READ ALOUD REPORT

EDUC 535 2021

Name: Shannon Klein

Overview: The purpose of this assignment is threefold: 1) to conduct an interactive read aloud and
consider what makes an effective one; 2) to develop an understanding of the complexity of children’s
sense-making of story; and 3) to consider more broadly how adults mediate text and can support students’
literacies via a process of co-construction.

The purpose of the read aloud differs from comprehension tasks that often narrowly attach reading to a set
of evaluative assessment questions. Instead, this assignment emphasizes deep listening to children as a
way to understand their sense-making of story as a constructive, fluid, and socially situated process. It
also requires working alongside the student to co-construct knowledge as a mode of mutual engagement
and critically reflecting on the processes of mediating text with children. The read aloud report requires
critical and descriptive analysis of the read aloud event.

Book Rationale: Provide the name, author, and genre of the book with a 2-3 sentence description. Then
make a case for why you selected this book, drawing upon features of the words and pictures that you
found to be exemplary. Please draw upon 2-3 relevant course readings in this section.

I chose to use Henry’s Freedom Box, a picturebook written by Ellen Levine and illustrated by

Kadir Nelson aimed at students in grades 4-6. The text is clearly rooted in historical fact, but the author’s

note explains that despite the extensive research completed to inform the creation of the book, there are

moments in this story where the author had to make choices on how to address certain ambiguity or

unknown information. It follows the sequential pattern of traditional picturebooks and contains words and

illustrations that function as “elaboration” (Schwarcz, 2006). Henry’s Freedom Box tells the story of

Henry “Box” Brown, an enslaved man who mails himself to freedom. The book introduces Henry as a

child without a birthday who works and survives on a plantation with his family. When Henry’s master

falls ill, he gifts Henry to his son, separating Henry from his family and relegating him to a life of

working in the master’s son’s tobacco factory. Henry ages several years between each page flip in this

section, and as adult, he meets an enslaved woman named Nancy. They marry, have children, and build as

happy of a life as they are able to. When Nancy and their children are sold and sent away, Henry sinks

into a deep depression until one day, he hears a bird singing and begins to think of his own freedom. He

decides to mail himself in a box to Philadelphia with the help of his enslaved friend James and a Dr.

Smith, white man who opposes slavery. Henry survives this ordeal and successfully escapes to

Philadelphia, thereby earning his freedom and his birthday.

 READ ALOUD REPORT

I selected this book because it provides space for intellectual and aesthetic engagement as well as

opportunities for critical reading. First of all, the dynamic and powerful illustrations evoke emotional

reactions and position the reader as inside the historically grounded narrative. Nelson portrays Henry

centrally in the majority of the illustrations and invites the reader to interact with Henry through artistic

decisions like portraying Henry as making eye contact with the reader, zooming in on Henry’s face, and

positioning the reader outside, yet near, Henry. Most of the illustrations are double spread and full bleed,

positioning the reader as within Henry’s world instead of watching from a distance. Nelson’s illustrations

have an incredible level of detail that contributes to the realistic feel of the illustrations and portrays a

historical context which allows the reader to relate their knowledge of this time period to the narrative.

Henry’s Freedom Box invites the reader to engage intellectually with the narrative by applying their

historical knowledge to the text and by learning about a historical figure who is not usually central in

classroom instruction. The book also maintains the reader’s attention through the combined work of the

aesthetically pleasing and varied illustrations alongside a narrative that both builds upon and expands

readers’ intellectual funds of knowledge.

Secondly, the text provides opportunities for critical reading through its illustrations and

accompanying text. The illustrations in Henry’s Freedom Box encourage the reader to engage with Henry

not only as a character in the text, but also as a person whom they can relate to. As Bang (1991)

discusses, portraying characters or objects as distant causes the reader to identify less with the character

and distance themselves from them. Nelson creates the opposite effect, as almost all of the illustrations

position Henry as central and large on the page, leading the reader to focus on Henry and place

themselves within his space. Furthermore, Nelson’s illustrations on the cover and first spread of the book

feature Henry against a non-specific background, immediately establishing a connection between the

reader and Henry as they seem to sit across from each other and study each other’s faces. This method of

introducing Henry helps the reader empathetically meet Henry as a child first, instead of as a distant

historical figure.
 READ ALOUD REPORT

Later in the text, the illustrations position the reader in close proximity to Henry and provide

opportunities for readers to engage with and relate to Henry’s emotions and reactions. These illustrations

disrupt the synonymity commonly drawn between history and de-humanized, objective fact and lead the

reader to engage personally with the events in the narrative and with a presentation of history that centers

people’s emotions and actions. On these spreads, the reader cannot distance themselves from Henry’s

horrible experiences and the trauma he feels because the illustrations focus on Henry and provide little

distraction around him. Nelson’s illustrations invite criticality because they push back against sanitized

views of history which center events instead of people that are often found within classrooms and disrupt

readers’ attempts to distance themselves from the events and experiences portrayed in the text.

The book’s words also invite a critical reading of both history and the narrative due to their

inclusion or omission of certain facts, phrases, or words. Specifically, these moments of inclusion or

omission provide an opportunity for critical readers to “read against and around the text to show the

ideologies (such as that of domination and resistance) embedded within texts” (Hade, 1995, p. 2). Three

examples of opportunities provided by the text to critically examine domination and resistance within this

narrative are the narrator’s description that Henry’s master “had been good to Henry and his family”,
 READ ALOUD REPORT

Henry’s decision to use oil of vitriol (sulfuric acid) to burn his hand, and the ending of the narrative. The

first example prompts the reader to consider the meaning of a master who “is good” to the enslaved

people whom he owns, the second provides an example of enslaved people’s agency and resistance within

the injustices and horrors perpetrated upon them, and the third provides a “double narrative” ending

which “simultaneously resects our need for hope and happy endings even as it teaches us a different

lesson about history” (Kertzer, 2002).

While the primary basis for my decision to read Henry’s Freedom Box the potential it opens for

criticality, other pragmatic factors influenced my selection. First of all, I am interested in ways that

teachers can use picturebooks to expand the thinking and perspectives of students of all ages. As a result,

I wanted to use a book that would prompt the child to engage their relational capacity so I could see

firsthand how picturebooks can create greater empathy and understanding around a topic that students

may already be somewhat familiar with. Secondly, I had never met the child before the read aloud event

and I have never taught children before (I have only taught middle and high school), so I wanted to

choose a text that I knew would be engaging, interesting, and somewhat familiar to the student to lower

their affective filter and to and hopefully mitigate my lack of experience reading with students at this age.

To this end, I selected Henry’s Freedom Box so the child could draw on their background knowledge to

understand (I assumed that she would have at least some knowledge of slavery and/or the Underground

Railroad), personally relate to themselves (the book begins with Henry at the same age as the child, and

includes a location familiar to the student), and remain interested (through the engaging illustrations,

strong emotions, and novelty of Henry mailing himself to freedom). The text in Henry’s Freedom Box

also lends itself to a dramatic reading as each page turns builds the drama of the narrative by. I predicted

this would allow me to better engage the child and therefore elicit a greater quantity and variety of

responses from them. Thirdly, and most mundanely, I obtained Henry’s Freedom Box early on in the

semester since I am studying Kadir Nelson for my author/illustrator study, so I already owned the text and

had read it before.

 READ ALOUD REPORT

Context: Provide a brief overview of the context for this read aloud event. Provide the name of the child
(use a pseudonym), their age, and your relationship to them. Describe the time and place of the reading,
drawing upon relevant details that shaped the ethos of this read aloud event.

My partner for this read-aloud event was a fourth grader at the Penn Alexander School whom I

will refer to as N throughout this report. I was connected with N because her teacher’s classroom is

Katie’s placement for fieldwork, and I already had a connection with PAS since I am completing field

observations within a sixth-grade classroom there. I had not met N before the day of the read aloud and

did not know anything about her beforehand except for her grade and the fact that Katie mentioned she

would try to connect me with a student who would likely feel relatively comfortable reading with and

talking to a stranger.

Our read aloud took place on a chilly Tuesday morning during the end of N’s English class and

the beginning of her math class. We read at a small table in a space outside of some 2 nd grade classrooms,

and we sat on opposite sides of the table. There were times during the event where we both got a little

distracted by younger students walking around us and chatting in the classrooms. When there were

distractions, N was able and willing to refocus on the read aloud task quickly.

N seemed a little nervous at the beginning of the read aloud due to her short and non-assertive

responses. As the event progressed, she seemed to get more comfortable in her responses and was more

comfortable making eye contact and reaching across the table to point at things in the book. N played

with a hair tie throughout the read aloud, which I initially interpreted as a sign of nervousness, but as she

continued to play with it throughout the event, I now think it may have been a way for her to fidget and

remain engaged with reading.

General Impressions: Describe your general impressions of the read aloud event. Provide a brief
overview of both highlights and challenges that you encountered as a reader/facilitator.

I greatly enjoyed the read aloud event and feel that it provided insight into a new way of

structuring reader response, using texts in classroom, and reading with younger students. One highlight of

the read aloud for me was seeing N grow more confident in her responses and her perceptions of the text.
 READ ALOUD REPORT

For example, in the beginning of the read aloud event, I had to use frequent questions and wait time to

elicit a response from her. However, about halfway through the read aloud, N started to make unprompted

comments or ask questions about the text that were not related to any comments I made. In addition,

while almost all of her responses in the beginning of the event included phrases such as “I think”, ‘I

guess”, or “but I’m not sure”, this shifted as the read aloud progressed. She seemed to become more

certain of her responses and at times even provided responses that went against my statements. I also

noticed that a few times when I made a comment in the latter half of the read aloud, she began to provide

her own explanations to support it. In my view, this shift signaled a change from her and I creating

meaning separately at the same time to creating meaning collaboratively. Another highlight of the event

was listening to all of N’s insightful comments and responses and seeing her engagement with the text.

As an educator, it is always enjoyable to structure and participate in a learning opportunity with a student

where it seems like the student is enjoying themselves and engaged with the task at a high level.

While I did enjoy participating in the read aloud with N, I felt two main challenges during this

event. First of all, I found it difficult to not revert back to asking about or leading N to an academically

sanctioned analysis of the text, a practice that became almost automatic to me as an English teacher. For

example, I found myself asking questions to try and get N to discuss the potential symbolism of the birds

in the text even though she had not brought up this herself and did not seem to have an answer. Secondly,

I found it difficult to restrain from directing the read aloud event towards making connection between the

text and the self/our world. I think part of this challenge stems from my belief in connecting texts to

ourselves and our world as a way to understand us and our contexts better. I also assumed that N would

make comments of this fashion and had prepared for this prior to the read aloud events, so perhaps I was

hindered by this assumption.

Approach to the Read Aloud: Explain the approach that you took to reading this book aloud with this
child, taking into account the moves you made before, during and after the reading. Before: How did you
plan for the read aloud? What approach did you decide to take with this book and this child and why?
 READ ALOUD REPORT

How did you plan? What questions did you plan ahead of time? What key ideas did you hope to explore
in reading this book? During: How did you introduce the book and read aloud before reading? What sort
of invitation did you make? What openings of the book did you select to focus attention on? What did you
do to encourage discussion? What adaptations did you have to make during the read aloud? After: How
did you encourage reflection on the book? What invitation did you make to the reader to look back on the
book and think about it after the reading?

Before

Prior to engaging in the read aloud with N, I prepared by selecting a text, analyzing the text, and

planning potential questions and strategies to use during the event. I started by identifying background

knowledge or vocabulary within the text that N may need to understand or may ask about, leading me to

plan questions to gauge N’s background knowledge on the Underground Railroad. I also prepared

student-friendly definitions for the Underground Railroad and “oil of vitriol” in anticipation.

Since I knew that N may be hesitant or nervous since we did not know each other, I made sure to

identify aspects or details on each page that I could comment on or ask about to encourage her to respond.

I did select specific spreads to focus on during the event, but I wanted to be prepared to engage in

collaborative meaning making for all of the spreads in case she responded to a spread I had not selected. I

intentionally wrote potential questions to be open-ended and to focus on different aspects of the text

(artwork, character’s feelings, words in the text, etc.) so that I would not constrain her responses. I also

created questions that I could us to help N draw connections between herself and the text (although these

questions were not successful). In addition, I practiced reading the text several times using emotion and

inflection to prepare for how I would read it with N.

Lastly, I considered how I would prepare to support a critical reading of the text, since the text’s

affordance of this kind of reading was one of the main reasons I chose Henry’s Freedom Box. I chose

specific places in the text where I would ask questions to support or prompt a critical reading, such as

asking “What do you think it means that Henry’s master is “good”? I know that masters own enslaved

people and enslaved people are not allowed to have freedom, so how can a master be good?”, asking

about why Henry did not leave the factory when he heard his family was being sold or stop them from

being taken away even though he was obviously distressed, and asking for N’s reactions to and thoughts
 READ ALOUD REPORT

on the end of the book. To further structure the read aloud event to support a critical reading and response

to the text, I decided to frame the read aloud event around me as a wanting to use Henry’s Freedom Box

in class, so I wanted a students’ response to the book and their thoughts on whether this would be a good

book to teach. I knew that this frame could lead to the child providing mostly efferent responses instead

of aesthetic reactions, so I also planned to specifically establish that I was wondering if students would

enjoy reading the book and looking at the illustrations, and I planned questions aimed at eliciting

emotional engagement and attention to the illustrations in the text.

During

When we first sat down at the small table, I made some small talk with N as a way of breaking

the ice and ensuring that she felt comfortable speaking with me. I commented on how it had become so

cold in the past few days, and we chatted about snow. I shared the personal information that I was from

Texas and had never lived in snow before to further break down the stranger wall between. I also asked

her questions about her experiences and thoughts about the snow this year to set the stage for her thoughts

and knowledge to be valued by demonstrating that I would listen to her with focus and engagement.

I opened the read aloud event using the frame I had planned, and N seemed to receive this

explanation well. From speaking with Katie after the event, I learned that N consistently participates at a

high level in her English class and views herself as a good student and a good reader, so this frame could

have affirmed her view of herself and made her more willing to provide detailed responses. I also asked N

if it would be alright with her if I recorded our conversation so that I did not forget what she had said, and

she readily gave her permission. Before beginning to read, I also explained several times that there were

no right or wrong responses that she could say, and that I needed her perspective to help me decide if this

was a good book to teach.

I invited her into the text looking at the front and back covers and reading the text on the back

cover, since this provides the context of Henry’s Freedom Box as a true story relating to the Underground

Railroad. When I read the inscription on the back cover which presents the text as a true story of the
 READ ALOUD REPORT

Underground Railroad, I asked what she knew about the Underground Railroad, and provided some

historical context to supplement her answer. As we began to read, I utilized wait time, vague prompting

questions, and sometimes direct questions. I frequently used questions of “What do you see?”, “What do

you think about this page?”, and “What are your thoughts on this?” to invite her responses, but I found

myself using these questions less frequently as the read aloud progressed and she began to offer her own

responses without prompting.

I chose certain openings to focus attention on to encourage a critical reading and to encourage N

to respond aesthetically as well as efferently to the text. The openings I focused on for critical responses

were the spread where Henry’s master is described as good, the spread where Henry watches his children

be carted away, the spread where Henry burns himself with oil of vitriol, and the final spread where

Henry arrives in Philadelphia. I also selected several openings where the illustrations were particularly

dynamic or the illustrator’s use of different mediums (oil, pencil, gouache, watercolor) was particularly

evident, including the opening where Henry’s master announces that Henry has been sold to someone

else, the spread that zooms in on Henry’s worry, the spread where Henry loses his children, and the

spread where we see Henry’s box rolled over and over.

To encourage discussion, I used open-ended questions and asked N to share more about what she

means by that or say why she said certain responses. I also positioned myself as a co-reader instead of a

teacher by using comments such as “I’m a little confused about why (the author does this/Henry does

this/the page looks like this). What do you think?” to encourage discussion/response and emphasize the

value of her comments. I affirmed her comments through my reactions and by paraphrasing her

comments back to her to convey my engaged listening to what she had to say. I believe these techniques

were successful as I noticed towards the end of the read aloud, she corrected/critiqued my statements,

used phrases like “I think” or “I guess” less, and assertively began to point to aspects of the book and

provide responses without as much wait time or prompting questions.

While I had planned questions to support N in making connections between herself and the text, I

decided not to focus on those questions I since the first few I asked seemed to confuse her and she did not
 READ ALOUD REPORT

really have responses to them. I do not know if this was due to factors that made it difficult for her to

make personal connections to the text or due to error in my formulation or delivery of these questions. I

also slightly adjusted the openings I had planned to focus on in response to her interest in different

openings but did ensure we focused on the openings I had earmarked as having potential for critical

reading. In the beginning, I noticed that I was reverting somewhat into teacher mode instead of providing

space for N’s responses and reactions, so I paid more attention to this during the rest of the event. As the

read aloud progressed, I also used less of my planned questions or comments because N began to provide

responses more quickly and willingly, and sometimes the aspects she focused on differed than what I had

prepared.

After

After we finished reading the text, I asked N what she thought of the ending as an invitation to

respond to the book as a whole and to look back on the prior events in the text. I also asked for her

thoughts on using this book in school and what she thought students might think about it. I asked her what

pages she thought were important or her favorite pages. I did not have to ask many questions after we

finished reading because she readily began to talk about the book as a whole and provided lengthy

responses to the questions that I did ask. I wanted to ask her questions about if she related to Henry in any

way at all or connected the text with her own life, but I was unsure how to frame these questions due to

the lack of success of earlier questions on this topic. I also did not want to end the read aloud event by

asking a confusing or abstract question that she may not even have a response to.

Response Categories: Please complete the chart below to document the data you collected on the child’s
responses to story. What categories of reader response did the child engage? (use the categories from
Hancock, Sipe, and Kiefer on Canvas). Please the direct quotation and the name of the category that you
think captures this response (the notes column optional and you can use this if there is additional
information you want me to know). Draw upon the categories presented in the readings and, if you need
to, create your own.
 READ ALOUD REPORT

I chose to utilize Kiefer (1993)’s four categories of verbal responses to picturebooks to code N’s

responses. I saw elements of multiple categories within several of her responses, so some quotes are

coded as more than one category. I chose not to use Sipe’s (2005) categories because almost all of N’s

responses would have been coded as analytical. While Sipe’s categories do present an interesting frame

for analyzing children’s responses, I wonder about the utility of Sipe’s categories when one category

comprises nearly three quarters of children’s responses. I almost chose to code N’s responses using

Wollman-Bonilla & Wechadlo’s (1995) two qualitative categories of text-centered questions and reader-

centered questions (discussed in Hancock, 2000), but in order to provide a foundation for interpretation

and analysis of N’s responses, I would need to somehow break down these two codes into subcategories.

In addition, I think the distinction that Wollman-Bonilla & Werchadlo’s (1995) categories draws between

text-centered questions vs. reader-centered responses obscures the dynamic exchange and interaction

between the text and reader during the reading event. For example, while they consider responses related

to understanding characters or predicting characters’ actions as forms of text-centered questions, this

neglects the impact that readers’ personal funds of knowledge have on understandings and predictions.

Hancock’s (2000) categories of reader response similarly draw a false distinction between responses that

show children’s involvement with reading and the text and those that show removal of reader from the

action. This delineation is illustrated through Hancock’s distinction between self-involvement categories

vs. detachment categories.

Quotation/Response to Story Response Category Optional Notes

"Henry, I think, sitting in a field. He looks like nine.” Informative Describing the cover
"But it's not actual wood." Informative In response to looking at the back
Heuristic cover
"I think he's very sad. The words make it sound like Heuristic In response to the first spread
he doesn't know how old he is, or when he was born, introducing Henry
or where."
"Maybe they are like birds." Imaginative In response to what I identified as
leaves blowing in the wind.
"Maybe they get like rewarded with like water maybe Heuristic In response to my wondering over
if they do really good, or maybe he has slaves, but he why Henry’s master is called a “good
doesn't really act as mean as others, maybe they don't master”
 READ ALOUD REPORT

have to like not sleep at all or at least have a break.”

"I think Henry's sad because he has to go work for Heuristic In response to the spread where
someone else." His mom is feeling "sad". Henry and his mother are told Henry
has been sold
"Looks like a lot of different things. Like it kind of Informative Describing the artwork
looks like pencil but also looks like both. Pen. I’m not
sure.”
"So he has to go away because the son isn't living at Heuristic In response to the spread where
the house." Henry says goodbye to his family
"I think it might be like a coach man. If he was the son Heuristic Describing the white man on the
he would probably be like… I don't know I think if he spread where Henry says goodbye to
was the master he would wear more comfortable his family
clothes or a different outfit maybe."
"I think Henry is right here. Oh no, I think he's right Heuristic Describing the spread where Henry
here…this is probably his mother and then this is him says goodbye to his family
because he would probably be saying goodbye."
"It's a big family. There's like multiple men and Informative Describing the spread where Henry
multiple women and children." says goodbye to his family
"I think the other master was nicer." Heuristic In response to the first spread that
Personal shows Henry working in the new
master’s tobacco factory
"He's been there for a long time and they're trying to Heuristic In response to the first spread that
show that he's been there for a long time and still shows Henry working in the new
wasn't happy. I think maybe he's been there for a long master’s tobacco factory
time and it's no fun."
"Well if they're caught meeting, they'll get in Heuristic In response to my wondering why
trouble…they have different masters and slaves are Henry and Nancy have to be careful
supposed to obey their masters even with who they about their relationship
talk to."
"Maybe he's like a spy because they are slaves and Heuristic Describing the white man looking at
he's making sure they don't do anything or they don't Henry and Nancy in the spread where
run away." they meet
"I think they're going to run away with their Heuristic In response to the spread where
children…because they don't want their masters to sell Henry, Nancy, and their children are
the children." sitting by the fire
“Well they're not living in a very bright place and the Informative Describing the color usage
things around them aren't very bright…He's using Heuristic throughout the illustrations
blue, but not like bright bright, and not bright yellow
and stuff… they're probably not living in the cleanest,
nicest place."
"I think they're gonna run away…I still think they're Heuristic In response to the spread where
gonna run away because he's like worried." Henry’s family are by the fire
"He's like trying to forget something, and he's trying Heuristic In response to the spread of a
to forget something about his family.” Imaginative zoomed-in Henry’s face

"The face looks like pencil, like there's all these like Informative In response to the spread of a
lines…maybe those are like marks that are scratched Heuristic zoomed-in Henry’s face
up maybe."

"I think he's gonna try to get them back." Heuristic In response to the spread where
 READ ALOUD REPORT

Henry is told his family has been

sold, but he cannot leave right away
"He'll get beat up or really hurt." Heuristic In response to the spread where
Henry is told his family has been
sold, but he cannot leave right away
"There's still a lot of line marks on like the clothes and Informative Describing the children’s faces in the
the faces. I think the author does it to make it seem Heuristic spread where they are driven away
more realistic." Personal
"Unless he goes to the slave factory his family is at." Heuristic In response to the spread that says
Henry will never see his family again
"Maybe he'll try to go to the other factory… maybe Heuristic In response to the spread that says
he'll try to make mistakes so he can get sent to their Henry will never see his family again
factory…Like try to be like a bad slave and get sent
away."
"I don't think it's going to work, but okay." Imaginative Describing the expression on Dr.
Smith’s and James’ face when Henry
announced his plan.
"I don't know which one is Henry." Heuristic On the spread that shows Henry, Dr.
Smith, and James meeting in the
warehouse
"I think it may be okay, but he's relying on hope and if Heuristic Predicting if Henry will actually be
he's going somewhere that doesn't have slavery, it's able to ship himself to freedom
probably going to be a long trip, so who's gonna take
him?"
"Well they're in an empty warehouse, probably there's Informative Describing the black background on
no light. They're probably trying to just zoom in on Heuristic the spread where Henry, Dr. Smith,
the conversation." and James meet
"I don't think the others know how to write because Heuristic In response to the spread that shows
they probably don't know how to write because Dr. a hand writing a Philadelphia
Smith is the only one that can write." address on the outside of the box
"I think he's sending it to someone that agrees with Heuristic In response to the spread that shows
him that’s slavery is wrong because if he goes to a hand writing a Philadelphia
someone who does slavery, he'll probably have to go address on the outside of the box
back for a punishment."
"So why did it burn his hand?" Heuristic Asking about the spread where Henry
burns his hand with “oil of vitriol”
"It's sad, or like it's worried because he's doing Informative Describing Henry’s face on the
something but there's only one chance at it. If he gets Heuristic spread where he burns his hand
found, he's sent back and he can't do it again because
they probably won't let him out of sight."
"He's not, unless he's got a lot of clothes in there and Heuristic Describing whether Henry will be
has room to change." warm enough in the box
"Well something's on his head. I think it's like part of Informative Describing the spread that shows
the box…it's the part he's touching, but you have to Heuristic Henry upside down in the box
see through the side of the box."
"My dad holds me by my legs sometimes, and it's not Personal Connecting her experiences to
a long time but all the blood rushes up to your head Henry’s feelings of pain and
and it gets a headache sometimes." discomfort when he is upside down
for an extended time
"Actually they're helping him, even though they don't Heuristic Describing the spread where the men
 READ ALOUD REPORT

know. Now he probably feels better." turn Henry’s box over to use as a seat
"Probably because the birds like…. Well I don't Heuristic In response to my asking why there
know… probably like the author likes birds?" Personal are birds on the spread with the ship
and several other spreads
"I don't really know. I guess like he finally has Heuristic In response to the spread where
freedom, but he's not used to it, like this is a big fancy Henry arrives in Philadelphia and he
house." has his “first birthday”
"Yeah because they don't have slavery there…It's still Informative Describing the spread where Henry
kind of dark colors here." arrives in Philadelphia
"These pages with the big moments…and maybe the Personal In response me asking if she had any
page that they're talking about mailing him because favorite pages or parts of the story
it's important also."
"I kind of like seeing this page. You kind of see him Informative In response me asking if she had any
turning over." Personal favorite pages or parts of the story
"I think the book, it makes it sound more realistic Informative In response to me asking what she
because it's not like cartoony. It's realistic because Heuristic thought of the book as a whole
someone could like jump in the water and swim and Personal
like using realistic colors and not like colors where it's
like super bright. And they probably based it off of the
knowledge that they had, like it's realistic not
cartoony…And they probably researched a lot before
they wrote it."
"Well there are a lot of turning points like we thought Personal In response to me asking what she
he would go after his family, but instead he got mailed thought of the book as a whole
to a new spot."
“Because they're probably… I don’t know. They're Heuristic She asked what happened to the rest
not the main characters because if they were the main Personal Henry’s family, and I observed that
characters, you would start with their beginning of we don’t hear much about any
their life." characters other than Henry.

Data Analysis: Take stock of the range and variation of responses that the child engaged with this story.
What patterns do you notice? What do these patterns tell you about how this child engaged with this
story? Reflect upon how your moves influenced how the child responded. Maintain a tentative tone in
your analysis, keeping in mind that your analysis is not a comprehensive analysis of this child as a sense-
maker of story; rather, it is a deep look at their engagement with this particular book and how you read it.

Heuristic: 35 responses
Informative: 13 responses
Personal: 9 responses
Imaginative: 3 responses

N’s comments, in order of descending frequency, fit into Kiefer’s (1993) categories of reader

response of heuristic, informative, personal, and imaginative (see above), although many of her responses

fit into multiple categories due to their complexity and/or length. I further coded N’s responses by

whether they were in direct response to an observation I made or question I asked (black text) or whether
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she offered them without any prompting or support (blue text). Both the direct responses and unprompted

responses she offered appear in each category, except for imaginative, as each of her imaginative

responses were unprompted. The distribution of N’s responses suggests that she engaged with this reading

task in a way which mirrors how she normally engages with texts within the classroom environment,

where students are frequently asked to notice and wonder, or to predict and infer. The smaller number of

personal responses were primarily expression of her opinions or her personal reactions to events, settings,

or characters, instead of drawing connections between the text and her own self and life. The one

comment she made connecting the text to her own life came as a result of me directly asking if she had

ever felt the blood rush to her head like Henry felt inside the box, so I wonder if she would have made

any comments of this nature had I not prompted it directly. In addition, I previously tried to offer her

opportunities to connect the text to her own life, but these were unsuccessful in that she simply responded

“yeah” or nodded. I wonder if this small number of personal responses that relate to her own self and life

also stems from my position as a stranger to her or my unsuccessful framing or delivery of these

questions.

N also only offered three responses that fit into the imaginative category, which encompasses

responses that show the reader’s participation in an imaginary world where they enter the book as an

onlooker, create figurative language, or describe mental images. Two of her imaginative responses were

her description of character’s faces and her description of what they may be thinking. Her other

imaginative response was her statement that maybe the leaves blowing in the wind are birds. I had

difficulty coding this response, as I was not sure if I was reading into her comment incorrectly when I

assumed she was using figurative language to compare the leaves to birds flying, and maybe she actually

just thought the leaves were birds. It is important to note that each of her imaginative responses were in

response to a comment I made or a direct question I asked, suggesting that she perhaps needed support in

making these kinds of responses or a greater level of comfort.

The majority of N’s responses fit into the heuristic category, which Kiefer (1993) describes as

including problem-solving, wondering about things, making inferences, and offering solutions. Many of
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these responses include words or phrases such as “I think”, “probably”, or “maybe”, which could

demonstrate her feeling unsure or perhaps denote her belief in the potential of multiple interpretations or

progressions within the text. Since I learned after the read aloud that N is known as a particularly engaged

and confident student, especially in her English/Reading class, the preponderance of heuristic responses

could be explained by the fact that she has likely practiced making predictions and inferences in reading

class, and so automatically responds in this manner for all texts.

Her large number of informative responses, which are described by Kiefer (1993) as responses

that involve reporting contents, providing information about art styles, or narrating pictured events, also

fits into this theory, as students are often asked to make observations or practice noticing when they read

texts. This could explain why N was able to provide heuristic and informative responses both prompted

and unprompted with seeming comfort and ease. I think these responses could have felt safer to N since

she was used to making them, and because they did not require her to involve herself personally with the

text. Heuristic and informative responses could also feel less risky because they are less likely to be seen

as incorrect, since they involve restating the text, making concrete observations, or making predictions or

inferences where the child can use phrases such as “I think” for sort of a face-saving function to protect

themselves from potentially being wrong. I noticed that N’s responses contained these phrases a bit less

as the read aloud event progressed, which I interpreted as a sign of her growing confidence in the read

aloud and in her own responses.

Her responses during the latter half of the read aloud demonstrated her nuanced understanding of

Henry’s character, environment, and experiences. She also made several insightful comments about the

use of color and art style in Nelson’s illustrations, such as connecting the darkened colors to the mood and

environment and discussing possibilities for Nelson’s choice to use pencil line work on top of his

paintings. She made these comments initially in response to my question about what she thought of the

artwork, but her later responses to and evaluation of the artwork occurred in unprompted instances also.

This observation led me to wonder about the adult’s power during the read aloud and the extent of their

influence on structuring the content and type of responses made by the child. Perhaps my questions at the
 READ ALOUD REPORT

beginning of the event such as “What do you see here?” or asking her “Why do you say that?” to

encourage her to expand on her responses led to her tendency to provide detailed explanations for her

comments and her focus on the illustrations. During the read aloud, I also attempted to build drama and

engagement by sometimes saying “I wonder what will happen to Henry next”, which I now wonder if

these statements could have prompted N’s many heuristic responses or contributed to them.

While most of N’s responses, evaluations, and interpretations aligned with how I read the book

and how I expected her to read the book, I noticed that she engaged in much more predicting and

wondering about the future events of the book than I did, even when I read the text for the first

time( However, I do know that as a skilled reader, I could be engaged with these processes automatically

and subconsciously). The quantity of N’s predictions increased greatly towards the middle of the text as

Henry was separated from his family. N picked up on the subtle foreshadowing which suggested that

Henry and his family’s happiness would be short-lived, and she made several repeated predictions that

their family would be split up and he would take action to go after them or be reunited with them. She

also made predictions about how Henry would reunite with his family, demonstrating her understanding

of Henry’s agency within the constraints placed on him by his status as an enslaved man.

While I was content to allow the story to end with the event of Henry successfully arriving in

Philadelphia, she made comments showing her interest in what would happen to Henry after the events of

the text had ended. For example, she observed that while Henry was now free, he was not used to this

freedom, suggesting that she predicted Henry would experience further challenges or hardships. In

addition, her comment about how “they could jump in the water and swim” when she was describing the

illustrator’s choice of using a realistic illustration style was one that stumped me and pushed me to

consider the impact of Nelson’s illustrations and their interplay with the text. When I read the text, it was

quite easy for me to predict what would happen to each of the characters and how they would react to

events. However, her comment suggested the existence of endless possibilities within the text for

characters to make choices in the illustrated environment around them. I also did not foresee the extent of

N’s positioning of both of us as working alongside each other to interpret the text, shown by N’s use of
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the word “we” when she evaluated past predictions she had made. Her use of “we” to describe a

prediction she independently made intrigues me, as I am not sure if her comment alludes to her

conception of a merging of both readers into one larger reader, or if her use of the word “we” could be

explained by my ongoing affirmation of her predictions and responses which she interpreted as

agreement. Or, if Occam’s Razor holds true, perhaps she simply misremembered which prediction had

been made by whom.

Reflections: What did you learn about this child as a sense-maker of story? What wonderings are you left
with about the child’s engagement with this story? What went well for you and what would you do
differently if you were to do this read aloud over? What wonderings are you left with about how the child
engages with other types of stories? If you were to read to this particular child again, what would you be
interested in exploring? What sort of book might you select if you had the chance to read with them
again?

If my analysis and predictions above are generally accurate, I learned that N made sense of the

text as having endless possibilities, even if they were constrained by Henry’s historical context. She also

relied heavily upon skills she had practiced during previous reading events to interpret and engage with

the story. Much of her sense-making stemmed from her working to combine historical knowledge with

knowledge gained from the words and illustrations in the book. Many of her observations took the forms

of predictions and possible explanations. She positioned me sometimes as an expert, and other times as a

partner and co-creator of meaning.

I am left with several questions about N’s engagement with and response to the text. First of all, I

wonder if I had selected a different text set in present day or in an environment more familiar to N, if she

would have made more imaginative or personal responses. I think that the historical genre of the text and

its description as a true story could have led her to view the book somewhat as objective fact instead of a

narrative world that she could immerse herself in. Secondly, I wonder about potential pressures N could

have felt and how these factors potentially shaped her responses. For example, I wonder how much (or if)

the pressure of myself as an adult stranger asking her to read and interpret a text could have influenced

the responses she was willing to share or the meaning she looked for in the book. Lastly, I wonder about
 READ ALOUD REPORT

N’s ongoing engagement with the book. While she clearly engaged deeply with the text’s characters and

events during the read aloud event, I wonder if and how she will remember reading the book, or what

aspects of the text may stick with her.

I feel that the read-aloud event went fairly well considering I had never read with a child before

and both N and I went into this event blind about each other. I feel that I was successful in setting a frame

and taking actions during the read aloud that helped her feel more comfortable and able to engage with

the book. I felt that while I acted as a sort of leader during the event with regards to my prompting

questions and me being the one to turn the pages and hold the book, N felt and acted as a relative equal

during the event, shown by her initiative to lean across the table and point to several details in the book,

offer unprompted responses, and even correct or explain observations I made. N seemed interested by the

book and the characters/actions within it, so I feel that I made an appropriate choice of text in terms of

content and complexity.

If I were to do this event again, either with N or with another child, I would make three

adjustments. First, I would ask less direct questions and utilize more wait time or personal observations to

encourage the child’s responses. This way, I could ensure that the types of questions I asked in the

beginning of the read aloud would not influence how the child engaged with and responded to the book

for the rest of the event. Secondly, I would focus on fewer spreads. I did select certain spreads to hone in

on, but N’s responses led us to pay detailed attention to other spreads as well. As a result, the event went

on longer than I had anticipated, and I think if the child was not as focused and comfortable as N, this

would have been a detriment towards the end of the event. Lastly, I would conduct the read aloud with a

different genre of picturebook with N or conduct it with several different books with another child. This

way, I could investigate how or if different genres elicit different responses, either due to characteristics

of the genres or children’s past experiences with those genres.

Based on this proposed adjustment, if I did a read aloud with N again, I would want to choose

either a postmodern picturebook or one that is set in a fantasy world. Since N demonstrated a strong grasp

of skills used to read and analyze texts in an academic setting, I am curious about how she approaches
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reading out of school texts or reading without the presence of an adult. I predict that she may provide a

greater proportion of personal or imaginative responses instead of the preponderance of heuristic and

informative responses she provided during our read aloud. I am also curious about what responses N

would provide if I framed the read aloud event differently. For example, since N provided responses that

suggested seeing endless possibilities during reading, what if I framed the interaction as asking her to

respond to the aspects of the text that she found most interesting or thought-provoking. Perhaps reading a

wordless picturebook during the read aloud event would provide further insight into her view of the

book’s events as constrained by the context, but otherwise open to endless interpretations.

Lingering Questions: What lingering questions emerge for you from this process? About reading aloud?
About child response? About children’s engagement with story more broadly?

Conducting this read aloud has provided me with new insights into reader response and children’s

reading practices and also sparked my interest in further interrogating variations in reader response based

on the children who participate in the read aloud, the adult involved, and the text used. Based on reading

Sipe’s (2005) categories of reading response and the distribution of each category, I wonder if there truly

are trends across type and amount of children’s responses regardless of age, context, background,

language, etc., or if the distribution of their responses depends more on these personal factors and

personal funds of knowledge. I also wonder about the distribution of types of responses across genres of

picturebooks and across different reading experience formats. Do postmodern picturebooks and wordless

picture books elicit the same proportion of each response category? Do children’s responses differ when

an adult is present, when they are reading with their peers, or when they are reading alone? Since Kiefer

(1993) draws the distinction that these categories pertain to verbal responses, I wonder if or in what ways

written responses may differ.

I also wonder the extent influence the adult participating in the read aloud has on children’s

responses. I would assume that this varies based on age and confidence of the child or the adult’s relation

to the child, but I would be interested to see how the same child engages in a read aloud with similar
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books but different adults. Since I conducted the read aloud with an older child who typically has success

with school-sanctioned literacy and reading practices, I also wonder how the read aloud would differ with

younger children or children who perhaps did not clearly view themselves as a skilled reader. I also

wonder how children’s responses would differ if they were taught the vocabulary of picture books or of

illustrations/artwork (such as Bang’s (1991) explanation). Would children be able to better articulate their

thoughts or observations, or perhaps would their new knowledge lead them to make different observations

and responses?

In addition to wondering about how read aloud responses and experiences could vary based on

reading with different children, texts, or adults, I also wonder how the concept of read aloud and reader

response could be applied to other reading practices or other groups of students. For example, I have

many questions about how conducting a read aloud of a graphic novel with an older student would

progress. Since reading in schools primarily centers on reading for comprehension or to answer questions,

I wonder if older students would be as willing or as able to engage with the aesthetic features of texts as

children. This question also leads me to wonder if N’s willingness and ability to imagine and world and

possibilities outside of the book is a skill practiced more by younger children than by older students.

Goldstone (2004) discusses how postmodern authors and illustrators play with elements of texts to “create

books that are exciting because of their unpredictability” (p. 197). Perhaps reading and reader response is

more exciting to younger children because they are still open to engaging in or even creating that

unpredictability. Older students, on the other hand, traditionally learn a myriad of skills to help predict

what will happen next or use the structure of texts to determine the most important parts, outcome, or

purpose. While these strategies are taught to help promote comprehension, do these strategies prevent

older students’ aesthetic readings, enjoyment, and immersion in books? Becket (2011) also points out the

unique affordances of picture books to “provide multiple levels of meaning and invite readings on

different levels” (p. 2). Older students are not as able to analyze or interpret multiple levels of meaning or

different readings of texts due to the overwhelming influence of testing on English and reading

classrooms which essentially creates a “correct” way of interpreting or responding to texts. I wonder if
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this current focus for reading both prevents older students from providing reader responses in the same

way younger children are encouraged to do during the read aloud and also makes them unable to do so

even when given the opportunity.

These musings about older students’ reading experiences in relation to reader response leads me

to wonder about children’s perceptions of the stories they engage with. While I am not sure if children,

especially younger children, would be able to put words to their thoughts on this matter, I wonder how

children would respond to ideas about books having only one correct way of being read, or of having only

one possibility in how the events play out. For example, when N made predictions about the future events

of Henry’s Freedom Box, she did not react when the book told her that her prediction was incorrect. Does

she respect the authority of the book to tell her what is correct or not, or does she still believe that in the

world of the text, that her predictions could still happen? I believe that people of all ages have something

to learn from children’s use of texts as a starting point for generating possibilities, ideas, and meaning

instead of viewing the text as the authoritative voice on the one true meaning and interpretation.

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