Choral Reading
What is Choral Reading? Choral reading is when the text is read together, in unison. This can be done within a whole group or in small groups. Choral reading is done best when each student has their own copy of the text, but can also be done with one person pointing at each word as you read together (as can be seen in the video). This fluency strategy helps students practice reading accurately with expression and prosody, or phrasing. It is a great way to have group practice of the reading after a short passage is modeled to show students what you would like them to sound like as they are reading. Students are shown the appropriate rate of reading aloud to an audience. Choral reading is a type of Guided Fluency Development Instruction (GFDI), used to improve reading fluency in middle schools (Miller & Veach, 2011). There are many benefits to using choral reading, such as promoting language learning for English Language Learners (cite article). Studies show that schools that use Whole Class Choral Reading (WCCR) have increased decoding ability and more fluent reading (Paige, 2011). |
How can choral reading be used in a middle school?
Choral reading in a middle school can be done during the class period with an assigned novel, research articles, or short passages. It can be used with any reading material and give students additional practice reading fluently for comprehension. How can I differentiate Choral Reading? Choral reading can be differentiated by assigning readings to groups of students based on ability level. This can be done during reading stations, guided reading groups, or pulling out small groups of students during independent reading time. |
Below, you can see an great example of students choral reading
(similar to Reader's Theatre) with much expression. |
Internet Resources
- https://www.aea267.k12.ia.us/english-language-arts/reading/fluency/choral-reading/ : This webpage provides teachers with information about choral reading, including: instructional steps, tips and suggestions, benefits, and variations
- http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/choral-reading-30704.html : This resource provides information about the fluency strategy of choral reading in practice as well as lesson plans for fluency for various grade levels
- http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster4/part104.html : This page from the MSU, Mankato website has research information about the use of choral reading to help with stuttering, as well as resources for choral reading with adults, adolescents, and childrem
- http://jewishlearningmatters.com/AC1-Choral-Reading-Strategy-537.aspx : This resource provides video examples of successful choral reading as well as additional resources to get choral reading materials
- https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/middle-school : List of popular middle school books that can be chosen for whole class choral reading