When asked about reasonable adaptations teachers can make to support learning from instructional materials, some of the most frequently cited adaptations are those involving peer support (i.e, cooperative learning groups, student pairing) (Schumm & Vaughn, 1991; Schumm, Vaughn, & Saumell, 1994). Fortunately, students like working in small groups and in pairs (Elbaum, Schumm, & Vaughn, 1997) and appreciate it when teachers provide structure in teaching students how to work together and learn from each other (Elbaum, Moody, & Schumm, in press).

What is the adaptation?

Nonfluent readers typically read in a piece-by-piece, word-by-word manner and are slower and less accurate than fluent readers in decoding. With such inadequate reading patterns, nonfluent readers typically fall behind their peers and do not find enjoyment in reading. Moreover, because their reading is laborious, understanding of text is hampered.

The method of repeated reading was developed to help nonfluent readers improve fluency and, ultimately, reading comprehension. Initially, repeated reading for students with reading andlearningg disabilities was designed as a one-to-one clinical intervention (Heckelman, 1969; Samuels, 1979). This is not always possible for teachers to schedule in the busy school day. How can teachers provide students with the direct assistance they need to become more fluent readers? Teachers can incorporate repeated reading in the weekly routine using one or more groupingpatternss so that peers can provide each other with direct assistance and support.

How to Teach It?

Start by working with students to develop a purpose for repeated reading. This can be done through a brainstorming session initiated with the question "What are some things we learn that are improved with practice?" Explain to your students that reading needs practice, too, and best of all, reading practice can be fun!

Next, model repeated reading using the following procedure:

Select a book you will enjoy reading to your students again and again.
Read the story aloud as if you were a child reading it for the first time.
Include behaviors that might characterize a first reading, such as stopping to focus on difficult words.
After reading, talk about some parts that were difficult for you, and reread sentences to improve your reading.
Read the story a second time. During this reading, improve fluency, reduce the number of miscues, and add greater intonation and expressiveness.
With successive readings, become more expressive, fluid, and animated to achieve greater fluency and to promote greater comprehension and enjoyment.
Repeated Reading in Groups

Repeated reading can be incorporated in whole-class or small-group instructional routines. Big Books (i.e books with large pictures and words that can be seen by the whole group), posters, or overhead transparencies are ideal for repeated readings in groups. Pointers can be used to keep students on track.

Repeated Reading in Pairs

The activity takes 10 to 15 minutes. Students can be grouped in pairs to read to each other. This pairing can be either informal or formal. The pairing can be with same-age or cross-age peers (Bergeron, 1998).

Koskinen and Blum (1985) discussed a procedure for informal repeated readings in pairs.

With the informal pairing, each child selects his or her own passage to read to a partner.
The first reader reads the self-selected passage three times.
After the second and third reading, the first reader tells the partner how his or her reading improved and notes this improvement in a reading log.
The listener provides support with new words as needed.
Then the students switch roles and repeat the process.
Classwide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is a more formal, structured way to provide students with paired practice (Delquadri, Greenwood, Whorton, Carta, & Hall, 1986; Mathes, Fuchs, Fuchs, Henley, & Sanders, 1994). CWPT differs from the informal procedure just described in that teachers appoint pairs (usually one more proficient reader with one less proficient reader), select reading material (at the lower reader's independent level), and allow the readers to read the same material to each other.

Intensive instruction is necessary to prepare students, but once the procedures are understood, they become automatic.

The more proficient reader goes first, reading aloud to the partner for 5 minutes.
The less proficient reader reads next, reading the same passage as the first reader.
During CWPT sessions, which last approximately 30 minutes, students complete the repeated reading routine and also engage in correction, summarization, and prediction exercises.
Students work with a carefully developed "script" that helps them to follow the sequence of activities and to provide feedback in sensitive and productive ways.
As students work through the script they can earn points as a pair.
Repeated Reading Individually

While direct assistance from peers is worthwhile and productive, it does have its limitations. Some students need more interactions with a trained professional to make progress in reading. There are several ways teachers can structure practice for students who need more intensive help in becoming more fluent readers. One way is through the use of a tape recorder.

The student can practice reading into a tape recorder.
When he or she is finished practicing and self-monitoring using a tape recorder, then the student can read to the teacher.
Of course, individual practice with repeated readings can be facilitated by engaging the help of classroom volunteers and parents. Teachers can plan for regular monitoring of individual students' repeated readings by having "students of the day." For example, the teacher might have three "Monday" children who read to him or her during a center time. Other children are assigned on other days of the week. This rotation provides a systematic way to plan for monitoring of student repeated readings.

What research backs it up?

Numerous research studies have documented the impact of repeated reading in improving reading fluency and word recognition accuracy and in playing a significant role in improving reading comprehension (e.g., O'Shea, Sindelar, & O'Shea, 1987; Rashotte & Torgesen, 1985).

What does it look like in practice?

Ms. Yaden has planned a variety of repeated reading activities for her second grade class. Each week she selects one trade book or poem related to her current thematic unit for a whole-class repeated reading. She selects books or poetry with predictable rhymes or story patterns. Classwide Peer Tutoring is part of the regular schedule on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The activity takes only 20 minutes or so, but Ms. Yaden has seen that her students have made progress in becoming more fluent readers in a short period of time. From time to time she takes a break from more structured Classwide Peer Tutoring and lets children select their own reading material and their own partners during the paired reading period.

Four of Ms. Yaden's students need even more practice with repeated readings and even more careful monitoring. She has trained her paraprofessional in how to conduct repeated readings on a one-to-one basis. Ms. Yaden has planned for daily practice sessions for each child with the paraprofessional. Ms. Yaden has also scheduled a rotation so that she can listen to each of the children at least once a week and record their progress in their reading portfolios.

Additional Information

Fuchs, D., Mathes, P. G., & Fuchs, L. S. (1993). Peabody Classwide PeerTutoring reading methods (Unpublished teacher's manual). (Available from Douglas Fuchs, P.O. Box 328, George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203).

Mathes, P. G., Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (1995). Accommodating diversity through Peabody Classwide Peer Tutoring. Intervention in School and Clinic, 31, 4~50. O'Shea, L. J., & O'Shea, D. J. (1988). Repeated reading. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 20(2), 26-29.

*Excerpted from: Adapting Reading and Math Materials for the Inclusive Classroom by Jeanne Shay Schumm (1999).