Oral Reading
Strategies
Reading for Fluency and
Comprehension

Oral reading instruction:
 Reading
to children
 Reading with children
 Listening to children read
Oral Reading Strategies

Read Aloud

Repeated Reading
• Performance Reading

Supported Reading
Across the Curriculum

Oral reading activities can be:

Done daily for their own sake

Integrated into reading curriculum
• Use with other reading comprehension strategies

Integrated into content areas

Used to connect school and family
Read Aloud
•
Models the Reading Experience
•
Models expression
•
Printed texts are different, more complex than oral
language
•
Builds language knowledge before decoding skills
•
Builds Motivation- Nurtures Desire to Read
Interactive Read Aloud
Actively engages listeners
 ELLs need:

Smaller amounts of input at a time
 Frequent comprehension checks
 Explicit vocabulary instruction
 Guided connection to personal experience
 Multiple readings and extensions

Repeated Reading
Practice, Practice, Practice !
Helps achieve more automatic accuracy
 Helps break out of word-by-word reading


Deeper levels of comprehension
More attention goes to creating meaning
with each pass
 Research: Mastery through repeated
practice transfers to new, unfamiliar texts


Most helpful for struggling readers
Performance Reading
Makes repeated reading an authentic
experience
Preparing to Read for an audience
 Reading for a purpose
 Highly Motivating & engaging
 Effective for all levels of readers

Reader’s Theater
Supported Reading-Types
Paired Reading
One on one
Can include repeated reading and
read-aloud/shared reading
Choral Reading
Part of classroom routine
Builds classroom community
Supported Reading :Rationale
•
•
•
•
Scaffolded reading
Modeling  Independent reading
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
ELLs: Immediate oral and reading support
•
•
Students “notice the gap” more readily and adjust
Research:
•
•
Significant improvement for poor readers
One month of practice = Three months’ gain
Paired Reading: Best Practices

Text selection





at student’s instructional level
90 -95 % word recognition (repeated reading: 85%)
Allow student to choose reading
Sit side by side
For ELLs: Use other strategies to lay groundwork
• Preview, vocab focus, discussion, connections



Read out loud together as student follows text
Calibrate pace and tone to support the student
Don’t stop during reading to teach missed words
Paired Reading
Who can pair with the student?
Paired reading
Who can pair with the student?
Parent
 Teacher
 Older student
 Students at different reading levels

Paired Reading-Variations

Echo Reading
• Echo phrases instead of reading simultaneously
• Student can sometimes take the lead

Buddy Reading
• Makes reading a desirable social activity
• Cross-age/cross-level buddies: gives older challenged
readers a purpose for reading simpler, younger texts.
• Effective for ESL settings

Recorded Reading
• Reading while listening to audio/videotape
• Good alternative when manpower is limited
Buddy Reading
Let’s Try!
Choral Reading: Best Practices

A regular part of the day
• Transition times




Reinforce teamwork attitude with students
Thoughtful text selection
Match the choral reading format to the text.
ELLs: Use other strategies to lay the groundwork:
Preview, vocabulary, discussion, connections
Choral Reading
•
•
•
•
•
Verse & Refrain
Call & Response
Line-a-child
Good for songs & poems
Choral Singing
Cumulative Choral Reading
-students add their voices progressively
•
Impromptu Choral Reading
-Students choose which sections to read
• Dialogues -groups take roles
-Parts assigned to groups or to one
Tips for Text Selection

Shorter texts

Meant to be expressed out loud


Good rhythm, distinct parts


Authentic
Poems, song lyrics, toasts, short stories
Have community value

Pledge, MLK speech, Preamble, patriotic songs
1- And so let freedom ring.
2- From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire,
Let freedom ring.
3- From the mighty mountains of New York,
Let freedom ring.
4- From the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado,
Let freedom ring.
5- But not only that: From Stone Mountain of Georgia,
Let freedom ring.
6- From Lookout Mountain of Tennessee,
Let freedom ring.
7- From every hill and molehill of Mississippi,
Let freedom ring.
8- From every mountainside,
Let freedom ring.
What do you think?
What do you think?
 Can you see yourself including these
strategies in your instruction? Why?
 Discuss with a partner

Rationale & Benefits





Connects Spoken & Written Language
Strengthens Word Decoding Skills
Practice of suprasegmental aspects
For ELLs: supports both reading and oral
language development.
Fosters Fluency through practice and preparation



Increased Fluency = Increased Comprehension
Research: Strong connection to clear gains in
reading achievement
Teacher Can View the Reading Process
More Benefits
Practice Builds Confidence
 Creates Community
 Can be very Authentic
 Motivating
 It’s Fun!
