Develop Reading Fluency and Comprehension with

Repeated Reading
Learn the Purpose, Procedure and Varations of Activities
By Janelle Cox, About.com Guide

What is it?
Repeated readings is when a student reads the same text over and over again until the rate of reading
has no errors. This strategy can be done individually or in a group setting. This method was originally
targeted for students with learning disabilities until educators realized that all students can benefit
from this strategy.
Purpose of the Strategy
Teachers use this reading strategy to help their students develop fluency and comprehension while
reading. This method was designed to help students who have little to no experience with reading
fluently to gain confidence, speed and process words automatically.
How to Teach it
Here are some guidelines and steps to follow when you use the repeated reading strategy:
1.

Choose a story that is approximately 50-200 words. ( A passage that is 100 words long seems
to work the best)

2.

Select a story or passage that is decodable verse predicable.

3.

Select a few words that you think will be hard for the students to learn and explain them.

4.

Read the story or passage you chose aloud to the students.

5.

Have students read the selected passage aloud.

6.

Have students re-read the passage as many times as needed until the text is fluent.

Activities
The repeated reading strategy can be used with the whole class, small groups or partners. Posters,
large books and the overhead projector is ideal when working with the whole class or while working in
groups.
Here are a variety of activities and strategies that are designed to help students read accurately,
effortlessly and at an appropriate speed: :

Partnering
Partner Reading - This is where two students are grouped into pairs who are on the same reading
level.

Group students into pairs.

Have the first reader select a passage and read it to their partner three times.
While the student is reading the partner take notes and helps with words as needed.
Students then switch roles and repeat the process.

Choral Reading is another way for students to practice re-reading text. Group students into pairs and
have them read a passage together in unison.
Echo Reading - Echo reading is a wonderful way for students to practice their phrasing and
expression while instilling confidence in their reading. In this activity the student follows along with
their finger while the teacher reads a short passage. Once the teacher stops, the student echos back
what the teacher just read.
Individually
Tape Assistance - A tape recorder is a great way for students to practice re-reading text. When
using tapes, students are able to read and re-read the text as many times as needed to increase their
speed and fluency. Once the text has been modeled by the teacher, the student can then practice
reading in unison with the tape recorder. After the student feels confident in the text then they can
read it to the teacher.
Timed Reading - Timed reading is when an individual student uses a stopwatch to keep track of their
reading. The student tracks their progress on a chart to see how their speed improved over the course
of reading the passage several times.
Quick Tip Build students site word knowledge by using word walls, bingo, flashcards and speed drills.
Practice reading with appropriate texts.
Allow students to choose what they read from a few passages you choose.
Enlist parents or volunteers to help when practicing re-reading skills.
Source: Hecklman, 1969 and Samuels, 1979

The Analytic Method of Teaching Phonics

A Quick Reference on How to Teach Phonics
By Janelle Cox, About.com Guide

Are you looking for ideas for teaching phonics to your elementary students? The analytic method is a
simple approach that has been around for nearly one hundred years. Here is a quick resource for you
to learn about the method, and how to teach it.
What is Analytic Phonics?
The Analytic Phonics method teaches children the phonic relationships among words. Children are
taught to analyze letter-sound relationships and look to decode words based upon spelling and letter
patterns and their sounds. For example, if the child knows "bat", "cat" and "hat", then the word "mat"
will be easy to read.
What is the Appropriate age range?
This method is appropriate for first and second graders and struggling readers.
How to Teach it
1.

2.

3.
4.
5.

6.

First the students must know all the letters in the alphabet and their sounds. The child will
need to be able to identify the sounds in the beginning, middle and end of a word. Once the
students are able to do that, the teacher then selects a text that has a lot of letter sounds.
Next the teacher presents the words to the students (usually site words are selected to start).
For example, the teacher places these words on the board: light, bright, night or green, grass,
grow.
The teacher then asks the students how these words are alike. The student would respond,
"They all have "ight" at the end of the word." or "They all have "gr" at the beginning of the word."
Next the teacher focuses on the sound of the words make by saying, "How does the "ight"
sound in these words?" or "How does the "gr" sound in these words?"
The teacher picks a text for the students to read that has the sound they are focusing on. For
example, choose a text that has the word family, "ight" (light, might, fight, right) or choose a text
that has the word family, "gr" (green, grass, grow, gray, great, grape).
Finally the teacher reinforces to the students that they just used a decoding strategy to help
them read and understand words based upon the relationships letters have with one another.

Tips for Success

Use books that have predicable, repetitive sentences.

Encourage children to use picture clues for any unknown words.
Teach students about word families. (now, how cow) (down, frown, brown)
Encourage students to look for constant clusters at the beginning and ends of words.
(bl,fr,st,nd)
When teaching analytic phonics make sure to emphasize on the importance of each sound.

Reading Strategies for Elementary Students

Quick Tips for Elementary Students
By Janelle Cox, About.com Guide

Studies show that children need to practice reading everyday in order to improve their reading skills.
Developing and teaching reading strategies to elementary students will help increase their reading
ability. Often when students get stuck on a word they are told to "sound it out." While this strategy
may work at times, there are other strategies that may work even better. The following is a list of
reading strategies for elementary students. Teach your students these tips to help improve
their reading ability.
Reading Strategies

Look at the picture and prepare your mouth to say the word.
Read the sentence again from the beginning.
Skip the word and come back to it.
Sound the word out slowly.
Break the word into parts.
Ask yourself, does the sentence make sense? Does it sound right?
Ask a friend or teacher.

Reading Prompts
Use the following reading prompts when working one-on-one with a student:

Wait a few moments to see if the student tries to attempt to say the word.
Ask the student, "Does the word make sense in the sentence?"
Say to the student, "Look at the picture, see if that helps you figure out the word."
Say, "Put in a word that you think makes sense."
Say to the student, "Start the sentence from the beginning and try saying it again."
Ask the student, "What letter does the word start and end with?"
Tell the child to read the sentence from the beginning and skip the word.
Say, "Now that you skipped the word, what word do you think fits in the sentence?"
Tell the student the word if they still cannot get it.

Word Walls
Help Students Develop Their Word Skills
By Janelle Cox, About.com Guide

What You Will Learn

What a Word Wall is

Why Teacher's Use a Word Wall
How to Use a Word Wall
Activities for Working with Words
Sample Weekly Schedule with Words

What is a Word Wall?

A Word Wall is a categorical listing of words that have been taught in the classroom and displayed on
the wall. Students can then refer to these words during direct instruction or throughout the day.
Example of Words

High frequency words (words used in speaking, reading, writing)

Word families (rhyming, patterns)
Other criteria (compound, contractions, prefix)
Site words
New vocabulary words

Why Use a Word Wall?

Word walls provide students with easy access to words they need to know during activities. The most
effective word walls are used as a learning reference throughout the year.
Other factors:

To teach essential words to ensure basic skills.

To create a reliable method to achieve basic literacy.
To build phonic and spelling skills.
To provide support during literacy activities.
For students to develop a relationship with words.

How to Use a Word Wall

Write words in large black letters and use colorful backgrounds to easily distinguish words.
Use a variety of activities to practice words such as: clapping, snapping, cheering, tracing,
playing guessing games, etc.

Make sure the words are spelled correctly and spaced out evenly.

Add new words to the wall every week.

Use Velcro to attach the words to the wall to make it interactive.

Post frequently misspelled words.

Post frequently used and misused words.

Post variations of words such as sleep, sleeps, sleeping.

Activities for Working with Words

Rhyming Words - Have the students utilize the word wall for this activity. Tell the students, "Using the
words on the wall, write down the word that rhymes with _____."
Guess What I am Thinking - Have students guess the word you are thinking about from the words
on the wall. Give students clues about the word such as, "I am thinking of a word that starts with a
"____" sound and rhymes with "_____."
Snap and Clap - Dictate a set number of words and have students "snap and clap" the words as you
say them together as a class.
Spell and Shape - Have students write a word you choose from the wall repeatedly around a specific
shape such as a square, circle, or triangle.
Shout it out - Have students physically act out the shape of the letters from the words on the wall.
For example, for tall letter have students raise their arms over their heads, short letters, touch the
ground, and so on.
Flash Light Words - The children love this one! Turn off the lights and have each student take turns
coming to the word wall and flashing a light on a word you choose.

Categorize Words - Have students place words in alphabetical order, sequential order or by any
other criteria you choose.
Word Wall Bingo - Give each student a blank bingo card and have them choose words from the word
wall to write on the card. Then take down all of the words and place them in a bag. Take turns having
students come up and choose a word from the bag. The first one to get four corners or three in a row
calls Bingo!
Around the World - All students sit at their desk and one student stands next to one of the students
desks. The teacher flashes a word to the student, and the first one that gets the word correct moves on
to the next desk. The student that makes it all the way around the classroom and back to his/her desk
is the winner.
Sample Weekly Schedule
Monday

Introduce the new words for the week.

Clap, snap or cheer the new words and then compare them to other words (Look for patterns,
etc).

Have students write the new words in their notebooks.

Have one student come up and use a "flashlight" or "pointer" as the class reads each new word
together.

Tuesday - Thursday

If new words are added then do the same as Monday.

Review all words.
Do one of the above activities for working with words each day.

Friday

Play "Word Wall Bingo" or "Around the World" with the words.