Are you searching for a quick-fix solution to improve reading scores? If so, I must disappoint you because I have nothing to offer. Improving reading scores, or any test scores for that matter, doesn’t involve silver bullets or magic tricks. Unfortunately, it’s common for school stakeholders to jump to conclusions about a school’s quality, teachers’ effectiveness, or even the superintendent’s leadership based solely on test scores from a single day. Let’s shift our focus towards practical strategies that can genuinely enhance reading skills and subsequently improve scores.
Let’s start by acknowledging a straightforward yet crucial principle: practice leads to improvement. However, practicing with purpose using research-backed strategies significantly enhances the likelihood of improvement. For students to excel in reading, they must engage in purposeful reading activities.
Here are some valuable tips and cautions to steer a successful reading program:
Rule #1: Read Aloud Sessions
Allocate five to ten minutes daily for read-aloud sessions, depending on class duration. This provides an opportunity to model reading, ask thought-provoking questions, and implement taught strategies effectively.
Reminder: Simply reading a favorite book throughout a class period, no matter how engaging the delivery, won’t necessarily enhance students’ reading skills.
Rule #2: Instructional Reading
Deliver purposeful reading instruction focused on applying strategies and skills to texts to improve students’ reading proficiency. State standards and extensive research can guide the selecting of specific strategies and skills necessary for better reading. It’s crucial to assess students’ lexile levels and tailor genre-focused instructional reading units accordingly to meet individual needs.
Reminder: Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach; instructional reading should cater to each student’s unique instructional needs. If the teacher reads aloud during this segment, students miss the opportunity to practice reading independently. Activities like popcorn reading serve as time fillers and don’t contribute to overall reading improvement.
Rule #3: Independent Reading
Encourage and promote independent reading throughout the school environment. This can include budgeting for books, organizing school-wide campaigns, and celebrating independent reading achievements. Foster a culture where students always carry an independent reading book related to topics they enjoy, thus boosting their motivation to read. Assign thirty minutes of independent reading as the primary homework task, and designate two days per week for in-school independent reading sessions, recognizing the value of classroom reading time.
Reminder: Focus on motivating students to read rather than solely holding them accountable or implementing punitive measures for lack of reading. Explore creative ways, such as monthly book talks, contracts, or logging completed books, to incentivize reading.
I urge a commitment to genuine reading experiences rather than mere reading programs focused on passages and questions or texts beyond students’ reading levels. Embrace research-based reading instruction to witness tangible improvements in students’ reading abilities. Encourage students to read at least three self-selected books monthly alongside instructional texts throughout the year, enhancing test scores.
As professionals, let’s reclaim proven methods backed by research. Ditch ineffective practices and prioritize reading quality literature. Reading educators should strive to master reading instruction, assessment, strategies, and necessary skills to nurture better readers. Let go of strategies that don’t yield results, avoiding being swayed by flashy programs prioritizing profit over education.
For more valuable insights on this topic, I recommend reading “Read Talk Write” by Laura!
I once asked a second-grade boy if Reader’s Theater made him a better reader, and he responded, “No, because it’s fun.” He was a reluctant reader, but he loved the interaction during rehearsal and entertaining his peers during the performance. So, I suppose he was a reluctant silent reader but loved reading aloud with his friends and classmates. You could tell he enjoyed it more than any other activity because he was always smiling when he rehearsed and performed.
Regardless of what this second grader thought, Reader’s Theater was helping him become a better reader, which is also true for many other students. Research says that Reader’s Theater is an excellent way to improve reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and confidence (Millin & Rinehart, 1999; Young et al., 2019). Improving these combined aspects of reading results in an increase in overall reading achievement. A recent meta-analysis found that Reader’s Theater has a large impact on students’ reading proficiency (Mastrothanasis et al., 2023). So, I encourage you to give it a try.
Reader’s Theater is essentially a group of students who dramatically read a text for an audience. All you need are some kids, a few scripts, and five to ten minutes per day. Although there are many ways to implement Readers Theater in your classroom, I will share a method that worked well for my second graders and me. Feel free to adapt the following to meet the needs of your students and unique teaching style.
Selecting Scripts reading skills I use a five-day format that helps students prepare for our weekly performances. Each day our rehearsals focus on different aspects of reading; we begin the week with decoding and end the week with fluent, expressive reading.
Before the week begins, I select three to six different scripts for the students to choose from. The number of scripts depends on your class size and the number of parts in each script. The scripts are usually based on popular novels, but I also include nonfiction, poetry, or speeches. In fact, I even use scripts from movies, such as A Christmas Story—the students really enjoy performing the “flagpole” scene.
While you can turn almost anything into a Reader’s Theater script, my website has over 200 free ready-to-download from www.thebestclass.org. Of course, once students become comfortable with Reader’s Theater, I encourage them to write their own scripts based on my read-alouds or books they’ve read. Teachers can also write scripts to match their students’ interests or topics in content areas. The key is to provide scripts that you think your students will love and enjoy performing.
Five-Day Format Teaching Reading Skills
On Monday, I read the scripts to my students, and they form groups based on their choice of script. At that time, I ask students to read the entire script and think about the overall meaning of the text.
On Tuesday, the students choose their parts. It is a little chaotic in the beginning of the year, but remember, Rock, Paper, Scissors solves everything. So, when your wonderful little people begin to argue over parts, break those hands out and try your luck at a best out of three matches.
After the students select and highlight their parts, we focus on decoding and word recognition accuracy; I make sure that students know all the sounds and words and that they can pronounce them accurately and automatically.
On Wednesday, we focus on expression—often referred to as prosody. The students practice reading expressively by calibrating their voice inflection, tone, volume, pitch and pauses for dramatic effect.
Students need a deep understanding of the script to render expressiveness that matches the author’s intended meaning. I offer assistance and also encourage the students to coach each other with the goal of producing appropriate prosody.
On Thursday, we have a practice performance. It is a time for any last-minute tweaks or suggestions from the teacher or peers. When students need additional assistance with their parts, I meet with them one-on-one and choose from a variety of interventions such as echo reading, repeated reading, or choral reading. The goal is to ensure that every student sounds great during the performance.
Once the students and I feel they are ready, we look forward to the last day of the five-day format: performance day. By this time, the students have engaged in daily rehearsals, which is an artful and authentic synonym for repeated reading.
Substantial research exists that promotes the method of repeated readings, and Reader’s Theater research acknowledges the power of practice but also includes a purpose—we believe that if you are going to read a text repeatedly, there better be a good reason. That reason is the performance.
On Friday, we perform. But first, it is important to secure an audience. You can invite parents, other classes, administrators, and other school staff, or take your show on the road!
Tips for Successful Reader’s Theater Teaching Reading Skills Here are a few recommendations that I’ve curated from experience.
Use challenging texts; they have plenty of support and time to rehearse.
Use challenging texts for another reason; I do not want students to memorize the texts; I want them to read their parts.
Select texts based on what your students will enjoy performing and will also engage the audience.
Incorporate daily activities related to decoding, vocabulary development, and expressive reading. I, along with Faida Stokes and Tim Rasinski, wrote an article for The Reading Teacher in 2017 titled “Reader’s Theater Plus Comprehension and Word Study,” which has daily activities beyond rehearsal that you can access and review.
Set a timer for rehearsals each day, allowing for at least two rehearsals.
Tell students there are no props or costumes. You don’t want a student to show up dressed like a farmer or an astronaut on Friday.
Find an audience. If you cannot, go to the front desk; someone is always there willing to attend.
Print extra scripts because students often lose them.
Some Interesting Results
There are many studies that suggest Reader’s Theater is an effective reading activity, but I’d like to share the results of one in particular. A study we conducted (Young et al., 2019) showed that Reader’s Theater had a profound impact on boys. The three pretest measures—decoding, word knowledge, and comprehension—revealed a gap in favor of the girls. By the end of the study, that gap had closed. We were shocked at these unexpected results but also excited to share that we found something that might help boost reading achievement among boys. An analysis of the survey revealed that most boys liked Reader’s Theater because of the interaction and humor and because it was a novel activity.
Conclusion Teaching Reading Skills Readers Theater is a lot of fun (my students and I can attest to that). But more importantly, it can improve many aspects of their reading, including reading fluency. Fluent readers do not have to focus on decoding as much and, therefore, can redirect their attention to reading comprehension, which is the main goal of reading.
So, download some scripts, prepare your little thespians, and integrate the science and art of reading instruction into your classroom.
References
Mastrothanasis, K., Maria Kladaki, M., Aphrodite Andreou, A. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the Readers’ Theatre impact on the development of reading skills. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 4, 100243.
Millin, S. K., & Rinehart, S. D. (1999). Some of the benefits of readers theater participation for second‐grade title I students. Literacy Research and Instruction, 39(1), 71-88. Doi: 10.1080/19388079909558312
Young, C., Durham, P., Miller, M., Rasinski, T., & Lane, F. (2019). Improving reading comprehension with readers theater. Journal of Educational Research, 112(5), 615-626.
Young, C., Stokes, F., & Rasinski, T. (2017). Readers Theater plus comprehension and word study. Reading Teacher, 71(3), 351-355.
In a previous posting on the Robb Review (9.12.2020), I (Tim) described how much poetry has to offer for the teaching of reading. It is an engaging, joyous reading, and it offers opportunities to develop essential reading competencies in students. However, one of the most significant attributes of poetry is its ability to improve the reading outcomes of children identified as dyslexic or learning disabled and, indeed all children who struggle to become proficient readers.
The brevity of most poetry for children as well as the rhythmical, melodic, and rhyming patterns in poetry (and songs) allow even the most struggling of readers to achieve success. Research tells us that human beings have what appears to be an innate ability to detect patterns in our environment. Seeing patterns allows us to better negotiate our worlds. The patterns in poetry allow children to negotiate their language worlds. All of us know young children who have learned to recite the words to a familiar rhyme or song. While memorizing the lines of poetry and songs is not reading per se, giving children visual access to the written words in those poems and songs can be a beginning step to reading.
Several years ago, I met an amazing woman named Lois Letchford. She had just written a book entitled Reversed which described the journey that she and her dyslexic son Nicholas who went from “learning disabled” to a skilled reader, and highly successful adult. Writing and using poetry was one major transformative component of our literacy story.
Lois’ Story:
In 1994, my son Nicholas went into first grade. He failed. Throughout this year, he bit his fingernails, wet his pants, and stared into space. At the end of the year, standardized testing sealed expectations revealing he could read ten words, displayed no strengths, and had a “low IQ.”
I had the opportunity to homeschool Nicholas for six short months, hoping for a turn-around. Armed with a book series labeled, “Success for All,” I too, failed. Stress levels skyrocketed, and progress remained at zero.
It was my mother-in-law who came to my rescue, offering simple yet profound advice: “Lois, put away what isn’t working and make learning fun.” Her words compelled me to reevaluate my approach to this daunting challenge. But where should I begin? Where did Nicholas excel? Her advice encouraged me to rethink and redesign my approach. But what could I do? What could Nicholas do?
I recalled Nicholas and I previously working with spelling patterns. He could do that. He recognized the patterns and learned all those words. How could I use this strength?
I thought about rhyming words and how to use them. Could I write a short poem to help Nicholas? When desperation reigns, one can only try to find solutions.
I wrote one simple poem and read it to Nicholas. We read it together and found the rhyming words. That first poem titled A Mug of a Bug, was a huge success. He relaxed and recalled it. He was engaged, we talked about the meaning, found the rhyming words, and recited the poem.
One poem led to the next and the next. Each poem added to his knowledge, enjoyment, and purpose for reading and writing. My first poems focused on words with short vowel sounds. Poems then include our travel experiences. One poem was about visits to the thousand-year-old church of St. Nicholas. The memory I treasure is one of Nicholas running ahead of his Grandma to visit it, shouting, “Nana, Nana! They named this church after me!” Connections were growing.
Nicholas’s reading growth appeared slow, each poem seemingly added just a drop into the ocean of required literacy knowledge. Yet, in a poem using the “oo” words as in ‘cook, look, and book,’ I wrote about the last of the great explorers, Captain James Cook. My poem:
Captain Cook had a notion there was a gap in the map in the great big ocean.
He took a look, without the help of any book, hoping to find a quiet little nook.
Captain Cook had a notion there was a gap in the map in the great big ocean,
He took a long look, and filled a whole book which caused the whole world to look!
Poetry is simple. Ideas embedded in poetry were extraordinary. The exploration of this poem tapped into Nicholas’ curiosity, resulting in his asking questions I could not answer.
“Who came before Captain Cook?” was his first question.
“Oh,” I replied, “that’s easy. That was Christopher Columbus.”
“And who came before Columbus?” He shot back.
And I was stunned. It was not a question I had ever considered. His question turned me into a curiosity-driven researcher determined to find answers to his questions.
Though Nicholas’s knowledge of letters and sounds had grown slowly, his intellectual curiosity was boundless.
Why was poetry such a powerful tool for Nicholas’s learning?
Prof Sansislas Deheane’s book How We Learn has a chapter on the four pillars of learning. These pillars are Attention, Active Engagement, Error Feedback, and finally, Consolidation.
Every day, I had Nicholas’s attention. He was actively engaged in listening, reading, and responding to details of all poems. Poetry was building his knowledge base, providing a purpose for using those challenging letters and sounds and building an understanding of patterns in language. Finally, the consolidation through repetition by reading, writing, and reciting these poems aided growth.
It took almost 25 years to appreciate the impact of this foundational knowledge. In 2018, Nicholas defied the odds and completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Oxford University.
As for me, my book Reversed: A Memoir tells the longer literacy journey from failure to academic success.
Why use book clubs? There are many benefits to consider. First of all, book clubs allow our readers to engage in a social activity with myriad opportunities to practice their conversation skills and learn from diverse perspectives. It gives students a chance to really bond over books, living with and through the characters, traveling to unfamiliar settings, and learning more about themselves and their readers’ identities. Students become better readers and grow a commitment to reading that extends beyond the school day. Book clubs are a chance for teachers to listen in to rich conversations and take notes about the skills and strategies book club members are demonstrating as they discuss a book, poem, play, essay, or article.
Student Self-Selection
Book clubs are a small group format that allows teachers to observe students in action, employing various reading skills and strategies, demonstrating empathy and compassion, zooming in on what it truly means to be human. They can be as small as two and as large as six or seven, and in their best use, students get to choose the books they want to read for book clubs.
They can do this in several ways. Sometimes, a teacher creates a small bulletin board space where students can post an invitation: I’m about to begin The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art by Cynthia Levinson. It’s a picture book biography about Ben Shahn who came to America from Lithuania and was hired during the Depression to paint stories of struggling Americans. Who wants to join me? Our classroom library has three copies. Teachers can also display choices around genres, authors, or topics/themes. Student-written book reviews and book talks may help students choose a book to read and discuss in a book club format. Sometimes, book clubs arise out of students who read books together. At other times, book clubs can be formed due to curriculum needs and interests. Students may want to continue to read about women after a Women’s History Month unit of study or choose to read a book about the planets and other celestial bodies after a study of the solar system in science class. Perhaps Masterminds by Gordon Korman or Space Case by Stuart Gibbs for a science fiction read. Remember, book selection is important for the success of book clubs, but sometimes, it’s okay to give the class something to think about. After browsing your students’ interest surveys, select three to five books to book talk and display the books (and multiple copies, if possible) where students can browse if they so choose.
Getting Conversations Started and Sustaining Interest
Before you launch book clubs, organize some informal groups that will sit together during your read-aloud time. When you ask students to turn and talk or stop and jot, these students can share their questions, comments, and opinions. During this time, listen to their conversations to note possible minilessons that will help these readers be successful when they have launched a book group.
Make sure to review key social skills such as active listening (eyes on the speaker), one speaker at a time, use each other’s names, and encourage with nonverbal signals (head nods, thumbs up, leaning in towards the speaker).
You can provide scaffolds for getting started with response, although it may not always be necessary. Scaffolds should be very open-ended. Sometimes, a list of possible questions can be posted as an anchor chart. Here are some examples:
● What is the text about?
● What parts do you especially like?
● What suggestions, questions, or comments would you have for the author?
● How can you present a key idea from this text to your classmates?
● What is/are the theme(s)?
Sometimes protocols for discussion are helpful and can provide variety to a book club discussion. (See Appendix G: protocols for Book Club and Small Group Discussion in Welcome to Reading Workshop: Structures and Routines That Support All Readers, 2023).
It’s often helpful for club members to have a plan about how many pages they will read for the next session and a target date when the book will be finished. A mini-lesson on why it is important to support their thinking with evidence from the text is very helpful, as well as ways they can piggyback on each other’s thinking. Some examples to help students envision ways they can connect with others might include “I agree with Sofia, but I would like to add…” or “Jaelyn makes a good point; however, I disagree with his thinking about the character’s motives because I believe…” In addition, urge students to place sticky notes (sparingly) on pages to jog their memory about points they would like to discuss. Finally, create an anchor chart with a set of questions the students would like to use as self-evaluation. “Did I stay focused on the conversation?” and “How did I support my book club today?”
How Do We Assess What’s Going On?
Finding ways to follow the progress of a book club, even when you are not present for the club meeting, is key to your comfort and the club’s success. As teachers, we often fear that little learning is happening if we are not present. However, when we give students ownership of the club and let them lead, we often find they are making progress.
One valuable source of information is the reader’s notebooks and the entries the club members are keeping. How are the students responding? Is there evidence of deeper thinking, or are they just retelling? The content of the entry can help you decide if you need to work with that group or student to lift the level of responses, teaching them ways to elaborate that include personal thinking as well as text evidence. Consider posting sentence starters on an anchor chart that will help students move beyond simple retelling. This can be done through the use of double-entry journals. One column is used to record main points about the story (characters, problem, events, plot, resolution), interesting quotes, author’s craft, and vocabulary while the corresponding column is used for students to respond with their thoughts and feelings.
Another option you might try is recording the book club to listen to later. This can allow you to hear responses, note who contributes to the conversation (and how), and make decisions about future interactions you will have with the club.
As in all assessments, consider your original intentions for the book club. If your goal was to improve conversational skills, watch for how students keep the conversation going and how they get every member involved. Was your goal to have students offer thoughts and opinions with text support? Notice the use of sticky notes in books and who uses them in conversation to support thinking. Consider what has been taught during minilessons and look for tracks of your teaching in written responses as well as in the conversations.
Be careful of assigning a “fake” project as a form of assessment when a club wraps up. Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels (Comprehension and Collaboration; Inquiry Circles in Action. 2009) remind us that as adults, we don’t rush to “make” something when we finish a book; instead, we move to talk about it. They urge us to make reading responses that are authentic. Perhaps have the group share out during a share session the ways the book changed the group’s thinking about the topic, or how the reading of the book has grown their desire to learn more about the topic. Club members may want to create a book talk to get others to read the book or write a book review that could be placed in the book when it is reshelved. It’s tempting to assign a project, but when we allow students to choose how they will respond, we give them a voice and show them we trust them and value their thinking.
Keeping Notes During Book Club Discussions
Keeping track of observations can be tricky. It is often a matter of finding a system you are comfortable with, one that works for you and one that you can and will use. A simple way is to write one or two observations on a sticky note. Then, transfer these notes to a more permanent location, such as a page in a notebook that is dedicated to the student you observed. As you move the note, you have the opportunity to reflect on the information and make some notes for future instruction. You might consider having a three-column notebook page for each student. The first column is where you will tape the sticky notes, the second for thoughts about the observation, and the third for future instruction. Remember, the system you use needs to work for you! Be creative. Be flexible. Find what you are comfortable with.
What Happens if a Student Does Not Want to Participate in a Book Club?
Sometimes, one or two students may be resistant to joining a book club. These students can continue to read independently and offer their thoughts in a one-on-one conference with the teacher. Other times, a student may be persuaded to partner with another student to read and discuss a book the two students select together. Giving these reluctant joiners a chance to observe one or several book clubs in action may be another way to move them closer to participation later in the year. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of finding the right book to read and talk about with others. It’s important to welcome partnerships into our book club routine to allow for greater choice and to help all readers feel safe and have ownership in the entire process.
Final Thoughts
Book clubs increase peer interaction time and help students share their excitement for reading. Through discussion and reflection, students will be able to imagine how their reading work can be used in new settings across the day. Books clubs help readers grow in enthusiasm and interest in reading, cultivating a habit that will last throughout their adult lives. Most students will end up reading more and more thoughtfully when they commit to a book club.
