Power Up Your Read-Alouds

Book excerpt: Capture the hearts, minds, and attention of your digital-age listeners using read-aloud experiences that engage technology. "I wish my learners would be as excited about reading as they are about technology" is a lament frequently sung by those who seek to support reading development. There is no debate that reading is fundamental and that reading aloud strongly supports lifelong reading engagement. Technology, however, is ubiquitous in our society, and engagement with it is essential for our success. Reading and technology are therefore in competition for learners' attention, but by combining reading and technology through use of read-aloud, facilitators can create engaging digital read-aloud programs to enhance the learning experience. Digital read-aloud can be used with multiple age groups, in a variety of settings, and with differing degrees of expense and technology complexity. Understanding that these myriad options can be overwhelming, however, Andrea Paganelli offers detailed information on the background, implementation, evaluation, and sustainability of technology-infused read-aloud for reading support persons, school librarians, public librarians, instructional librarians, teachers, and professors. Her ideas span multiple ages and subjects and include practical examples designed to engage both educators and readers.