Tool 05 · The Read Aloud Project · Text selection
Read-Aloud Book Selection Record
A good read-aloud choice is not simply a “good book.” Record why this text fits these listeners, this purpose and this setting.
This worksheet supports professional judgement. It is not a universal book-rating system and does not replace safeguarding, school policy or local knowledge of learners.
What can different listeners enter through — plot, humour, image, repetition, character, sound, dilemma, prior knowledge?
Vocabulary, background knowledge, length, visibility, cultural context, emotional content, inaccessible references?
What is genuinely worth wondering about rather than asking only to check recall?
Whose experience is represented? What needs context? Am I treating one story as representative of an entire community?
Practical fit
□ I can read it within the available time without rushing the ending.
□ The group can see / hear / access what matters in the text.
□ I know where explanation may help and where explanation may interrupt the story.
□ I have considered whether the content is appropriate for this group and setting.
□ I have a reason for choosing this text beyond “children should know it.”
Decision
After reading
Evidence boundary: this record documents selection reasoning and practitioner observation. It does not by itself establish that a book caused a learning outcome or that a text is appropriate for every group of the same age.