Repeated Readings



Do you Know What Repeated Readings are and Why They're So Important?

 
When learning to read, one of the most powerful strategies is to do repeated readings of a book. This doesn't mean that the book is read every day or 3 times a day. However, it does mean that over the period of a week or two, there will be lots of exposure to the book. Here is a sample of what it would look like:

• Today we are going to read: (provide the name of the book.)
• What does the title tell us about the book? Why do you think that?
• What does the picture tell us about the book? Why do you think that?
• Read the first few pages then prompt again: Were you right? Do you want to change your mind now?
• Continue reading, stopping at points to model thinking: I wonder why? What do you think?
• Ask comprehension questions along the way
• Finish reading the book and discuss it.

The book can be followed up with a written activity - draw and label your favorite part, or use one of the book response worksheets.

The next day, prompt the students for what they remember about the book. Read the book again. This time, probe for higher level thinking. Use questions that focus on:

• Predicting
• Inferring meaning
• Character development
• Author's intent
• This reminds me of (real world event, another story, something that happened to me...)
• When have you felt like? (specific character)

Use the story to focus on new words and vocabulary development. After the third round of reading the story, the children should be able to re-tell it relatively accurately.

Research indicates that for repeated readings to be effective, the book should be read at least 3 times in the same week.

You might also like: elements of a story worksheets and printables, story graphic organizers or the literature response tasks.