Do you ever wish you had someone else to read books to your students in class? No, I’m not talking about a guest in your classroom. Nope, not a student-teacher. I’m talking about a book read aloud by someone else that you can access through the internet. There are lots of online reading resources for teachers to find books for their students to listen to in a voice that does not belong to their teacher.
Where to Find Online Reading Resources
Google “youtube storybooks” and you will come up with thousands of books online. Be careful! Watch these books all the way through before viewing them with students. One teacher across the hall had just hit play and the person reading the book started cussing halfway though…grrr.“
Epic is the leading digital reading platform—built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world’s best publishers—that safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.” Epic is great for all grade levels. They have audio and non-audio books for your students to enjoy.”
The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Daytime Emmy®-nominated and award-winning children’s literacy website, Storyline Online®, streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.” My Students absolutely LOVED listening to the actors read books.
Readworks.org is another fantastic (FREE) online reading option for your students. It is “The largest, highest-quality library of curated nonfiction and literary passages in the country, with research-based curricular supports and formative assessments.”
readwritethink.org is another online space that I love to go to when looking for online reading. “The site has consistently been one of the most information-rich literacy resources on the internet. Every lesson plan on ReadWriteThink has always been aligned to the IRA/NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts, showing how theory feeds into practice. ReadWriteThink is able to offer all of this great content because of the literacy experts who write and review for us and are committed to providing our users with the highest quality practices in reading and language arts instruction”
When Do You Listen To Or Read Online Books?
These are great warm-ups in the morning during circle time. It is also great to listen to them at the end of the day when you are waiting for dismissal. Have the online resources set up on tablets or computers so that your students can listen/read them in a literacy center. Let’s face it, we go to work even when we have a cold and we are not feeling well. On these days, pull up an online book or two for your students to listen to while sitting for a minute.
How Do You Keep Your Student Engaged With Online Books
Ask your students open-ended questions. These are great for identifying the comprehension skills in reading. Here are a few open-ended question examples:
- Who, what, when, where, why, how questions
- Tell me about…
- What would happen if…
- What else could…
- How might you use…
Whether you are in need of an extra five minutes to plan your day, just sit quietly, or give your sore voice a break, these online reading resources are for you. No matter your reason for checking them out, online books read aloud for your students are a great asset for you and your classroom. Check some of them out today!
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