Abstract Reading aloud can give pupils a chance to experience what reading involves and an opportunity to discover new worlds. The aim of the study is to arrive at an understanding of the possibilities for conversation and activities that can be provided by teachers’ work with reading literature aloud in the classroom in grade 3. We proceed from questions about how the teaching of reading is organized and how the teachers talk to the pupils about the text. To achieve the aim and answer the questions, two observations were conducted. The study uses the concepts of sequential reading elements and text movability as analytical tools. The result shows that work is mainly done before and after the reading aloud. This takes the form of involving the pupils in predicting what will happen in the plot, discussing, and working with written assignments. The teachers give the pupils a chance to talk about new words, to sum up the contents, to read between the lines and discuss the author’s intention with the text. Our study shows that the way two teachers organize reading aloud gives pupils opportunities in different ways to discuss and work with literary texts.