12 Reasons
for Using Oral Reading 1. To whet students’ appetites for
reading.
2. To share or perform.
3. To help beginning readers better understand how speaking is related to the other language arts and to their lives.
4. To develop listening comprehension
and vocabulary.
5. To assist students in developing
numerous skills associated with
reading.
6. To promote language learning for
students whose first language is not
English.
7. To build confidence.
8. To further develop comprehension.
9. To determine the strategies used when
reading.
10. To provide a means of shared
reading progress with self and others.
11. To provide children with additional
reading time necessary for ongoing
reading growth.
12. To address national reading and
language arts standards.
Share the Purpose
• Students think the only purpose of oral
reading is assessment.
• Share with students your reasons for
having them read aloud.
Why Move Away from Round Robin Reading?
1. It provides students with an inaccurate view of reading.
2. It can potentially cause faulty reading habits instead of effective reading strategies.
3. It can cause unnecessary subvocalization.
4. It can cause inattentive behaviors, leading to
discipline problems.
5. It can work against all students developing to
their full potential.
6. It consumes valuable classroom time that
could be spent on other meaningful activities.
7. It can be a source of anxiety and
embarrassment for students.
8. It can hamper listening comprehension.
Why Move Away from Round Robin Reading?
• “In terms of listening and meaning making, this strategy is a disaster.” –Sloan and Lotham, 1981
• “Clearly, although oral reading can be
beneficial, round robin reading is not. It
often prohibits rather than facilitates the
ability to read… It fails to meet the
legitimate purposes of reading aloud.”
– (Opitz & Rasinski, 1998, p. 8)
Why Move Away from Round Robin Reading?
“After lunch Miss Tyler called the Rockets
to the reading circle. I’m a Rocket.
Rosemary read the first sentence. And Tom
read the next one. They didn’t make any
mistakes today. When it was my turn, I said,
‘Sally was a horse.’ Miss Tyler said, ‘Ronald,
that’s not right.’ Rosemary said, ‘Sally saw a
house.’ And Tom said, ‘Some Rocket you
are.’”
-2nd grader
Research Base • Second graders’ reading growth • Traditional round robin reading vs shared
reading • Shared reading
– Moved average students from 50th to 80th percentile in word analysis (letter sound correspondences) and they became 20% better in oral reading than the round robin group.
– Helped below average students perform 41% better on oral reading than the round robin group.
• Eldredge, Reutzel, and Hollingsworth (1996)
Why Does Round Robin Persist?
• Tradition
• Classroom Management
• Reading Assessment
• To Save Time
• Not Knowing What Else To Do
First Reading of a Selection
• Never have students read aloud a selection cold.
• Always provide time for students to first read silently or have the teacher read the selection or part of the selection first.
First Reading of a Selection
• Fluency Development Lesson – Teacher reads to
students
– Teacher and students discuss selection and expression
– Students read chorally
– Students read as partners
• Oral Recitation Lesson – Teacher reads to
students
– Students discuss and summarize selection
– Students chorally read
– Students practice in pairs or partners
First Reading of a Selection
• Supported Oral Reading – Teacher reads to
students and stops for discussion
– Teacher and students read chorally
– Students read as partners
• Fluency Oriented Reading Selection – Teacher reads basal
selection – Students discuss – Teacher and students
practice rereading all or part of selection
– Students daily read independently in easy text
Strategies for Practice Reading of a Previously
Read Selection
Read it again and again! • Underwater
• With a cold
• Like a mouse
• Like a monster
• Fast
• Slow
• Sad
• Angry
• Happy
• Like a robot
• High voice
• Low voice
• Opera-style
Collaborative Reading • The teacher reads the story.
• The group reads the story aloud with the teacher.
• The group reads the story aloud in pairs.
• Individuals read the story aloud to the teacher.
Echo Reading • Teacher reads a line of the story.
• Students echo the teacher’s model by
reading the same line, imitating the
teacher’s intonation and phrasing.
• Later, the teacher reads a whole
paragraph and students echo.
Choral Reading
• The whole class reads together.
• Variations:
– Girls and boys alternate reading
– Rows/Tables alternate reading
Cut-Apart Story
• The story is cut into sections. One
section for each group member.
• Students practice their section silently.
• Each section is read aloud in
sequence.
Simultaneous Oral Reading
with Whisper Phones • Students read individually into Whisper
Phones.
• With a Whisper Phone the sound is immediately repeated back to the student, and background noise is diminished.
• Teacher moves around group listening to individuals.
• If student finishes, (s)he rereads until teacher gives the signal to stop.
First Read Silently • After silent reading, students use oral
reading to demonstrate skills in locating answers to specific questions or challenges set forth by the teacher, e.g. illustrating character mood, finding supporting details for making predictions, identifying aspects of the author’s style, and so on.
Self-Selected Titles
• Students bring self-selected titles to the
reading group.
• Each is encouraged to tell something
about his unique book and to read
aloud an interesting portion (which he
has already read silently and practiced
for fluency).
Jigsaw • Divide class into home groups.
• Assign each person in the home group an “expert” number.
• Students reassemble into the “expert” groups (that correspond with the number they were assigned) to practice orally reading their assigned page or story. Students work together to decode unknown words and practice expression.
• Experts return to home groups, and each home group member shares or reads aloud his/her
assignment.
Popcorn Reading
• Students highlight words, phrases, or
sentences that create for them a
memorable mental picture as they
silently read the selection.
• Highlighted phrases or sentences are
then shared orally by readers who “pop
up” in random order.
Everyone Read To (ERT) • The teacher tells students how much to read silently.
While students read the teacher writes an open-
ended comprehension question on the board.
• Students read the segment and then think about
question on board.
• Students share their answers with a partner or with
the class.
• The teacher assigns the next section to read.
Read Around • Students read the story silently.
• Then students are invited to look back through the story to find at least one favorite sentence or paragraph that they would like to share with others.
• Students practice reading their selection silently.
• Students read their selections aloud to the group.
Paired or Partner Reading Paired Reading
• Fluent reader with less fluent reader
• Begin reading simultaneously
• Signal for when the less fluent reader wants to read alone
• Back to simultaneous reading if experiencing difficulty
Partner Reading
• Both partners equally involved
• Alternating pages
• Take turns reading entire selection
• Read chorally
Partner Reading
with “Say Something” • One partner reads the first paragraph
while the partner follows along and listens.
• When the reader finishes, the listener must “say something” about what was read.
• The partners switch roles.
OREO Partner Reading • Students take turns reading one page at a
time with a partner.
• Partners list two ‘o’vations and one ‘re’commendation on the OREO recording sheet.
• Example ovations: “Read with expression.” “Self-corrected.”
• Example recommendation: “Think about
what makes sense.”
Cumulative Choral
Reading
• One student begins reading the
passage.
• A second student joins in on the
second line.
• A third student joins in on the third line
and so on.
The Pet Shop
By Brenda B. Covert
The sun had come up. Birds sang in the trees. Hunter and Sally went down the street. Their mother was with them. She had said they could get a pet.
“I cannot wait to see the pets!” Sally said. She wanted a cat. Hunter wanted a frog or a snake.
Guidelines for
Responding to Miscues 1. Do not correct miscues that do not disrupt
meaning.
2. If the miscue disrupts meaning, give the student time to self-correct it. Wait until the end of the sentence or paragraph.
3. Model self-monitoring behavior and meaning making. (“That didn’t make sense, did it? Let’s try that again.”)
4. Suggest or demonstrate an
appropriate strategy. (“Let’s skip that
word and come back to it.” “Look at
what it starts with.” “Let’s look at this
chunk of the word.”)
5. Praise appropriate strategy use. (“You
did a great job of looking at the picture
to help you!” “I like the way you went
back and read that again when it didn’t
make sense!”)
6. Tell the child the word when
appropriate.
7. Do not let the reading become slow,
labored, and unpleasant. Take over the
reading, do echo reading, or take turns
reading with the student; then choose
an easier text for the next time. Always
make reading a pleasurable experience.
Questions? Comments?
What is Readers’ Theater?
• Is
– Script reading
– Using the voice to make the performance meaningful
• Isn’t
– It is not putting on a play.
– No costumes, props, or scenery required.
Why use Readers' Theater?
• It’s an authentic, entertaining, and educationally powerful way to read and communicate meaning.
• Opportunity for students to practice reading in multiple and meaningful ways.
• Yields improvements in students’ word recognition, fluency and comprehension.
Why Use Readers’ Theater? • “…I ask myself, what would make me want to
engage in repeated reading? To improve my rate of reading? Not really. What would really inspire me to engage in repeated reading or rehearsal is performance. If I were to give an oral reading of a passage, I would most certainly have an incentive to practice, rehearse, or engage in repeated readings. All of us, at one time or another, have read for an audience. It is likely that we practiced in advance of that reading, and if we didn’t it is likely that we wish we had.” – Rasinski, 2006
Why Use Readers’ Theater?
• Second grader Lucia wrote in her journal, “I never thought I could be a star, but I was the best reader today.”
Research Base • Two second grade classrooms over a ten
week period • Thirty minutes a day to Readers' Theater
instruction, practice and performance • Students exhibited fluency gain of 17
words per minute in reading unrehearsed texts
• Students gained one to two grade levels on comprehension scores on IRIs
Strecker, Roser & Martinez, 1999
Research Base • Struggling second graders who rehearsed
and then performed poetry and other performance texts made significantly greater gains in reading rate than students reading but not rehearsing and performing the same material. – Rasinski, Padak, Linek, and Sturevant, 1994
Research Base • Perfect for ELL students
– Roser, 2001
• Provides purpose and motivation for all students – Shepard, 1997
• Creating scripts involves students in demonstrating comprehension, summarizing, synthesizing, and communicating information – Flynn, 2004 and 2005
Go Exploring in Books
Reader #1: Explore the world, discover why All: Planets whirl about the sky. Reader #3: Make new friends and meet new faces, All: Read of far-off golden places. Reader #2: How people live, and how fairies look... Reader #4: All the world is in a book.
http:www.lisablau.com/scriptomonth.html
“Doing the Book” • Appropriate for kindergarten and
first grade
• A popular follow-up to reading is the reenacting of the book, with various children playing different parts as the rest of the class or the teacher reads or tells the story.
Adapting Basal Stories for Readers' Theater
• Choose a story with peppy dialogue, a little action, humor, lively narration, and several parts.
• Make copies of the story (1 to 3 pages of the story may be enough).
• Highlight spoken parts in different colors. • Highlight narrator parts in another color. • Assign parts, practice, and perform.
Be Creative • Students can take an
interesting article in the newspaper and write their own script.
• Use the story from the literature book and write script from the view of a supporting character.
Cut! • Variation on Readers' Theater • Movie set • Director calls for the cast members
to repeat their lines with different emotions: sad, happy, angry, or slower and faster
• Fun!
Radio Reading • One student reads as the announcer and
the other students act as listeners.
• Only the announcer has a copy of the text.
• Choose a text at the child’s reading level. Allow ample practice.
• Allow the student to practice with a partner, then a small group.
One Teacher’s Guide to Using Readers' Theater
1. Before the week: Select or write a script to be performed. Make 2 copies for each group member.
2. Monday: Introduce or review the nature, purpose, and procedures for Readers' Theater.
3. Assign students individual parts by having them volunteer or audition. Parts can also be assigned by students within groups and can rotate from one performance to another.
4. Tuesday-Thursday: Have students practice their parts on their own, in their group, under your guidance, and at home.
5. Friday: Invite students to perform their scripts for an audience, usually their classmates, but others can be invited as well.
Where do I find scripts? • Reader’s Theatre for Beginning Readers by
Suzanne Barchers (Teachers Ideas Press, 1993)
• Presenting Reader’s Theatre by Caroline Bauer (H.W. Wilson, 1991)
• The Best of Readers' Theater, Vols. I and II by Lisa Blau (One from the Heart, 2000)
• A Reader’s Theatre Treasury of Stories by Win Braun (Calgary: Braun & Braun, 2000)
• Plays Around the Year by Liza Charlesworth (Scholastic, 1994)
• 12 Fabulously Funny Fairy Tale Plays by Justine McCory Martin (Scholastic, 2002)
• From Script to Stage by Aaron Shepherd (H.W. Wilson, 1993)
• 15 Easy-to-Read Mini-Book Plays by Sheryl Ann Crawford & Nancy I. Sanders (Scholastic, 2001)
• Folk Tale Plays From Around the World That Kids Will Love! By Marci Appelbaum and Jeff Catanese (Scholastic, 2001)
• 25 Just-Right Plays for Emergent Readers by Carol Pugliano-Martin (Scholastic, 1998)
• Frantic Frogs and Other Frankly Fractured Folktales for Readers Theatre by Anthony Fredericks (Teacher Ideas Press, 1993)
Websites • www.aaronshep.com/rt/
• www.readers-theatre.com
• www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/3235
• www.storycart.com
• http://loiswalker.com/catalog/guidesamples.html
• www.readinglady.com
• www.lisablau.com
• http://home.sprynet.com/~palermo/radiokit.htm
Questions? Comments?
Exit Tickets • What I Learned
• What I Still Have Questions About
• Strategies to Try in the Next Two Weeks – Oral Reading
• First oral reading of a selection
• Practice reading of previously read selection
– Readers’ Theater