July 25, 2023
Guided Oral Reading: What Is It?
Guided oral reading, or supported reading, is important for developing reading fluency - the ability to read with efficiency and ease (link to post about fluency). The practice forms a critical component of the Science of Reading. “The Science of Reading emphasizes the importance of building strong foundational reading skills, such as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Repeated Guided Oral Reading is a specific instructional strategy that can be used to promote fluency and comprehension skills in students by providing them with opportunities to practice reading aloud with support and feedback from a teacher or other adult” (Repeated Guided Oral Reading & Science of Reading). In guided oral reading, students read out loud, to either a parent, teacher or other student, who corrects their mistakes and provides them with other feedback (National Reading Panel).
There are many ways to engage in guided reading, both at home and in the classroom. These methods include reader’s theater, one to one reading, popcorn reading as a class, or small group instruction. Reader’s theater is “a method of reading a story aloud, like a play, without memorization, props, or a stage” (Reader's Theater Methodology – Playbooks® Publishing). This method is best used in small groups, where children are encouraged to express themselves and read as their character, practicing appropriate tone and fluent oral reading. One to one reading can be done with a teacher, parent, or another child. This is an opportunity for more structured practice, with specific feedback. Popcorn reading as a class encourages children to practice reading texts aloud that they have not previously read. This method may be stressful for some children and should be used alongside these other guided oral reading opportunities. Small group instruction is often done by a teacher in an intentional group of children who are working on similar reading concepts (What is Guided Reading?). This allows for targeted feedback and repeated practice.
It is important to recognize that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on the reading abilities of children. When children were learning remotely during the pandemic, they were denied many opportunities for supported reading practice. Students who began learning to read in the fall of 2020 had lower Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) scores than their peers who began before the pandemic onset (The Covid-19 Pandemic and Oral Reading Fluency). These statistics indicate a need to be intentional about guided oral reading practice both at home and in the classroom.
Rally is an AI reading coach. Its job is to make the invisible work of reading visible, and in doing this, teach readers to do the same. When a child is reading with Rally, it pre-scans a text to identify trouble words and review them with the child in flashcard format. Rally also captures tricky words for the child to review at the end of the session and tracks word-per-minute accuracy. As this data is logged, it can be used to examine a child’s reading relative to their own historical data or national norms.