Abandoning Round
Robin:
Alternative and
Effective Oral
Reading Strategies
Cathy Wishart
Literacy Coach
Copyright © 2009
First and Foremost…
• Students need opportunities to
silently read their texts to
ensure better student
engagement with reading
• “Silent reading has also been
more positively related to
reading achievement than has
small group oral reading” (Allington,
1984).
Silent Reading is Important,
but is Oral Reading Important
Also?
Absolutely! Why?
• To whet students’ appetites for
reading when teachers read
aloud to students
• To share or perform, especially
when students demonstrate
where they locate an answer or
want to perform Readers
Theater
• To understand that reading,
writing, speaking, listening, and
viewing are integral to everyday
life
More Reasons Oral Reading Is
Important
Oral reading helps:
• To develop listening
comprehension and to expand
vocabulary
• To develop fluency
• To provide students with additional
reading time necessary for ongoing
reading growth
• To build confidence by repeatedly
rehearsing a selection to read
aloud
• To use as a window into how
children read on their own
Opitz and Rasinsky, 1998, pps. 3 – 6
Goodman, 1965, 1996.
Fluency
More Fluent
Readers Can
Less Fluent
Readers…
• Recognize words
automatically.
• Read aloud
effortlessly and
with expression.
• Focus their
attention on
making
connections
among the ideas
in a text and
between the ideas
and their
background
knowledge.
• Focus on
comprehension.
• Focus their
attention primarily
on decoding
individual words.
• Have little
attention left for
comprehending
the text.
Building Fluency
• Continued reading practice with
connected text helps word
recognition become more
automatic, rapid, and effortless.
• Repeated oral reading improves
the ability of all students.
• Round robin instruction has been
proven to be the least effective
(and often detrimental) method to
building fluency.
Why Move Away From
Round Robin Reading?
• “Round-robin reading in itself does not
increase fluency. This may be because
students only read small amounts of
text, and they usually read this small
portion only once” (Fluency instruction).
• “Is listed as a major reason why fragile
students continue to read below grade
level (Tatum, 2004, p. 29)
• “Has the potential to develop negative
attitudes to reading through the anxiety
developed over performance reading
when it is "your turn" to read. Consider
how you feel when asked to read aloud
in a public place!” (Limbrick, 2001).
More Reasons to Move
Away From
Round Robin Reading
• It provides students with an
inaccurate view of everyday
reading
• It can potentially cause faulty
reading habits and slower reading
rates
• It can cause inattentive behaviors
leading to discipline problems
• It can work against all children
developing to their full potential
(Opitz and Rasinski, 1998, pp. 6-7).
Strategies to Integrate
Fluency Into Lessons
• Model Fluent Reading – Read
Alouds
• Repeated Timed Readings
• Partner Reading
• Read Around
• Paired Repeated Readings
• Echo and Choral Reading
• Independent Reading at
Appropriate Level
• Tape Assisted Reading
• Readers Theater
• See Good-bye Round Robin
Reading for descriptions and
additional strategies
An Oral Reading Strategy:
Readers Theater
• Readers Theater allows you to
group students heterogeneously.
– Allows fragile readers to hear strong
readers as a model
– Allows fragile readers to participate at
their own reading level
– Allows strong readers to become more
confident
• Readers Theater allows students to
practice before they read aloud
– Fragile readers are intimidated by
reading “cold” in front of the class
– All readers gain from rereading the
same passage or lines
– Allows the teacher to help students
move up the District Fluency Rubric
continuum
Readers Theater
Is
Readers Theater
Is Not
• Scripts are
leveled for
individual
student reading
abilities
• Cast practices
reading parts
together
• Cast stands in
front of
audience and
reads aloud
from a script
• Cast reads with
meaning and
expression
• Never a cold
read for the
student
• Students do
not memorize
lines
• There are no
sets, props, or
costumes
• They are not
required to
move around
on a stage
• Does not
involve logistics
A Reading Fluency
Rubric
Level 5:
Outstanding
•Read in meaningful chunks
•Entirely read with expression
Level 4:
Very Good
•Read in 3-4 word phrase groups
•Mostly read with expression
Level 3:
Satisfactory
•Read in 2-3 word phrases
•Meaningful sentence structure
preserved
Level 2:
Needs
Improve.
•Primarily read in 2 word phrases awkward
•Little read with expressive
interpretation
•Some decoding errors
Level 1:
•Read word-by-word
Unsatisfactory •None read with interpretative
expression
•Many decoding errors
“Education is not the
filling of a pail but the
lighting of a fire.”
- William Butler Yeats
No more
round robin
reading!
References and
Resources
Cooter, R. et al. (2004). Searching for lessons of
mass instruction? Try reading strategy
continuums. The Reading Teacher 58-4 (pp. 388393).
Fluency Instruction. Put reading first. National
Institute for Literacy.
http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publicati
ons/reading_first1fluency.html.
Harris, T. & Hodges, R. (1995). Literacy Dictionary.
International Reading Association.
Kuhn, M. (2004). Helping students become accurate,
expressive readers: Fluency instruction for small
groups. The Reading Teacher 58-4 (pp. 338-344).
Limbrick. D. (2001). Round robin reading. English
online Resource Center.
http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resour
ces/round_robin.html
Opitz, M. & Rasinski, T. (1998). Good-bye round
robin: 25 effective oral reading strategies.
Heineman: Portsmouth, NH.