How To Increase Reading Comprehension: Repeated Reading and Oral/Written Retell

Readers can increase their comprehension of informational text by making a conscious effort to recall details. Teachers can combine repeated reading and oral or written retell as a package to boost student retention of text details (Schisler, Joseph, Konrad, & Alber-Morgan, 2010).

Materials. To use repeated reading with oral or written retell, the tutor will need these materials:

• Tutor and student copies of an informational passage of at least 200 words.
• Stopwatch
• Lined paper (for written-retell procedure)

Procedures. Below are guidelines for conducting repeated reading and oral or written retell of a passage.

1. Student reads the passage twice with error correction. The tutor gives a copy of the passage to the student and says, "Read this passage aloud. Do your best reading. If you come to a word you don't know, try your best to read it. I will help you if needed. Begin reading."
   
   The student reads the passage aloud, while the tutor follows along silently. Whenever the student misreads a word or hesitates for at least 3 seconds, the tutor uses the phrase-drill error correction technique: The tutor points to the error word, reads that word aloud correctly, and reads the entire sentence containing the error word. The tutor then prompts the student to read the full sentence with error word 3 times before continuing on in the passage.

   When the student completes the first reading of the passage, the tutor says, "Read this passage aloud again. Like before, do your best reading. If you come to a word you don't know, do your best to read it. I will help you if needed. Begin reading." The tutor again follows along silently and again uses the phrase-drill error correction technique for any misread words or hesitations of 3 seconds or longer.

2. Student engages in oral or written retell. When the student has read the passage twice, the tutor directs the student to use either the oral or written retell method as described below:

   Oral retell. The tutor starts the timer and tells the student, "Tell me about the passage you just read. Tell me everything you remember. You will have 3 minutes--I will tell you when the time is up. Begin." At the end of the 3 minutes, the tutor tells the student to stop. If the student pauses during the 3 minutes, the tutor says, "Tell me more about what you read", and repeats this prompt as needed until either the student has no more details to share or the 3-minute period ends. 

   Written retell. The tutor gives the student a lined sheet of paper (such as this Informational Passage: Written Retell form) and a pen or pencil. The tutor starts the timer and tells the student, "Write about the passage you just read. Write down everything you remember. You will have 3 minutes--I will tell you when the time is up. Begin." At the end of the 3 minutes, the tutor tells the student to stop. If the student pauses during the 3 minutes, the tutor says, "Write more about what you read", and repeats this prompt as needed until either the student has no more details to share or the 3-minute period ends. The tutor then collects the retell worksheet.