Thoughts on Choral Reading

Prior to this week’s class, I had never known of the term choral reading; honestly, it sounded scary at first because it reminds me of chorus and I hated chorus because I can’t sing (tangent). However, I found it to be rather enjoyable. I liked reading the short poem in pairs; I thought that it was an appropriate introduction for the activity. In contrast, our group reading was monotone and not as exciting. In our defense, the poem was abstract and we did not discuss the meaning as group so maybe that is why there wasn’t a lot of emotion; because several class members (me included) were unsure of the tone.

I love Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and was ecstatic to read it in a choral reading (small groups). Furthermore, my group seemed excited to read the book aloud which contributed to my enjoyment of the task. We read the book in a cumulative style where one voice was added at a time. One of the group members said that the cumulative style would be fitting since it aligns with the fact that the alphabet letters are gradually added to the tree. I think that this book could be read in a variety of choral reading styles. For example, echo would be fun as the children could come in on the “boom boom” part. Another book, Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 lends it self to much more echoing as it repeats “Will there be enough room?” throughout the story.

Overall, I enjoyed participating in choral reading and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. It would be fun to use with my fourth grade students and I think they would enjoy it as it allows them to be active participants.