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Wednesday, April 1

3 Tips to Engaging Online Read Alouds

distance-learning-reading

Distance learning has caused many hurdles for teachers. One such hurdle is doing a class read aloud. How are we supposed to read to our kids? How are we supposed to keep them engaged in a story when we are not in class together? I have complied my top three tips to help keep your kiddos engaged in read alouds while we are participating in distance learning.

Zoom Backgrounds 

Did you know you can transport into the book your reading? Well not really, but with the help of the online platform Zoom, you can videotape yourself reading with any background of your choice! How neat would it be for students to see you reading Harry Potter in front of Hogwarts with wizards flying behind you? Are you reading about mummies in Egypt? Why not do your read aloud from a pharaohs tomb? You can use both; standard images or moving video clips to replace your background. The possibilities are endless! Here is a video to teach you how to change your background on Zoom.  Click Here.
distance-learning-reading

Facebook Live 

The next way you can keep your students engaged in online read alouds is through Facebook live. Facebook live is an amazing way to engage and keep connected with your kiddos while we are distance learning. If you have a closed class Facebook page you can “go live” which means your students can see, hear, and respond to you in real time. This is wonderful because it allows you to pause and ask students questions about the story, similar to how you would do a read aloud in your own classroom. To learn more about Facebook live for your students click HERE.


Video Recordings with Drawings

Not interested in doing a live read aloud? Don’t sweat it! You can still keep your students engaged in your read aloud while we are practicing distance learning. Simply record yourself reading the next chapter in your book, then ask students to draw/ illustrate what they hear happening in the story. After, have them share the pictures with you digitally. This is a fun and simple way to keep your students engaged in a read aloud while distance learning.

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