (Why is it being taught?)

The purpose of this read-aloud is to engage listeners in activating their background knowledge in order to make logical predictions throughout the story. The original read-aloud was co-read by a reading specialist and the school librarian; the listeners were second-grade students. Co-reading allowed the educators to each take responsibility for one of the main characters and to enliven the reading with pig and fox noses and have fun!

• State a learning objective for the lesson. (By the end of the lesson, students will...)

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to make logical predictions regarding what will happen next in a narrative picture book.

• What was the lesson opening (the "hook") and was it effective?

The noses and the question about the illustration on the book jacket launched the lesson. The cover shows both the pig and the fox smiling. The question: “Whose lucky day is it?” invites read-aloud listeners to make predictions. Some of them will make predictions based on their prior knowledge. Many of those listeners will predict the fox will “win.”

• What was the lesson closure and was it effective?

The reader stopped before the final page and asked listeners to make one more prediction (which would have been an inference because it goes unanswered by the author). Then she returned to the hook question and asked how many listeners predicted correctly—the pig or the fox?

• What reading comprehension strategies were taught or modeled in the lesson?

Two strategies were taught, modeled, and practiced: making connections to background knowledge, which is needed for making predictions, and making predictions.

• What student behavior management techniques did you observe?

For this example, there were none. Graduate students are very accommodating in terms of behavior. 😉 In the actual library/classroom setting, some students who may have attention challenges may be asked to sit closer to the educators. In my experience, there is very little need for student behavior management when educators are coteaching and when the read-aloud lesson is engaging.

• What accommodations for different learners were included? or could be included?

For this example, there were none modeled. In the actual library/classroom setting, some students make sit closer to the readers so they could see the illustrations or hear the text more clearly. This book is not available in Spanish, but a translator could compose a Spanish language version for the educators to share. Educators could also preview the strategy lesson by giving the students opportunities to make predictions in other contexts before the read-aloud. This could be helpful to second language learners or students unfamiliar with the making predictions reading comprehension strategy.