ee ww ( 2 VOLUME XII, NUMBER 28 8 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION Reading Aloud Freshman composition courses abound with supple- mentary readers and essay compendiums which, ideally, are sample modes of development for neophyte writers to follow. Consequently, composition teachers admonish their students to read more if they want to write better. Iam no exception. But no amount of threats, warnings, and tirades ensure that my students will do the reading necessary to improve their writing, especially since lecture preparation, essay production, and then grading and error review seem to take up so much time both in and out of class. Pop quizzes and in- class tests never seem to succeed at getting the students to utilize their readings and instead only seem to show them how to pass the quickie tests. Furthermore, I, along with my colleagues, realize we are dealing with the products of a quarter of a century of electronic media pushers. Nothing seems to get students to do the comprchensive and thorough reading necessary to understand the intimate relationship between organ- ized thought and its translation onto the printed page. I urgently want my students not only to get the most out of their reading assignments, but to know how to unlock the subtleties, allusions, metaphors, and histori- cal references present in good expository writing. Out of desperation, I resorted to the old primary school standby—reading aloud in class. My first goal is simply to get students to read aloud samples of their assigned essay examples for develop- ment and style. But secretly I longed for them to appreciate the aural beauty of the well-written word. Early in the term I set aside 4 to 6 one-hour class ses- sions in which we can thoroughly read and discuss each essay. Fortunately, composition classes at Edison are limited to a maximum of 20 students. I divide the class into three groups and assign each essay that can be adequately read in no more than two 50- to 55-minute class periods. I try to pick the most vividly exciting or interesting selections or one that is loaded with adjec- tives or perhaps controversial issues. The essay con- tains enough material so that each group member has at least 8 to 10 minutes of uninterrupted performance time. I require that each group member read aloud and that all unfamiliar vocabulary within the selection be defined prior to presentation. I assign three short- answer summary-type questions following the selection which are to be answered jointly and then presented by a designated speaker who may or may not read the answers. Hesitant and shy at first, by the second session the students are itching to perform before their peers. As we progress, students start to gain confidence and stop each other (and me) to ask for definitions and clarifica- tions. Throughout all sessions I encourage them to leave their fragile egos at the classroom door, and I constantly assure them that we are all learning to be better readers, which hopefully will continue through- out our lives. And while I will sometimes let a skipped line or mispronunciation pass unnoticed and force myself to bite my tongue while students struggle with sentence structure and vocabulary, I find students quickly correct each other and insist that the slightest mistake not pass uncorrected. By the end of the last group’s presentation, the class has not only become more relaxed and confident with each other, but almost all see reading in a new, more scholarly light—not as some dreaded assigned exer- cise—but as something alive, informative, and quite possibly fun. The in-class exercise gives me a welcome respite from the daily grind of lecture preparation and background reading, but more importantly, it gives me excellent insight into certain students’ learning disabili- ties or reading problems. I can more confidently recom- mend that these students get tutors or extra lab assis- tance. Most rewarding is the immediate effect that reading aloud has on students’ essays. Their writing improves dramatically after this class exercise, especially with regard to content and style. While reading aloud is certainly not a cure-all for mechanical and grammatical faults, it certainly allows the students to practically see that reading is indeed useful and necessary to progress in the real world. Virginia Harper-Phaneuf, Instructor, Humanities For further information, contact the author at Edison Community College, College Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33907. EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712 THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin ba hess