As we head towards the return to school, it can be helpful to reflect on strategies to leave behind and others to try.
As a teacher educator working with student teachers, I spend a lot of time explaining methods that we encourage, and methods that we don't! One that always brings a lot of discussion is Round Robin Reading, mainly because so many of our students recall negative experiences with the method themselves!
Round Robin Reading is still quite a prominent method in a lot of classrooms.
However:
The research on RRR is overwhelming negative (Johnson & Lapp, 2012)
There is no evidence that RRR helps students become better readers (Finley, 2014)
It does not support fluency or comprehension (Gill, 2002)
It fails to meet the legitimate purpose of reading aloud (Opitz & Rasinkski, 1998)
The reading of very brief portions of the text results in minimal opportunities to improve either fluency or word recognition (Kuhn, 2014)
Breaking up a text into smaller passages actually works against developing fluency; instead of building up students’ reading stamina, it actually limits it (Kuhn, 2014)
Children need to practise oral reading fluency! There are many oral reading formats other than RRR that are proven to be effective. These are more likely to protect the self-esteem, self-belief, motivation and self-confidence of children.
It can be hard to move away from a long-standing method, however the good news is that there are plenty of other evidence-informed, engaging methods that we can use instead.
Alternatives to RRR:
Echo Reading
During Echo Reading, the teacher reads aloud. The children echo back what the teacher reads, copying the teacher’s pacing and inflections. Echo Reading is ideal for reading content with sophisticated vocabulary, unfamiliar terms and content knowledge. It ensures the pupils hear unfamiliar words read and modelled correctly before repeating and reading them independently.
Choral Reading
Choral reading occurs when the teacher and the entire class read aloud together. It’s an effective strategy because is reduces the public exposure of less confident readers. No one is under pressure, everyone is reading and listening to the text. It can be playful and extremely motivating. The teacher can invite groups to join in and drop-off during the process to support engagement and focus. Just 16 minutes of whole-class choral reading can enable enhanced decoding and fluency (Paige, 2011).
Partner Reading
Pupils are assigned a reading partner. Teacher will make mindful choices. Partners alternate reading aloud. Valuable process for practising in the classroom.
Variations:
switch each time there’s a new paragraph or page
read each section at the same time
Silent Reading
Silent Reading should be a scaffolded experience.
Teacher may frontload Silent Reading with:
vocabulary instruction
a mini-lesson on a skill or strategy to support independent reading
plot overview
pre-reading discussion
establishing aims
anticipation guides
explaining a connected or follow-up activity
Teacher Read-Aloud
Read-alouds are still the most recommended method for improving fluency and comprehension (Adams, 2019). During an effective read-aloud the teacher uses their role as an expert reader to model pacing and prosody. The teacher should model reading aloud multiple times across the school day across a variety of topics, genres and texts.
Whisper Reading
Invite the children to Whisper Read to themselves. The teacher circulates the room and stops by a selection of children and listens to them read softly to themselves. Each time you listen to a reader you provide praise or constructive feedback. It can be helpful to keep track of who you have heard and take note of things to work on etc. Whisper Reading can be particularly beneficial to teachers when you want to focus on specific difficulties in short blasts as the children practise their reading independently.
Repeated Reading
Repeated reading positively impacts fluency (NICHD, 2000). During Repeated Reading exercises pupils read the same piece of a text multiple times until they can read it smoothly, either independently or in small groups. It is a really useful method when tackling challenging text. Repeated Reading exercises are best when matched with scaffolding and supported guidance or feedback from teachers and peers (NICHD 2000; Stevens et al. 2016).
Download a copy of the list here: