In this manuscript we show how read alouds can significantly enrich student vocabulary and comprehension by demonstrating enhancements that will foster student learning and language development. We anchor our examples to empirical evidence demonstrating that the content of a read aloud (i.e., the what we teach) as well as the quality of the instruction (i.e., the how we teach content during a read aloud) are important and necessary to enhance student learning. We use authentic scenarios to illustrate the difference between a read aloud taught with basic instructional fidelity and a read aloud with basic instructional fidelity that was enhanced with features of instructional quality. Specific steps to action before, during, and after a read aloud using examples from a first grade read aloud science unit are provided. [This paper will be published in "Reading Teacher."]