Reading Strategy

It is not surprising for classroom literacy practices to persist despite well-established research and widely accessible resources featuring a wide range of research-based options for optimizing reading fluency and deepening comprehension and engagement.

As students return to school and educators start to plan for instruction that effectively challenges students while also catching them up after a year of uneven pandemic learning, there is an important opportunity to reconsider—and eventually retire—some of the stale literacy practices that research recommends aren’t the best use of limited instructional time.

LITERACY PRACTICES TO RETIRE

Turn-taking oral reading practices: In this type of practice—round robin reading is probably the most important; similar methods include popcorn reading, combat reading, and Popsicle stick reading— Students read verbally from a common text, one after the other, while the other students follow along in their copies of the text.

To be transparent, oral reading in other formats improves students’ fluency, comprehension, and word recognition; however, silent or independent reading should be done far more frequently as students progress through the grades.

Awarding prizes for reading: Schools and teachers sometimes offer awards for meeting reading goals in an effort to encourage students to read more—prizes can range from small items like stickers or bracelets to movie or amusement park tickets, gaming tokens, and fast food coupons. However, research shows that motivating factors like these don’t do much to build reading habits and, in fact, may decrease motivation to read, especially among students who already enjoy reading. Instead, provide rewards that are closely related to reading, such as books they can maintain and extra reading time.

Overemphasis on reading as a discrete skill: Traditional ELA reading curriculum focuses on exposing students to unknown subjects while teaching them essentially transferable skills such as summarizing and determining the main idea. However, a growing number of educators are shifting away from this strategy, citing research that shows that primarily skills-based instruction does little to enhance reading ability for many students.

6 READING APPROACHES THAT WORK BETTER

1. Reading accountability partners
After quitting reading logs, Thrower tried several solutions before settling on reading accountability partners, a strategy where partners meet daily for 10 minutes to discuss the previous day’s reading. The procedure may appear straightforward, but the consequences have been impressive.

Via mini-lessons, she allows students know their duties, explains how to keep peers accountable and how to be receptive to feedback, sets kids up with guiding questions, and rotates among the groups to make sure everyone’s on task.

2. Choral reading
In this verbal reading activity, the teacher and class read a passage aloud together, reducing “struggling readers’ public exposure” and lengthening the passages that children are exposed to. Alternatively, try a choral reading difference in which students say the word aloud whenever the instructor omits it during oral reading. Lowering the stakes for all students in this manner allows everyone to practice reading for longer periods of time while smoothing out modeling hiccups and personal fluency issues. Meanwhile, research shows that practicing results in significant improvements in decoding and fluency.

3. Scaffolded silent reading
Before sending children off with a book, consider scaffolding the activity by pre-teaching vocabulary, providing a plot overview, and possibly introducing a K-W-L activity.

Many of us, including myself, are guilty of sending students off on their own down the bumpy, muddy path known as Challenging Text—a road strewn with tough vocabulary. We send them unprepared and are often surprised when they lose interest, cause a commotion, or fall asleep. Introduce the words to children in photos or in context with things they already know and are interested in when pre-teaching vocabulary. Allow time for small-group and whole-class discussion of the vocabulary words.

Teacher read-aloud and modeling: It can be difficult to find time in the school day for read-alouds; however, reading aloud to students every day is not only a fruitful investment; it also has positive outcomes for learners of all ages. It’s a fruitful and advantageous practice for middle and high school students as well.

4. Reading buddies
For this practice, pair upper-grade classes with lower-grade classes—for example, third graders with pre-K students—and plan at least one 30-minute session per month for students to read together. Children can work in pairs, but groups of three can also be effective. Allow the younger students to choose the books at first so that they become engrossed in an interesting read.

The practice fosters community, but it is also an effective literacy tool. Reading buddies show younger readers what it is like to be fluent because they have a peer framework demonstrating reading skills. “For upper elementary school kids struggling with grade-level reading, the chance to access easier reading material without stigma or shame while sharing with a novice reader can create a positive experience with an otherwise unpleasant activity.”

5. Building background knowledge
Background knowledge both about the topic and about the world in general—is important in assisting students in making sense of a text because the things readers already know serve as a scaffold upon which to construct a more complete, and nuanced, mental model of the subject matter. Pre-teach key vocabulary and concepts, and reduce cognitive load by connecting new, unfamiliar material to previously learned material.

According to cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham, author of The Reading Mind: A Behavioral Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads, in order to teach the kind of knowledge-rich lessons that will effectively boost students’ reading comprehension, “teachers should emphasize a cohesive, well-sequenced curriculum with lots of background information on different topics embedded within it so that no students are left hanging when they read.

6. Beyond giving up ineffective practices
The deeper work of motivating children to read begins with connecting them to books that truly reflect their own interests—and giving them some say in the matter. This may necessitate being flexible about reading levels so that children are exposed to texts that provide them with a diverse range of cultural, racial, and socioeconomic perspectives and cater to a large variety of reading tastes across a wide range of reading levels—from easy-to-read books to those that take them into unfamiliar and demanding territory.