Exemplar Read Aloud Texts for Common Core

Reading Aloud to children, even after they know how to read, is such a valuable experience for many reasons!  Here are a few:

1. Reading aloud promotes a positive attitude toward reading and books.
2. Reading aloud helps to promote a longer attention span.  
3. Reading aloud exposes children to complex language, which will help the children in all areas of their development, especially their reading development.  
4. Reading aloud to children enhances a child's oral vocabulary.  A strong oral vocabulary is essential to reading comprehension.
5. Reading aloud teaches children about the world.  It promotes lots of conversations about what is like in different parts of the world, for people who are different from themselves.  They learn about the elderly, the rich, the disadvantaged.  They travel to faraway lands and they travel through time.  

It just so happens that even the Common Core Standards themselves encourage reading aloud to children.  In fact, they have a whole list of Exemplar Texts!  The authors of the Common Core looked for books and stories with complexity and quality.

These are the Common Core Suggestions for Read Aloud Stories for Grades 2 and 3:

                                        

I'm only familiar with a couple of these, but I'm very excited to see some of the new ones.  If you click each picture, it links to Amazon for a description of the story.

These are the suggested Read Aloud Poetry collections for Grades 2 and 3:

Fireflies

Song of the Jellicles

Your World
by Georgia Douglas Johnson

These are the Common Core suggested Read Alouds for Informational Text for Grades 2 and 3:

        

                          

After looking at all these books on Amazon, I'm aching to buy them all and read them to my kids!  They represent a variety of cultures, people, places, and topics that will inspire any child!  I can't wait to hear the conversations!

For more information about Exemplar Texts and a Read Aloud freebie, click HERE.