Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.

Students will listen as I read; they will not be practicing reading aloud themselves.  Rather, they will practice the other skills I mentioned in the description and their own reading both aloud and silently will improve by hearing me model.

Children's literature includes a broad range of topics and subjects.  I select books that are age appropriate.  They might contain magic, mythical creatures, or sensitive topics.  Since this class is Halloween themed, some books will have witches, ghosts, ghouls and somewhat spooky (not scary) things.  There will be one story about a spider and a fly in which the fly does not have a happy ending.  I will do my best to choose age appropriate books.  If you have particular content concerns, please communicate them to me and I will try to adjust my book choices accordingly.  If students ask whether witches, ghosts, etc. exist I will neither confirm nor deny their existence. Instead, I will instruct students to ask their parents.

More information on the benefits of interactive read alouds: https://teach.its.uiowa.edu/sites/teach.its.uiowa.edu/files/docs/docs/What_are_the_Benefits_of_Reading_Aloud_ed.pdf

"An interactive read–aloud is a literacy event whereby children actively engage in listening and talking about the text throughout the duration of the read–aloud. In contrast to the traditional read–aloud where children sit quietly as the teacher reads a text in its entirety prior to discussion (if any), the interactive read–aloud invites conversation from cover to cover. The teacher may read aloud a page, a few pages, or several chapters (depending upon the text and the age of the learner) and stop to discuss key ideas, illustrations, or other text features that enhance comprehension, note interesting details, make connections to other texts, or confirm/disconfirm predictions."  ("Interactive Read-Alouds in the Classroom," Kaplan Learning Company, https://www.kaplanco.com/ii/interactive-read-alouds)