A Fluency Routine: Read, Read Back, Read Again

Read, Read Back, Read Again fluency routine is a powerful fluency routine that includes an initial read, a modeled read, and a final read. This routine simultaneously promotes accurate word reading and prosodic reading, while also emphasizing comprehension and discussion.

In the below videos, reading interventionist Tal uses Read, Read Back, Read Again with two students with similar profiles, who are reading the same passage. One student is learning to read using a linguistic phonics program with bilingual support in Spanish, while the other is learning in English only. Here’s what it looks like:
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Read

In “Read,” the student reads a sentence or two aloud. The goal of “Read” is accurate word reading, so this is a chance for Tal to provide corrections in the moment, as well as address any confusing vocabulary.

With this Spanish-speaking student, note how Tal provides additional context for the name “Cade” and supplies the definition of the word “sizes” in Spanish. This translation is key to unlocking this student’s understanding of the sentence. You’ll see this later on.

With both students, Tal corrects errors as soon as they happen, consistently directs the students’ attention to the sounds in the word, and insists that they repeat correct word pronunciations.

Read Back

In “Read Back,” Tal models fluent and prosodic reading of the text at a faster rate. As Tal reads, the students use their fingers to follow along in the text, as Tal does the same.

Read Again

Finally, the students read the same sentence(s) again focusing on prosody and fluency. If they make a mistake, Tal corrects the full word and the student echoes back the correct word. Then, they discuss what they read.

In the above video, it’s clear that the student does understand the meaning of the word “size.” Without prompting, he adds, in Spanish, that Cade likes to trap animals of very tall and small sizes. It’s a small moment, it’s a great example of how translanguing allows this student to access this text.

Tal reflects on this lesson and the experience of filming and scrutinizing the instruction:

“Watching videos of yourself teaching is a fantastic way to improve your practice. For example, after watching these videos I noticed how many times I say “okay?” during instruction. I have been working on minimizing teacher talk, and all week I have been biting my tongue when I’m tempted to add an “okay” into my instruction. I also noticed that I slipped into an old habit, using the phrase “When this letter is at the end, it makes this letter say it’s name” to refer to the vowel-consonant-e pattern in “Cade.” This is something we do not do in linguistic phonics since letters don’t talk; people do! Habits can be hard to change, and the first step is acknowledging the error so I can try to catch myself in the future before using the word “say” to describe the sounds represented by letters. Plus, while watching these videos I got to revel in the incredible progress my students have made, their fluency while reading, and their excitement about their own success.”