I teach 11th grade English, an American lit. course.  My students beg me
to read to them, especially when we come to passages with complicated
sentence structure or involved dialect.  My East Texan accent lent
itself to _Huck Finn_ rather well!

Our previous principal had a real problem with this practice.  He said
he had been put to sleep by teachers reading aloud to him.  I have
found, though, that he must be in the minority.  The consensus in our
English department is that we procure the majority of our students' rapt
attention when we read aloud to them.

Reading aloud doesn't sustain a program, of course.  While students must
read aloud themselves and practice silent reading, the most interested
reactions I receive come from the times when I read to them.

My theory is that family life today is either too rushed or non-existent
for my students.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dad
reading _The Chronicles of Narnia_ to me.  It met a vital need for
sharing and communicating and attention.  Perhaps my students get a
little of that when I read to them.  These are important processess no
matter how old you are.

Diane M. Peterson
Queen City High School