Whole Class Reading in Upper Primary (Part 2 of 2)
This blog post is Part 2 of a two-part series unpacking how whole class reading can look in the upper primary classroom. In Part 2 I will share my whole class reading routine and how I utilise whole class reading in my upper primary classroom.
To clarify, this is a routine which I have developed over the past few years, and is in no way intended to be interpreted as the ‘only’ way to implement whole class reading. It is absolutely a work in progress, so feel free to experiment with the ideas, adapt them and make this whole class reading routine your own.
Choosing Texts
When choosing an appropriate text for whole class reading it is important to consider how challenging the text will be for your students. What I am referring to here is not just decoding unknown words, but ensuring your choice also has challenges within the content, vocabulary and language. Aim for a challenging text that is slightly higher than what your students can access on their own.
A benefit of whole class reading is that it can facilitate students reading a wider variety and greater depth of texts all on the same theme or topic.
Once you have selected the text, establish a clear purpose for reading the selected piece.
Are we reading to write a summary? Reading to gather information to write a report? Are we reading to understand new vocabulary words or reading because this piece of text is just really hysterical and lots of fun? The purpose needs to be clearly explained to your students at the beginning of your whole class reading routine.
Reading Adventures – graphic novel
Read a Variety of Texts
You might choose a different passage from a different genre/book/source every day or couple of days. They can be on the same theme/topic or you might choose to mix it up depending on what your focus is.
For example:
Monday: Extract from your class novel (read aloud)
Tuesday: Fiction text
Wednesday: Poetry
Thursday: Non-fiction text
Friday: Newspaper article
Another idea is to take a longer article or story and break it up into different sections (approx 100-200 words in each section). Read a different section each day. By the end of the week you will have completed a deep reading of the entire story or article. Alternatively you might decide to work on the same passage for multiple days and readings.
Next Steps Decodables – rap
Whole Class Reading Routine
Explain the purpose: Clearly define the purpose for reading the selected passage or piece of text and make it clear to your students.
Build background knowledge: To help students grasp new information in the text, it’s important to build their background knowledge before reading. You can prepare them in the days prior to your reading lesson. Use podcasts, videos, guest speakers, picture books, slides or photographs and if possible, give students real-life experiences that connect to the text. This broader understanding allows students to connect to the text and assists in building their comprehension of what they are going to read.
First reading: Teacher reads the text aloud to the class. Students follow along (all eyes on text). Students are asked to follow along using a ruler to help guide them. During the first reading, discussion is generally kept to a minimum. New vocabulary and ideas may be briefly discussed to ensure students have a good general understanding of the text.
Reading Road – non-fiction
Second and additional readings: The second reading of the text is done as a choral reading. In this approach everyone reads the text aloud together, or the group can be divided so that each half reads alternate sections. Echo reading can also be incorporated, where the teacher models a sentence or phrase and students repeat it. Using a variety of choral reading techniques over different lessons helps maintain student engagement and adds variety to the lessons. Additional readings may be done with their fluency partners or independently by the end of the week.
During the second and additional readings the teacher pauses at different selected points to explicitly teach from the text.
The focus for this explicit teaching varies over the week and may include:
- Vocabulary (2-3 words per piece of text)
- Spelling patterns
- Morphology
- Comprehension questions
- Language features (eg simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration)
- Sentence structure
- Fluency (fluency partners).
Reading Road – fiction
Students respond in a variety of ways to the explicit teaching. This includes the use of mini-whiteboards, oral responses (all together), pair-share, discussion in their table groups or cold calling by the teacher.
Follow-up Activities
After reading the passage together, students can engage in a range of follow-up activities. The type of activity often depends on the lesson’s focus. For example, if the focus was to teach new vocabulary, follow-up activities might include students using the words in conversation with a partner or in a short written task.
Some ideas for activities include:
- Writing
- Word study
- Morphology matrix
- Writing child-friendly word definitions
- Matching activities (word and meaning)
- Complete sentence stems
- Sentence combining tasks
- Completing graphic organisers
- Comprehension questions (answered orally/written)
- Independent re-reading (with a partner, with a junior student, in a foreign accent)
- Take the text home to read with family.
Connect to Writing
Research tells us that when students write about what they are reading they are more successful and they have more to write about and are able to integrate ideas and learning from other curriculum areas. There are many different ways that students can engage in written tasks directly connected to their whole class reading, eg:
- Explicit teaching of different sentence structures (syntax)
- Summarising
- Completing sentence stems
- Explicit teaching of paragraphing
- Completing graphic organisers
- Explicitly teaching text structure and conventions of style (using text as a mentor text)
- Write a variety of different genres.
Tier 2 and 3 Students/Target Students
While students are working independently on follow-up activities or writing after the whole class reading session, tier 2 and 3 students are receiving additional targeted teaching. This could be re-reading the same text again, a different text on the same topic, a decodable text at their level. Essentially these targeted students are getting more targeted teaching but have not missed out on the importance of high level texts and all the rich learning that comes from engaging with them.
The whole class approach to teaching reading is not ‘one size fits all’ and over the past few years my practice has evolved and changed as my own confidence and knowledge has grown. I have adapted this approach to fit my style of teaching and the unique needs of my students. If this blog has sparked your interest, explore further, listen to podcasts, watch lessons, and experiment with whole class reading. Find what works for you and make it your own.
Johnna Alborn
Deputy Principal/Literacy Facilitator