What are Teachers Reading and Why?: An Analysis of Elementary Read Aloud Titles and the Rationales Underlying Teachers' Selections

Although reading aloud to elementary students is a common practice, few studies have focused on the actual texts read, beyond considerations of fiction versus nonfiction, and few studies have included a line of inquiry exploring teachers' rationales for text selection. In this mixed-methods stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLiteracy research and instruction Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 383 - 401
Main Authors Conradi Smith, Kristin, Young, Craig A., Core Yatzeck, Jane
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Coral Gables Routledge 02.10.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
attitudes
Childrens literature
Content Analysis
Decision Making
Elementary education
Elementary School Students
Elementary School Teachers
Elementary schools
expository/informational texts
Influences
Oral Reading
Preferences
Reading Aloud to Others
Reading Material Selection
Teacher Attitudes
Teaching Methods
text characteristics
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Summary:Although reading aloud to elementary students is a common practice, few studies have focused on the actual texts read, beyond considerations of fiction versus nonfiction, and few studies have included a line of inquiry exploring teachers' rationales for text selection. In this mixed-methods study, we pair a content analysis of the reported read aloud titles of over 1000 teachers with interviews of a subset of teachers to understand the rationales behind their choices. For the content analysis, we analyzed the titles for multiple features (e.g., text type, publication year, inclusion in a series, etc.). Results suggest teachers still prefer fiction for read aloud events and the titles read are, on average, 25 years old. Our interviews with 14 teachers revealed that a myriad of factors inform their decisions for selecting the texts that they read in their respective classrooms. Overall, teachers' reasons tended to focus on instructional, affective, or contextual rationales. Although teachers acknowledged the importance of context and representation, there is an apparent disconnect between what teachers said mattered and what were represented in the analysis of titles. Implications for future research and classroom practices are included.
ISSN:1938-8071
1938-8063
DOI:10.1080/19388071.2021.2008558