Create a Read Aloud Door
Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 5:00AM
Read alouds are an integral part of our homeschool.
It seems that a read aloud is ALWAYS a good investment of time, and everyone wants to snuggle up for a good story.
Even now that my oldest is in 7th grade, she still BEGS for read aloud time.
With our most recent read aloud I started something new that worked wonderfully - a read aloud door.
The book that inspired the door was Lassie, Come Home. I knew the book was so full of goodness, so I ordered a study guide from Memoria Press to go along with it. The guide included discussion questions, vocabulary words, mapping exercises, history supplements, poetry, and art suggestions.
{I don't normally go so in depth with a read aloud. Sometimes we read just for the sake of reading. We had time, however, and I wanted to go in depth with THIS book.}
Each day I would read aloud, questions would be answered, and we would go over vocabulary.
During each of the read aloud times I would provide paper, colored pencils, and an idea or two to keep little hands busy while I was reading.
The Read Aloud Door
Our basement door is smack in the middle of a high traffic area in our house. Usually we keep artwork on this door.
As we were sitting at the kitchen table one day, I thought it might be fun to create a Read Aloud Door, with all of the vocabulary from the book on index cards, as well as any drawings or other information from the book.
My son LOVED this idea.
I wrote the vocabulary cards and he provided a drawing of a collie, a drawing of the Moorlands in England, his rendition of the Scottish lochs, and also a clock with the time 3:50 p.m. (the time Lassie would always go to the school and wait for Sam).
As we would sit at the kitchen table I could review words and encourage the kids to use them in conversation.
We could talk about the book with daddy as we ate our dinner.
The book became a part of our everyday lives, and we grew to love it even more.
I loved the door because I felt like it let my kids learn CONSTANTLY.
A beautiful read aloud has so many facets, doesn't it?
We also could have added a map of Lassie's journey, more vocabulary words, along with more artwork.
I didn't want it to be overwhelming, though, so we just added a couple of words each day, and the artwork that Grant wanted displayed.
Our current read aloud is Crispin: The Cross of Lead.
I'll be starting our door this week!
If you need more read aloud inspiration, I wrote a 10 Days of Reading Aloud series last fall. You'll find read aloud suggestions, why it's good to read aloud, and much more!
Do you read aloud in your homeschool? What's your favorite read aloud of all time?
Reader Comments (12)
I love this! We have to be creative with our use of space and this works perfectly for your family. We were just talking about a read aloud the other day. We constantly listen to audiobooks but I have not read them a book in ages. We are thinking Surviving The Applewhites.
Great idea! We're reading through the "Little House" series currently. With each book, we've made a craft and drawn pictures. I don't have a door that would work but I do have a thin wall that would be a perfect fit as a "Read Aloud Wall". Thanks for the idea!
Love this! We have a basement door in our dining room...may try this.
This is our third year of homeschooling and I'm just now starting read alouds. Our first book has been Mr. Popper's Penguins. And thanks to your recommendation, we're taking on The Toothpaste Millionaire next!
Love this idea!! You are full of good ones!! Thanks!
what a great idea! And I'm so glad to hear that your kids, who are older than mine, still love doing read-alouds!
What a terrific idea!~!
Love the way you explained it too!
Thank you!
What a fabulous idea, Mary!!! I love this and we have a great door to use as well. Thanks for sharing! We love read alouds too. Our current one is Little House on the Prairie. I just ordered that Lassie book too since my boys love dogs! You always have such great ideas :-)
What a great idea!
That's a pretty neat idea. I've been wanting to do some type of "wall" to use with our homeschooling activities. I may have to think of something like this for us, because we do have a door right near our dining room table. What a neat idea! I'll be sharing this with my followers. :-)
What an amazing idea! I am thinking of a space in my home where I can do this. I may choose a wall.
We use this idea too when we do a unit study based on a book. But instead of using a door, we use a poster board put up on our kitchen wall - our main room.