Flanagan, Leslie <lflanagan@hinghamschools.

org>
Shanahan on Literacy
4 messages
Shanahan on Literacy <noreply@blogger.com> Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 3:08 AM
To: lflanagan@hinghamschools.org
Shanahan on Literacy
The Best Oral Reading Techniques for Beginners
Posted: 15 Jun 2014 08:59 PM PDT
Could you comment on first grade small group reading instruction,
specifically round robin, "whisper" reading, echo reading, choral reading,
etc.? You have mentioned partner reading and echo reading. Is there
research to clearly favor one over another? My practice is to use a variety,
although not round robin with the whole class, but my principal is pushing
student driven discussion, partner reading, with the goal of student
engagement. What does the research say?
Beginning readers cannot read silently. They need to read aloud to be able to
figure out the words and to understand the authors message; so round
robin, whisper/mumble reading, choral reading all might have a placefor a
little while. Several of these techniques are also useful throughout the grades
to help students build oral reading fluency (e.g., repeated reading, echo
reading, paired reading, reading while listening, neurological impress). There
are no studies that I am aware of that compare these with beginning readers,
but in fluency studies they all tend to do pretty well: each has students
reading aloud, with repetition, and with some kind of feedback or guidance.
Until beginning readers are able to read silently with understanding, ALL of
these techniques (including the much reviled round robin reading) could have
a profitable place in your classroom. If the point is to get kids started with
reading, choral reading makes great sense. But you want to try to get away
from that soon, because kids need to figure out/remember the words
themselves (and choral reading allows one to pretend to do that). If students
are a bit further along, and the point is to guide kids through a story to begin
building reading comprehension, then round robin can make sense, for a little
while. Whisper reading or mumble reading tend to be used when teachers
are trying to get kids to shift from oral to silent reading (it is a
transformational strategy).
It is important to move on from round robin quickly not because the reading
practice it provides is so bad, but because there is so little of it. Not much
reading happens on a per child basis in round robin, so methods that allow
more than one kid to read are a better choice. Studies suggest that the only
one doing any learning during round robin is the child who is reading; thats
great for the reader of the moment, but it is a big waste of time for the
others.
When kids are independent enough to read aloud on their own (or when
paired with another kid without the teacher), then paired reading and those
other fluency builders become essential tools. While they all work, I use
paired reading most oftenagain, for efficiency sake; with that approach kids
have to do the reading and half the class can practice at the same time.
Think of the various things you need to accomplish to reach the learning
goals:
Introduce students into reading itself (not just listening to someone
else read), but trying to put words to text oneself
Give students experience in sustaining this reading through a whole
selection to comprehend it
Making it possible for kids to read text silently (with understanding)
Developing oral reading fluency
Select instructional activities that would facilitate each of these goals
considering research (what has worked successfully), efficiency (which
methods allow the most reading experience/instruction for the most kids),
and classroom environment (balancing efficient routines that kids can
negotiate quickly and easily with variation of activities to hold their interest).
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Flanagan, Leslie <lflanagan@hinghamschools.org> Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 9:40 AM
To: Laura Neill <lneill@hinghamschools.org>, Michele Morrison <mmorrison@hinghamschools.org>, Pamela Amster
<pamster@hinghamschools.org>, Darlene Martin <dmartin@hinghamschools.org>, Cindy Barrett
<CBarrett@hinghamschools.com>
I subscribe to this blog - interesting post!!
good luck this week!
see you later today.
Leslie
[Quoted text hi dden]
Flanagan, Leslie <lflanagan@hinghamschools.org> Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 10:25 AM
To: Anthony Keady <akeady@hinghamschools.org>
interesting post regarding beginning reading and round robin reading
Leslie
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shanahan on Literacy <noreply@blogger.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 3:08 AM
Subject: Shanahan on Literacy
To: lflanagan@hinghamschools.org
[Quoted text hi dden]
Keady, Anthony <akeady@hinghamschools.org> Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 12:11 PM
To: "Flanagan, Leslie" <lflanagan@hinghamschools.org>
Nice article...brings up some good points and does allow a place for round robin reading.
We need to use this next year...
Tony
[Quoted text hi dden]
--
Tony Keady
Principal
East Elementary School
2 Collins Road
Hingham, MA 02043
781-741-1570