When I was in elementary school, we did a lot of round-robin reading in my classes and looking back I totally agree the time could have been spent more efficiently. We would go around the room and each student would read a paragraph aloud and to be honest, I was so worried about reading my paragraph that I wasn’t paying attention to whoever was reading. I was too busy counting how many students were before me and then counting down to see what paragraph I was going to read aloud. Then I would quickly preview it to make sure I knew how to pronounce all the words.
I’m glad that the focus on round-robin reading has shifted because there are so many other great oral reading strategies. One thing that I think is important is to allow students to preview the text and try reading it silently to themselves. The teacher can then read the text aloud and have the students practice choral reading, echo reading, repeated reading or they can even read to a partner. This helps take the pressure off and allows the student to really practice and focus on their reading.
Hi Sophia,
ReplyDeleteI agree that round-robin reading was very anxiety-producing for me as a student, and I too remember counting ahead to see which paragraph I was going to read aloud. Another instructional strategy that can help students improve their reading skills is literature circles. Tompkins (2010) suggests allowing students to "choose a book that interests them and decide how they will read it." For young students, you may even want to provide roles which students can self-select and encourage discussion of the book content. As students become more familiar with the procedures of literature circles, the teacher's role changes from a more active member to a facilitator, and the students assume more ownership. Although I have not tried using literature circles in my classroom, I have been a member of one. It seems like a great way to encourage enthusiasm about reading and to promote positive social interactions. I found this website http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/litcirclemodels.php that lays out the model of literature circles in an simplified way. It also encourages sending a letter home to parents to keep the informed and involved, which is something that I know I, as a teacher, am constantly trying to do.
Thank you for your informative post! I too wrote about round robin reading and I completely agree with your opinions about anxiety and stress associated with this practice. I recall waiting my turn to read and not focusing on what the other people were reading. I was solely focused on rehearsing the section I was supposed to read. When it was my turn I would get so scared and anxious that I would stumble over words and lose my place. I did not retain much information in class, and found myself rereading information at home.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was researching this topic, I was shock about how many teachers still use this form of instruction today. Many researchers attribute this to a lack of substantial teacher preparation programs. Many teachers still use round robin reading as a form of assessment as well.
Here is a very informative power point presentation that outlines the issues with round robin reading and why it is still used today.
www.reading.org/.../Round_Robin_Reading_is_Still_Doing_the_Rounds.pptx