Oral Reading In The School Literacy Curriculum
"Oral reading has been integral to reading instruction in the United States since colonial times"...Oral reading was a goal for reading instruction
"Round Robin Reading (i.e., unrehearsed, sight-reading, with turn-taking) persisted throughout the latter half of the 20th century as the dominant format for practice. Oral reading was used primarily as a method of checking students' word recognition after silent reading. This change in the use of oral reading from reading for expression to reading for checking working recognition was the genesis of round robin reading."
"It gave teachers control over the group, because they typically called on a student to read without warning after a previous student had read a portion of the text. Additionally, because a teacher did not assign portions of the text in advance,students had to follow along silently while a classmate read orally so that they could pickup the reading if called on by the teacher."
Several Limitations To Round Robin Reading:
The amount of reading for one student during the lesson is minimal
Other students should be following along, but this is hardly the case
The passages are not rehershed so it can be challenging, frustrating, and embarrassing
More recent research has suggested an association between classroom oral reading and student achievement in reading:
Oral reading fluency
Teacher responses to students' miscues
Self-monitoring and miscue analysis
Guided reading and strategy development
* "As we discover more about the impact of oral reading instruction on the development of readers, particularly in the area of reading fluency, we are realizing more about the specific qualities of effective instruction in this area."
* "Our review suggests that the uses of oral reading in classrooms are expanding away from traditional round robin practices toward more literature-based (shared reading) and strategy-focused instructional models (guided reading)."
* "Just at a time when promising practices are emerging, there has been lack of, or even a decline in, research focused on oral reading instruction (teacher feedback)."
Incoorporate these forms of reading into your classroom...(Not round robin reading)
Paired Reading/Book Buddies
Guided Reading
Readers Theatre