Jessica Mackey

Content Literacy
Goodbye Round Robin
1.

Share in your own words the authors explanation of reading. Why is it

necessary to understand this?
Reading can be broken apart into a three-part definition: reading is language,

reading is a cognitive process, and reading is a social activity. Readers use three linguistic
cueing systems, semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic, when they are reading to help
them construct meaning. Cognitively, readers monitor their own reading to ensure they
are understanding the text and take corrective action when they arent comprehending.
Socially, readers understand reading serves multiple purposes in their lives and use
pragmatics to help them guide their reading.

2. What is round robin and why is it used in many classrooms?

Round robin reading is where students read orally one after another from a text.
For example, a teacher may have students open their text books and read one paragraph
each orally in order around the classroom. Round robin is used in classrooms because
teachers believe it builds fluency and an easy, quick way for students to listen to the
information being shared. Every student is expected to be following along reading
silently while each student reads their part orally that the teacher assigns them. I think
teachers still use it today in classrooms because they think its an easy way to teach
information to the students because they dont have to plan anything on their own.

3. Is oral reading important? Share the reasons discussed in the text.

Jessica Mackey
Oral reading is important because it helps teachers determine whether a child is
using language cues effectively. Oral reading is necessary when we want to share
information with other individuals. There are twelve reasons that were discussed in the
text that explain why oral reading is important.
1. To whet students appetites for reading.
2. To share or perform.
3. To help beginning readers better understand how speaking is related to the other
language arts and to their lives.
4. To develop listening comprehension and vocabulary.
5. To assist students in developing numerous skills associated with reading.
6. To promote language learning for students whose first language is not English.
7. To build confidence.
8. To further develop comprehension.
9. To determine the strategies used when reading.
10. To provide a means of sharing reading progress with self and others.
11. To provide children with additional reading time necessary for ongoing reading
growth.
12. To address national reading and language arts standards.

4. What are some of the problems associated with round robin reading?
It provides students with an inaccurate view of reading because students rarely in
everyday life do we read in front of a group not prepared. It can potentially cause faulty

Jessica Mackey
reading habits instead of effective reading strategies because students who are following
along to a struggling reader could develop these habits. It can cause unnecessary
subvocalization because oral reading is slower than silent reading. It can cause
inattentive behaviors, leading to discipline problems. Students may not pay attention
because the person who is reading it to slow or may just focus on practicing their part. It
can work against all students developing to their full potential because students who are
struggling with a word are often just corrected and aren't given the opportunity to monitor
themselves or self-correct. It consumes valuable classroom time that could be spent on
other meaningful activities.It can be a source of anxiety and embarrassment for students
because they are more worried how they sound reading than comprehending the meaning
of the text. It can hamper listening comprehension because some students may read ahead
or on focus on following the lines of the print because they are bored.

5. How can oral reading be used when working with struggling readers? Describe
two of the strategies shared and how you might use these in the classroom.
Oral reading helps struggling readers monitor their own reading because they are
able to hear themselves and detect if their reading sounds like language and makes sense.
They can pick up on mistakes easier when speaking out loud or perhaps if they listen to a
tape recording of their own self reading. Its easier for teachers too to assess and support
struggling readers when they hear them read aloud rather than them reading silently
because they cant determine in what area they may be struggling.
Two Strategies:

Jessica Mackey

Paired reading is a strategy where a struggling reader is paired with a proficient reader
such as a teacher, tutor, an older student, or even an age leveled peer. The two sit next
to each other and read the text together. The tutor is there for support and the tutee may
signal to the tutor if he or she wants to finish reading alone. I would use this strategy in
my classroom by setting aside an amount of time once a week and pair a struggling
reader with a proficient reader. I would provide a variety of texts such as poems, books,
newspapers, and comics for the struggling reader to choose from for their pair to read. I
would also use paired reading by pairing students who are at similar levels so they each
can support each other to practice their fluency and prosody.

Recorded text is just like paired reading, but instead students read along to a CD or a
computer program of the selected text. The student read the same text simultaneously
while listening to the oral rendition. I could use this in my classroom daily perhaps as a
literacy station or during my daily 5 time in language arts. The recordings could be set
up at a computer and or in an area students have privacy to read orally on their own
without my guidance. I would invite them after to explain to me what they read for
comprehension purposes.

6. Why is oral reading important for comprehension? Describe two strategies you
might use to develop comprehension.
Oral reading can be used to help comprehension because students can see how
experience readers stop and question themselves to make sure they understand what they

Jessica Mackey
are reading. It also shows students how to put emphasis on certain words and attend to
punctuation correctly to better understand meaning of what they reading.
Two Strategies:
Think-aloud is a strategy where the teacher discusses her thoughts while reading out loud
to model to students what experienced readers do to ensure comprehension. The teacher
may teach a specific reading strategy at this time. I would use this in my classroom
daily with my small groups and work on a specific reading strategy that those students
may need help with specifically. I could also use a think-aloud to teach a strategy to my
entire class as well.
Induced imagery is a way to teach students how to form mental images in their head
while they are reading a text. Its important for the teacher to take the time to discuss to
the students what words or sentences in the text made them envision a part of the image
they are forming. I would use this in my classroom by modeling to the students how I
form a mental image from a selected passage in my head and than guide the students to
do the same until I feel they can do it independently. I could bring a descriptive text up
on the smart board for all the students to see to practice with them and let them discuss
with me the images they are forming too.

7. What are the key words to remember when using oral reading for sharing and
performance? Describe two of the strategies shared and how you might use these
in the classroom.

Jessica Mackey
Preparation and audience are the two keys words to remember when using oral
reading for sharing and performance because the student needs to be prepared to convey
the information in a proper manner to the selected audience.
Two Strategies:
Mentor reading is a way for students to read with a mentor orally while the mentor
provides support or scaffolding. Students are invited to read challenging texts, but they
are only reading to their mentor and it is in a private setting. I would use this in my
classroom during class hours by finding older student volunteers to work my students
for 10-30 minutes a couple times a month. I would be sure the older students who are
working with my own are trained and have the proper skills to help scaffold the
younger ones.
Readers theatre is a way for a group of students to perform a story or script for a
selected audience. Students are not asked memorize the lines, wear costumes, or use
props during readers theatre. Instead the group of students stand in front of the audience
and read aloud from a script, using expression and meaning. I would love to
incorporate this strategy into my classroom often because I think many students would
have fun playing the different roles. This is a great way to develop fluency, expression,
and meaningful reading. I would use this at least a couple times a month with smalls
and large groups to be sure everyone is getting a chance to be apart of the readers
theatre.