In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practice

by Steven L. Layne

"Amidst the clanging noise of today's technology, Steven Layne offers here a clear clarion call on behalf of reading to children. It is insightful, reasoned, entertaining (rare in the field), and carefully researched for those who might doubt the urgent need for something that doesn't need a Wi-Fi hot spot. It should be on every teacher's must-read list." — Jim Trelease, author, The Read-Aloud Handbook As accountability measures for schools and teachers continue to grow, instructional practice is under the microscope. The practice of reading aloud to children may be viewed by some educators as an “extra”—a bit of fluff used solely for the purposes of enjoyment or filling a few spare minutes. But researchers and practitioners stand in the practice of reading aloud throughout the grades is not only viable but also best practice. In Defense of Read-Aloud reinforces readers’ confidence to continue the practice of reading aloud and presents the research base to defend the practice in grades K–12. Steven Layne also offers significant practical insights to strengthen instructional practice—answering the questions of “Why should we?” and “How should we?”—and provides practical advice about how to use read-alouds most effectively.  Leading researchers in the field of literacy provide position statements, authors of professional books share insights on books they have loved, leaders of the largest literacy organizations in the United States write about their favorite read-alouds, award-winning authors of children’s and young adult book (Katherine Paterson, Andrew Clements, Lois Lowry, to name a few) share the powerful behind-the-scenes stories of their greatest books, and real classroom teachers and librarians speak about books that have “lit up” their classrooms and libraries around the world. Last but not least, In Defense of Read-Aloud features many great recommendations of books to share with children. Read-aloud is an essential practice in teaching literacy in grades K–12. In this book, Steven Layne has provided everything needed to support, sustain, and celebrate the power of read-aloud.

Genres: Nonfiction, Teaching, Education, Teachers, School

198 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2015

About the author

Award-winning author and educator Steven L. Layne is the director of the Master of Education in Literacy program at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois, where he is also a professor of literacy education. He is a respected literacy consultant, motivational keynote speaker, and featured author at conferences and literary events worldwide. He lives with his wife and children in Saint Charles, Illinois.

Reviews

[Kris Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If someone asks you why you're reading aloud to the third graders and your first response 'Because it's so much fun, and we all enjoy it,' we're in trouble. Big trouble. We're not in trouble because you're wrong. No, it's fine to include that as the seventeenth bullet point on your calculated and confidence-inspiring response. We're in trouble because that's too fluffy an answer to be your first go-to when someone is questioning your pedogogy. You sound like a Smurf. Stop it. You're an educator--you need to sound like one." -Steven Layne

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for even teachers who are already doing read-aloud. Excellent insights and recommendations. I shared this book with a few colleagues and one said it was exactly what she needed to remind herself of the power of read-aloud.

[kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Dr. Layne,

Because you hilariously teach, inform, and entertain your audiences (in person and in your book) through sharing letters you've received, I've decided to write this review in letter form.

You. Are. Awesome! Your book is an incredibly valuable tool for all of us involved with children's literacy. It has it all. Thank you for including your own teaching experiences, examples of reading strategy instruction through reading aloud, a TON of children's lit titles (I literally sat with my GR app, adding/researching books as you and your contributors listed them), thoughts from an impressive amount of top-notch contributors, relevant research, humor, and inspiration for the reading community. Your inclusion of letters from teachers to authors of books that deeply affected their students, and then letters back from the authors should be the strongest evidence of the importance of sharing read-alouds with students. Bravo!

I find myself considering a doctorate in Literacy Education as a result of your insistence that teachers need to be leaders. I share your passion for literacy development and appreciate your wisdom on how our education can change how we are questioned. I already have my masters degree, but as you wrote, "if you already have one, go get another one." Maybe you'll find me in one of your classes....or better yet, I could come read your book aloud to your graduate students. Lol

Reading aloud is vital to literacy development! Thank you for using your passion and expertise to further this cause that seems to be waning.

With gratitude for a great day spent reading,
Reader Teacher in Cali :-)

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic book for teachers who haven't started using read-alouds as part of their curriculum. For teachers who already make use of read-alouds, this book provides further resources, research supporting the practice, and tips for improving this crucial part of any classroom.

[Susan Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to reflect on the importance of reading aloud to kids, reinforcing my position on spending so much time reading to kids in the library, instead of technology-driven teaching. Good reminder to me to be sure to read from all genres - I liked his suggestion to tell the kids to hold you responsible fir that! (Library)

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a terrific book. The author weaves in humor, stories from the classroom and best practice research for reading aloud in grades K-12 to help teachers plan, perfect and justify reading aloud. I found the stories about fictitious parent, Mrs. Hoochamadoochee and literacy consultant, Gunilla Everspout so hilarious that I forced my non-teacher husband to listen as I reread those parts aloud. So many teachers I know have either stopped read alouds all together or rarely include it in their plans. They did read aloud once, long ago in the past. I hope sharing this book and my love of read aloud time will help inspire other teachers to get back to reading aloud!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Layne reminds us of the importance of reading aloud to students-young and old, confidently sharing our expertise about the research that supports our practices, and continuing professional learning. Other take-aways are the importance of reading books that are at a higher level than our students' reading levels, using read alouds as instruction that is planned in advance, reading aloud from a variety of genres, and making read alouds engaging by "performing." He does all this in a conversational and humorous tone. All educators should read this book.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the first section: the why behind reading aloud, as well as the science behind choosing a book. I have always believed everything Layne put into the book. Now I have the research to back it up. The only thing I wanted more of was a longer list of good read-aloud titles.

[Jordyn Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practice, written by Steven. L. Layne, is a book that discusses the question of whether or not reading aloud to children throughout school is a positive and beneficial practice. As you will soon notice after starting to read this book, Layne absolutely believes that reading aloud to students, whether they are 7 or 17. He talks all about how important and crucial this practice is for children and their growing minds, and includes research showing why.

This book gave me a good amount of insight on an issue I have never really put much thought into. Although I had always been read to growing up, whether it was my mother reading me bedtime stories, or my teachers reading our current group chapter book, I never really thought about why this was such a critical practice for our development. This book opened my eyes up to a lot of great thoughts I hadn't come across on my own and is something I will read many more times upon becoming a teacher.

[Taylor Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a future teacher, or as an educator already I recommend reading this book. This book gives many ways on how to create a good reading environment within the classroom and how to get the students excited and engaged for read aloud's. It also gives information about why read aloud's are important for students of all ages not just for young elementary aged kids. I really enjoyed that the book had letters, or emails from a ton of different teachers who talked about read aloud's within their classrooms and what worked for them. Also the book gives lots of suggestions of books to read to your future students so if you ever need a recommendation you can look in the book for some ideas. The book was a pretty easy read and I found it to be very intriguing and insightful as of how to have successful read aloud's.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In Defence of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practice" by Steven Layne is great professional book. It reminded me why I love to read aloud to students and why it is so important. I appreciated the background information, as well as the plethora of great book suggestions from a wide variety of teachers and book lovers. The text itself was a light, easy read for a professional book. A great resource.
I can't remember where/when this book was recommended to me, but I wish I did, so I could thank them! It was exactly what I needed right now.

[Judy Desetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of great book titles in this, so if you don't know literature it may be worth it for you. I knew many of those titles and was happy to have to affirmation that I was doing well with my read aloud program. I preferred Steven Layne's other book on reading to this one. I just got more ideas from it. This did help me up my game and put into writing more of a formal plan about what I do and why.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of good information here on the importance of read alouds at every grade level. Layne writes in a conversational style and includes research and essays from other prominent people in the education field. He also discusses the practical aspects of choosing, pacing, and ending a read aloud, and of course how to voice it. At the end he includes read aloud recommendations from teachers, librarians, and literacy experts. A must read for teachers of every level.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has to be the most entertaining professional book I have ever read. I actually laughed out loud many times. It was inspiring and included many suggestions for books to read aloud. It didn't provide as much practical advice and ideas for actually teaching through the read aloud (although it did constantly reinforce the idea that reading aloud is and should be instructional).

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great inspiration for the importance of reading aloud as instruction. Research to back it up, practical ideas, encouragement to make a read aloud plan, and good read aloud suggestions. A great resource.

[Sonja Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has got to be the most entertaining professional resource I have ever read! Not only entertaining, but also so well researched and compelling. I will never approach read aloud the same way again!

[Megan Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes professional books can be hard to sit through but not this one.... Laynie has an approachable way of writing along with the ability to have good ideas for the classroom. I enjoyed this book.

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Good text, read well." A simple message in a well-written book. A must for the over-tested generation. A good follow up to a brilliant presentation.

[Melanie Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resource for read alouds

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best part of this book for me was Chapter 5; a chapter filled with recommendations from other teachers about books that they love to read aloud to their students.

[Abriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips on how to make Read-Aloud more successful.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading if you want to learn about the importance of reading aloud to students K-12 (I know!) Yes, all the way through high school!

Love it.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is defiantly one I am glad to have for my future classroom, especially if I ever need to defend why I am reading aloud to my students to parents, or other facility. I truly did not know how important and useful a read aloud can be, and if you are interested in using read aloud in the classroom I would suggest reading this book first. Another reason I truly enjoyed reading this book was Steven L. Layne's ability to make things conversational as well as his use of many, many other Authors and notable literacy figures to build Ethos. Layne also describes how to successfully make time, and how to actually conduct a read aloud which can be helpful for any beginners. Last but not least Layne also includes a chapter of books he suggest reading aloud, and why each book even makes a good read aloud.

[Bethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like Donalyn Miller's book whisperer books, every teacher, regardless of content area, needs to read this book! Administrators and academic coaches who claim to base instructional decisions on research also need to read this book and the plethora of resources stating the benefit of read aloud for all ages. I am blessed with teachers at my school who realize the benefits of read aloud and persist, risking questioning looks from others. I love Layne's tongue-in-cheek attitude and snarky comments which make the book even more entertaining, especially the "Dear Abby" FAQ sections. Lots of ammo for read aloud non-believers.

[Stefanie Pitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hooray for a book that celebrates the importance of reading aloud. I loved having my firm belief in read alouds being valuable teaching moments and vital to daily instruction, validated! The author was honest and witty. I especially enjoyed hearing how reading aloud should be a K-12 practice and not just for elementary students. I enjoyed the idea of having students volunteer to act out the visualizations or "movie" they are playing in their head while they listen. I also liked all the many ways you can launch a read aloud. I hadn't thought of all of those possibilities. I feel this was a good resource to add to any educator's bank of knowledge.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a high school English teacher, I had to justify why I read aloud to my students. As a librarian, I fought for years with staff to accept audiobooks as a form of reading. I cited facts, stats, research, etc. this book provides great research on why reading aloud to students is beneficial, and the book also provides many great read aloud selections, all with great connections to literacy. I love how Layne writes in an instructive and entertaining manner with research, anecdotes, humor, and responses to questions from real people! Don't be fooled by how easy it is to read this engaging book. In addition to Layne's expertise, he provides remarks from many other experts.

[Nichole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever cried reading a teacher ed book? Not, "I can't do this! I'll never be as good as Kelly Gallagher" cried, but cried because it was beautiful and made you feel good about yourself and your profession? This book does it. I am so fortunate that I have seen Steven speak on several occasions because it allowed me to hear this book read to me in his amazingly distinctive voice which jumps off the page instead of my own annoying familiar internal reading voice. If you need not only an amazingly powerful, helpful, and insightful teaching book, but also a truly uplifting one, read this book.

[Rosemary Daly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading aloud is beneficial to everyone of every age. We all have heard that reading aloud to our children starting at a very early age provides wonderful benefits. This book goes a step further. Reading aloud to people of ALL ages provides wonderful benefits. I am incorporating some of these read aloud ideas into my ESOL classroom this year, hoping that it will encourage my students to do the same.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars because 10 isn't an option. I can not tell you how much I LOVED THIS BOOK! All teachers (all grade levels) should read this book. The subject matter is approached with solid research backing up the practice and presented with humor. This is a very, very easy read AND provides readers with about 100 options for read alouds.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly fast read. I liked the "Dear Abby" way he answered FAQs and the extensive list of read alouds in the last chapter. It also provides reasons for doing read alouds and repeats that this is instruction time. Be intentional about the books/genres you select, the places you stop, the strategies you teach, and the discussion questions you ask.