Read Aloud Strategies for K-6 Classrooms
The Benefits and Uses of Oral Reading with Elementary Students
Apr 21, 2009
Oral reading is often used in elementary classrooms as a “round robin” method of getting through text, or as a means of assessment. Yet oral reading is primarily used in real life as a performance, where the reader has the opportunity to rehearse the passage first, practicing fluency and expression before being heard. Used properly for instruction, oral reading both to and with students will improve not only fluency, but vocabulary and comprehension as well.
Modeling Oral Reading Skills
The best way to model oral reading skills is by reading aloud to students. Reading aloud is an effective strategy to use at all ages because it exposes students to more sophisticated text than they could read independently, and allows the teacher the opportunity to show by example what fluent and expressive reading sounds like – all while engaging children with a story or information that increases their own motivation to read.
Choose stories or creative nonfiction that is slightly above the instructional level of the students, but well within their range of listening comprehension. Before reading daily, ask students to do some predicting based on either what was read before, or if starting a new piece, on the cover, title, and their own prior knowledge. If necessary, introduce vocabulary that is not readily understood within the context of the story or text.
Read with expression and interest, pausing occasionally to answer a question or to comment on the action. Use read-aloud time to introduce new authors and genres, as well as to enjoy favorite classics of children’s literature. Ask students to bring in their own favorite books and to share them with the class by choosing, practicing, and then reading aloud brief excerpts from their favorite scenes.
Oral Reading as Performance
Oral reading is essentially a communication skill (Tierney & Readence, 2000). It requires fluency, strong sight vocabulary, and comprehension because even if one is able to say the words properly, without understanding the meaning, it is more difficult to read with the expression necessary to convey that meaning to a listener.
Therefore, oral reading skills are best taught within the context of an authentic purpose, such as performance. One commonly used performance strategy is Readers Theater, in which small groups of students retell a story through dialogue which they write, read, practice, and perform for others.
Other strategies include echo reading, where a fluent reader reads and the others repeat; choral reading, where students read aloud in groups keeping their pacing and expression in unison; and repeated readings, where students listen to a brief piece read by a fluent reader, and then practice reading it themselves until they are able to read it as fluently as the model.
Oral Reading as Assessment
Oral reading without preparation is an excellent tool for assessing the types of miscues new and struggling readers make. The child reads a short paragraph aloud, while the teacher notes the errors on a separate copy of the text. Called running records, these notes can provide a wealth of information about the types of decoding or sight vocabulary practice a child needs to improve fluency, and can also be used to show growth over time.
Oral reading both to and with students holds many benefits for beginning and struggling readers. Teachers should read aloud to students to stretch their abilities, allow them to practice oral reading toward performance to improve fluency, and utilize oral reading as a valuable assessment and guide toward appropriate instruction.
Further Reading
Tierney, Robert & Readence, John. Reading Strategies and Practices: A Compendium (5th Edition). Needham Hts., MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
