REPEATED READINGS Homework Doesn’t Need to be Stressful!
Today’s blogpost has specific goals. The first is to understand three primary reasons WHY a student should practice reading using the strategy, Repeated Readings. Second is to discuss HOW to take the stress out of Repeated Readings homework.
Repeated Readings Homework and STRESS! The two don’t have to go together.In my professional opinion, three leading reasons to practice REPEATED READINGS are to increase READING FLUENCY, COMPREHENSION SKILLS, and CONFIDENCE. The second part of this blogpost pinpoints ways a parent can take the stress out of Repeated Readings homework.
In order to better understand the purpose of Repeated Readings homework, first, let’s delve into the subject of Reading Fluency. Maybe you’re wondering what is reading fluency specifically from a teacher’s standpoint? Reading fluency simply put is READING IN THE MANNER IN WHICH ONE SPEAKS; teachers may call this ‘Reading with AUTOMATICITY.’ Reading fluency also includes READING WITH EXPRESSION and teachers call that PROSODY. Reading with Prosody essentially means the child is attending to punctuation while reading. This may seem like we are splitting hairs here, but attending to punctuation whenever reading is a critical.
READING WITH EXPRESSION leads into the purpose of punctuation marks. Whenever there is a period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of the sentence the child should read accordingly. Also, an end mark signifies the end of a thought and the student should be taught to pause, possibly take a breath, before reading the next sentence. To pause, hopefully allows the reader’s brain the necessary time to derive meaning from the text. Additionally, if there is a comma after a word, so too should the child attend to that punctuation mark.
Teacher Tip: Kids love analogies and this one is fairly easy to explain. Equate punctuation marks to traffic signs. Commas are like yield signs and ending punctuation marks are like stop signs. Tell your students if they don’t make a full stop at end marks, they will get a ticket. This ticket is one that usually results in miscommunication of what the text is about or better yet when no understanding of the text occurs.
Again, punctuation marks serve the specific purpose of enabling the reader to better understand the meaning implied by the text. For example: The following three sentences all have different meanings and should be read aloud with a different tone of voice.
I SEE MY PUP! I SEE MY PUP. I SEE MY PUP?
To read rapidly without attending to punctuation and deriving no meaning of the text is called WORD CALLING by teachers. This is a real phenomenon! Reading fast does not equate to reading with understanding. Ask any second or third grade teacher? They can tell you immediately who reads for understanding and who just calls words!
In conclusion, let me reiterate, sometimes parents and beginning teachers alike mix up reading fast with reading well. So we all need to make absolutely certain students are attending to punctuation and are able to derive meaning from text. MAKE SURE as your child reads, that you ask them to tell you in their own words what they are reading. RETELL is a skill that must be practiced to keep students from simply becoming WORD CALLERS.
Readers need to know that words incite meaning. It is imperative that we as reading teachers and reading parents make absolutely certain that our young readers are thinking about their reading…By the way, educators call THINKING ABOUT YOUR THINKING metacognition.
Once the Beginning Reader starts READING SIGHT WORDS and DECODABLE WORDS with more ease, begins ATTENDING TO PUNCTUATION with greater consistency, understands TEXT HAS MEANING, then reading CONFIDENCE will increase naturally.
Visit THOUGHT.COM to further your understanding of Repeated Readings. This link is to a ‘safe’ site that gives in depth explanations about how teachers utilize this strategy.
You now understand why a Beginning Reader needs to practice Repeated Readings. It’s time to discuss how to practice this skill at home.
Repeated Readings Homework can be fun and effective rather than tedious and stressful for both the child and parent when practiced in a predictable manner. As a parent it’s up to you to provide the necessary supplies and a pleasant work atmosphere. Doing so will work wonders for your child’s disposition towards this homework activity. Learning to read is a difficult skill for most students so make it as enjoyable as possible!
Keep in mind, ‘Repeated Readings’ also increase SIGHT WORD knowledge! Yeah! Virtually everything in reading is intertwined; there will be an overlap of reading skills. Educators call the overlapping of skills SPIRALING.
GOAL: Keep things simple. Get the necessary supplies. Stick to the plan. BASIC PREMISE: The child reads the passage for exactly one minute four different times.
These are the Steps that you do FOUR CONSECUTIVE TIMES TIMED ONE MINUTE READINGS. (The only difference is to use a different color pen for each REPEATED READINGS.)
-
Child Reads.
-
Parent Record Errors.
-
Child Retells.
-
Parent Make Flash Cards.
-
Child Practices Missed Words with Parent.
Listed below are the same INSTRUCTIONS as written above except in detail.
-
FIRST, YOUR CHILD READS THE PASSAGE FOR ONE MINUTE. (Keep in mind: The passage will be on a one page sheet sent from the teacher. Your child’s teacher will provide the passage and she/he will provide you with directions on what to do! (My directions here are simply a suggestion for my parents…but you may want to follow them too.)
-
Your job is to record any misread words on a duplicate copy of the passage with a colored pen while your child is reading the passage. (You will have to be quick about this. You will be LISTENING INTENTLY AND RECORDING ANY AND ALL MISTAKES.) This may seem awkward at first, but trust me it will get easier with each practice session! (By the way, I place my duplicate copy of the passage on a clipboard and I angle the board so that the student can’t see what I am writing.)
-
Next, your child will tell you what was read. This step should not be skipped. RETELL allows the reader to practice connecting with the text just read. (Don’t worry if your child can’t retell after the first couple of readings, likely by the third reading, a ‘light bulb’ will have gone off!)
-
NOW IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO WRITE THE MISSED WORDS ON INDEX CARDS. Reminder: Be sure to use the same color ink you used to record the errors in the first reading. If you recorded errors in RED ink the first reading, then write the missed words with RED INK on the index cards.
-
Lastly, you flash the just-then-created word cards to your child several times for practice. Make it fun! Be happy about it! This shouldn’t be drudgery!
That’s it! The only thing left to do is to do it three more times! Do the same thing again, again, and again! Follow the same format as above. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE is THAT YOU WILL BE USING A DIFFERENT COLORED PEN!
Oh, just to make sure we all understand, every time you are recording any errors, it’s always on the same sheet of paper. By the time you have written on the page with four different colored ink pens, it may be quite colorful!
Please remind your child to track with their finger as they are reading. It is common for Beginning Readers to lose their place while reading.
The first day of reading the passage your child may only be able to read the first paragraph or just the first sentence. By the last day of Repeated Reading Homework Practice, more words will be read within the FOUR ONE MINUTE Timed Readings.
Listed on the clipboard are the basic supplies you may need for a productive Repeated Readings session at home.
SKIP THE REST OF THIS SECTION IF YOU DON’T NEED SAGE ADVICE FROM A Preachy Teachy;)
-
Don’t drag out the reading and retelling sessions.
-
Do make the sessions as engaging and as quick as possible.
-
Remember, helping your child practice reading is a temporary homework assignment for most parents.
-
Do take pride in all your child’s incremental successes.
-
Also, EVERY student should practice daily, no matter their ability level. No one is immune. Even the most accomplished first grade reader can improve upon RETELL and PROSODY.
-
Sincere compliments are important.
-
Relax and enjoy READING TOGETHER. I pinky promise, one day you will miss these times together!
A little input about TIMERS. Some parents like to use a kitchen timer, some a sand timer, while others will use a stopwatch. Most of us have phones, so using the timer on your cell phone is also great. Oftentimes I will let my students select which ring tone they want to hear when the timer goes off. Incorporate novelty any time you can. Your students will appreciate being able to make decisions and it’s important to develop decision making first graders. Okay, that’s another blog post for another day!
Again, sorry to sound so preachy, but I am the teachy! LOTS OF LAUGHS and lots of crazy made up words!
Please recall, I am a practicing classroom teacher and parent like you. I am not a published expert in the field of Repeated Readings, albeit except on my blog! LOTS OF LAUGHS! Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how to make Repeated Readings a successful at-home homework strategy.