Reading My Own Writing Aloud

Those of you who have read Shoes and Boxes and Peanuts and Keys know that I believe in reading our writing aloud. I repeat this direction in nearly every prompt in my book. It is that important. I consider reading aloud to be the best editing technique in my arsenal of editing techniques. And I have quite a few! I ask my students to read their work aloud multiple times for multiple reasons during the writing process. And whenever they read their work aloud, they notice things. They make changes. They ask if things make sense as they are. This same thing is true, not just for my students, but for me…and you.

I read aloud everything that I write. I do this because it works. By reading aloud, I slow down enough to notice things. I notice the obvious—spelling errors, typos, needs for punctuation. But I also notice the opportunity to use a better word, a different sentence order, a turn of phrase, and so much more. Reading aloud makes me hear what I wrote. And hearing is different from seeing. Some things look fine, but sound wrong. Some things cause me to stumble when I read aloud, necessitating a change.

This practice of reading my writing aloud is a regular part of our writing workshop in my classroom. As I write with my students—and I always do—I read my drafts and notes and ideas aloud to them so that they can hear how my writing evolves. I do this with a pencil in my hand or my fingers at the ready on my keyboard. I do this in each of my five classes for each piece of writing. Sometimes I read my writing aloud before I ask my students to read theirs aloud to their writing partners. Other times I read mine aloud after they read to their partners. Every time I read my work aloud, I mark the need for changes or I make changes on the spot. There are always changes to be made. Then, I ask for feedback from my students. Because my students hear me reading my work aloud, they realize that I believe it is important. And it is.