Thanks for being willing to read aloud to others. Doing this effectively brings the reading alive to your listeners and their responses can make it even more fun for you.
Tip 1 Preview the material. Read it through once on your own silently so you can appreciate the meaning and check for tricky words. The read it through aloud at least once. Many picture books have a rhythm and pace that come alive when you read the words aloud – but this does take practice. Also this helps you plan how to do special voices for the characters, when to have a loud voice and when to drop to a whisper.
Tip 2 Try to read the book in a way that allows your audience to see the illustrations AS YOU READ. Don’t read then show the pictures, that can frustrate your audience. Try to practice sitting and holding the book so you can read it and show the pictures at the same time.
Tip 3 Decide ahead of time whether you will allow your audience to comment and question as you go OR to wait for comments and questions at the end. This can depend on the age of the audience AND the number of people. Sometimes it is good to allow comments about the cover and title before reading then invite the group to wait until the end of the story for further discussion. This is so that the story can answer the questions as it goes.
Tip 4 Don’t worry about making mistakes – just relax and enjoy the experience as well. This can be fun – especially if your audience is enjoying the story and the way you are reading it.
There are quite a few Youtube videos for teachers on how to read aloud – not so many with advice for students on how to read aloud to other students. The one below will give you some inspiration I hope. Good luck and enjoy yourselves….
