Intro to Activity
Choral reading is reading in unison with a fluent reading leader, which can be a teacher or a selected student. The goal is for the group to match the leader’s accuracy, speed, and intonation. Choral reading is sometimes referred to as "simultaneous oral reading" and can be a great opportunity for students to engage in fluent reading with appropriate expression. Weaker readers are able to practice oral reading, which supports their automatic word recognition, while simultaneously hearing the prosody of stronger readers, which supports both their comprehension and own expressive reading skills. This provides a supportive environment where students can build confidence and improve both their fluency and overall reading proficiency without the pressure of reading alone.
Students
Discover the types of students who may benefit from this activity.
Choral reading is most researched as part of effective fluency instruction for students in grades 1-4, but can be a promising strategy for struggling readers in later grades who lack confidence or need additional support with fluency.
Getting Started
The steps outlined in the tabs below provide a clear and structured approach for teaching this activity to students.
Choose a text of appropriate length and difficulty level. Most students will benefit from texts that are between 200-250 words long, at their instructional level (no more than one in ten words read incorrectly).
Introduce the text and the purpose for the choral read. For example, it may be an introduction to a text that they will continue to practice independently, as part of a well-rounded battery of fluency activities.
If this is the first time using the activity, practice what choral reading sounds like using a short two- to three-sentence paragraph. Provide feedback to the group on matching the leader's accuracy, speed, and intonation. Once students understand the activity, begin Guided Practice. Alternatively, if students are familiar with this activity, a model may not be necessary.
Next, students participate in the choral reading. Begin with a short countdown so that everyone starts in unison. As the leader, model appropriate pacing and expression of the text, while students read together at the same time, matching pace and phrasing.
Choral reading can be thought of as a highly supportive way to provide guided practice reading a text. It is a scaffold that can be used before students practice reading the text independently. After choral reading, you may want students to reread the text using a less supportive strategy, such as partner reading.
Even though choral reading involves reading aloud as a group, you can still provide corrective feedback by listening attentively and using brief, whole-group or targeted support. If you hear students misread or stumble on a word or phrase, pause and model the correct pronunciation or phrasing. Next, have all of the students repeat the entire sentence together.
Take Note!
Here are some special considerations when using this activity:
- Combine with other strategies. This activity could be used when introducing a new text, as a way to provide support before students reread independently. It may also be used after the teacher models and students follow along, as a way to provide an intermediary step before students read independently.
- Appoint a leader. The teacher or a strong reader should provide a countdown so everyone starts at same time, and serve as the pacing and expression model.
- Use this tool flexibly to meet student needs. Teachers should treat choral reading as part of an arsenal of fluency instructional practices rather than the sole or primary activity. Use this temporarily when students need a highly supportive scaffold, or layer it with other fluency practices (such as Phrased Text Reading) as needed.
- Mix up the group size. Choral reading can be performed with the whole class, a small group, or just with two (teacher/peer and student).
- Review skill overview. For additional considerations when targeting this skill, see the Automaticity and Fluency Overview.
Classroom Connection
See this activity in action through a teacher-led demonstration.
Watch as this teacher previews a text using choral reading with a small group. Notice that she layers this activity with Phrased Text Reading (encouraging her students to prepare the text with a scoop underneath each phrase to aid in proper expression) to support their prosody. The teacher also participates in the choral read to promote a model of the expected pace and expression.
Differentiation
Learn how you can enhance instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners.
- While choral reading can be a whole-class activity, it may work best in pairs or small groups to ensure participation among reluctant and struggling readers.
- Prepare text with phrase scoops or cue marks (slashes) so students can follow the signals to read in phrases until they are confident in attacking this on their own.
- Students reading at a significantly different instructional level from their peers can still take part in the benefits of choral reading by reading simultaneously with a recording of the passage being read by the teacher. While a professionally recorded audiobook of the text might be fitting if set at an appropriate pace, be cautious of computer-generated text-to-speech recordings that may not use the phrasing and expression you want modeled for your student.
- For additional differentiation when targeting this skill, see the Automaticity and Fluency Overview.
Coaching Corner
For occasional use: optional ideas to bring energy, engagement, or ease to the activity.
Break the text apart so that different students are reading at different points. Perhaps paragraphs are alternated between different halves of the room, or evens/odds of their class numbers.
Resource(s)
Explore the resource(s) to support your implementation of this activity.
Toolkit resources help you implement high-quality instruction. To guarantee student success, these tools must be used in tandem with direct, systematic, mastery-oriented instruction and a high-quality curriculum.
