Replacing Round-Robin Reading with Better Practices

From the Marshall Memo #431

In this Reading Today article, Radford University (VA) professors Katherine Hilden and Jennifer Jones report that over half of K-8 teachers use round-robin reading in some form – students take turns reading aloud to the whole class (without prior practice) while other students follow along. Why does this discredited practice continue in so many classrooms? 

• It’s a way to get all students paying attention to the same material at the same time.
• It appears to keep students engaged – especially if students are called on to read in random order (Popcorn or Popsicle Reading) or if each reader can decide who will read next (Combat Reading).
• It helps with classroom management – everyone is quiet except the designated reader.
• It allows the teacher to evaluate students’ fluency. 
• It requires little preparation by the teacher.

But there is no research evidence that round-robin reading improves students’ reading fluency or comprehension. Here’s why:

• A slower classroom pace – Oral reading takes much more time to cover the same material as silent reading, which slows the pace of instruction.

• Less practice – Students read less when they are reading one at a time – 1/20^th of the time in a class of 20 students – and are subvocalizing with the reader, which is not good practice for quicker silent reading. 

• Off-task behaviors – Students who are not reading are often not paying attention, especially if the teacher has a predictable pattern for calling on students. Some students may try to figure out which passage they will read and practice it to improve their performance, which means they aren’t following along with the current reader.

• Poor modeling – Listening to peers who read slowly, with many halting stutters and mistakes, is not a good way to develop fluent reading.

• Problems with comprehension – Passively listening to a peer reading doesn’t encourage active meaning-making among other students, especially if they’re not paying attention.

• Problems with self-efficacy and motivation – Struggling readers can feel humiliated when their weaknesses are on display to classmates, and being publicly corrected makes things worse. In Combat Reading, some students may actually bully weaker classmates by calling on them to read.

What are the alternatives to round-robin reading? Hilden and Jones suggest the following:

• Timed repeated reading – A student listens to a fluent reader read a short passage that is at the instructional reading level (90-95% accuracy). The student then practices reading the passage silently. Then the student reads the passage aloud as quickly as possible while maintaining appropriate expression. Another student or the teacher records mistakes and keeps time, and they graph speed and mistakes. This is done regularly and each student keeps track of his or her own progress.

• Readers theatre – A group of students rehearses reading a dramatic script, each practicing his or her lines over the course of a week, then performing for classmates. Props and costumes aren’t necessary – the plot and emotion must be conveyed through expressive reading. 

• Fluency-oriented reading instruction (FORI) – Through a weekly cycle of teacher modeling, echo reading, choral reading, and partner reading, FORI helps students build fluency, confidence, and comprehension with grade-level textbooks, literature anthologies, and trade books. 

• Peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) – Proficient and less-proficient students are paired and take turns being the coach and the reader, cycling through reading, re-reading, retelling, summarizing, predicting, and asking questions. 

“A Literacy Spring Cleaning: Sweeping Round Robin Reading Out of Your Classroom” by Katherine Hilden and Jennifer Jones in Reading Today, April/May 2012 (Vo. 29, #5, p. 23-24); the authors can be reached at kclouse@radford.edu and jjones292@radford.edu